Let it SWING!

Summertime means outdoor play and what's more fun—not to mention convenient—than playing in your very own backyard? With a myriad of back yard play sets to choose from, there's one to suit every child's taste. To get a better understanding of today's most popular types of backyard play sets, kids' marketing firm Funosophy Inc. and its research partner KidzEyes recently surveyed 200 mothers of boys and girls ages 3-5 to find out ownership levels, current usage and purchase interest for backyard play environments.

According to this survey, more than 50 percent of kids own a swing set or monkey bars and report playing with it “often” versus just 5 percent who own one, but do not play with it often. The play house ranks second, both in terms of ownership and frequency of play.

Nearly 60 percent of moms would consider purchasing an outdoor play set with a tree house or jungle theme. The next most appealing themes are castles and forts, with more than half of all surveyed responding that they would consider purchasing these types of play environments.

More than 50 percent of mothers of both boys and girls reported already owning a swing set/monkey bars—more than twice as many as those who own a play house, the next most popular type of outdoor play set. Interestingly, a few themes seem to dominate the play environment category.

Not surprisingly, mothers of girls were more interested in purchasing traditional houses or castle-themed play sets those of boys were, while mothers of boys were more interested in the pirate ship- and fort-themed sets, and in tunnel/tubes sets, than those of girls were. Log cabin-themed play houses also skewed slightly more towards girls than boys.

When it comes to price, more mothers would consider buying an outdoor play set that costs $30 to $60 than a set costing less than $30. The exception is tunnel/tubes sets, where lower prices increased purchasing intent.

The swing set is king of the backyard, with more kids owning one and playing with it more often than any other type of outdoor play environment. Classic play houses and forts are still popular themes for outdoor play sets as well. That said, there is plenty of room for well-executed up-and-coming themes like tree houses and pirate ships. Moms are willing to pay a bit more for these oversized items, giving manufacturers some leeway to create innovative designs chock full of fun features.