About Buddy Humphreys

Buddy Humphreys is Customer Service and Operations Manager at Play N' Learn's Playground Superstores. He's been with Play N' Learn for 7 years and in his free time spends time with his family, including 2 children.

6 Ways to Prepare Your Playset for Summer

Posted in Swing Sets
April 30th, 2013 by

6 Ways to Prepare Your Playset for SummerIt’s finally warming up and that means it’s time to start playing outside again. Your playset may have taken a beating over the winter after being buried in snow, used as a nest or restroom for your local wildlife, and a burial ground for the last falling leaves. Before your kids go full swing into playset season, your playset will require a cleaning. Read on for our recommendations on how to prepare your playset for summer.

1.  Remove Obvious Debris: Over the winter, some leaves, twigs, and other pieces of nature have probably made their home in your playset. Start your spring-cleaning by removing the most obvious clutter.

2.  Scrub It Down: Either using a hose or a bucket of soapy water and a brush, give your playset a full scrub down. This will remove the gunk that has accumulated on the wood sections of the playset and will help keep your playset looking pristine for years to come.

3.  Wipe It Off: All of the plastic or vinyl items on your playset should be fairly easy to clean. Simply use a wet soapy rag to wipe down the slide, swings, monkey bars, and any other non-wooden surfaces that may have developed a layer of grime over the winter. Remember to clean anywhere your children’s hands will be grabbing—it’ll save you clean up time on your kids later!

4.  Nuts and Bolts Inspection: As you’re cleaning, make sure to inspect all of the metal elements of your swing set. Check to see that there is no corrosion or loosening at any points and that all attachments are secure.

5.  Spruce Up Your Mulch: If you have a mulch base for your outdoor play area, you may want to get a new bag or two of rubber mulch to make sure you have a solid pad for your children to play on. After a long play season and several snowfalls, you may have lost some of your original mulch, so filling in the holes and thin spots with a new bag will ensure your kids have a safe landing zone wherever they play.

6.  Add a New Feature: And the last way to prepare your playset for summer? Add on a new feature! The beginning of the outside play season is one of the best times to add on a new feature like a rock wall or a rope swing to your playset. The excitement of something new will have your kids outside all day. Plus, they’ll have the whole summer to wear it in.

It may seem like a lot of effort, but doing regular maintenance on your playset will keep it in good working order for years to come. So the next time it’s nice outside, grab the hose, a rag, and your kids, and get everyone involved for a quick spring-cleaning so that the next sunny day can be a play day.

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How to Keep Your Kids Occupied During Spring Break

Posted in Staying Active
March 27th, 2013 by

How to Keep Your Kids Occupied During Spring BreakIf you don’t have a vacation planned to keep you and your family occupied this spring break, you’re probably wondering what your kids are going to do for a whole week off of school. That’s why we’ve come up with this list of easy (and free) activities you can do with your kids to ensure your spring break is as fun and relaxing as it should be.

Springtime arts and crafts

Break out the art supplies and you can spend a whole afternoon making springtime decorations. It could be as simple as drawing bunnies and flowers on construction paper, or as elaborate as making flowers out of pipe cleaners and tissue paper. Let your imaginations run wild and you’ll get some festive decorations for your home while you’re at it.

Go to your local park

Why not use some of your time off to make use of your local park or playground? Check out the walking trails, play catch in a field, go to the nature center—the possibilities are endless! And why not bring some birdseed and feed the birds and ducks while you’re out?

Play at an indoor playground

Play N’ Learn’s Playground Superstores offers great options for your kids to play, even in the colder weather! Try our Pay for Play at our Columbia, MD location – each child gets two hours of play time, Monday – Friday, 10am-6pm. Come enjoy unlimited use of our showroom play area and let your kids release some of that spring break energy!

Design your own playground

You and your kids can do a great playground tour of your town and check out all the coolest features of each. Then, break out the paper and crayons so your kids can design their own fantasy playground. What would it include? A rope ladder? A climbing wall? Monkey bars?

Check out activities at your library

Odds are good that your local library will have programming during the day designed for all ages of children. The library is a great resource for free and educational activities, ranging from learning new games to doing science experiments. Your kids can pick out some books to borrow while they’re there.

Bake cookies or make a healthy snack

What better way to spend the afternoon than by making a fresh batch of cookies? Your kids can help measure, pour, and stir. Or, try out one of our recommended healthy snacks that are fun to make and delicious to eat!

Read books out loud

Snack time is also a great time for reading a book together. Have your kids choose a book they want to read and you can read it aloud to them while you snack, or even take turns and have your kids read different sections.

Do you have fun spring break plans? Let us know in the comments, and enjoy your time off!

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How to Beat the Winter Blues

Posted in Staying Active
February 27th, 2013 by

How to Beat the Winter BluesThe winter season brings with it fun outdoor snow activities like sledding, skiing, and building snowmen. But after a few months of red noses and frozen toes we all have to ask: Is winter over yet?

Around this time of year both you and your kids are probably starting to get stir crazy, especially since your playset is out there in the cold weather. That’s why we put together this list of fun indoor play activities you and your kids can do to beat the winter blues.

Puzzles and board games

Staying active doesn’t always have to mean tiring out your body—doing mentally stimulating activities like puzzles and board games can be the perfect way to keep your kids interested and off the couch when it’s too cold to do anything else. A big, intricate puzzle can keep the whole family occupied, while a board game can be just the thing to cure cabin fever.

Build a fort

When winter weather hits and you can’t get out of the house, you can bring the adventure of climbing and playing into your living room by building a fort. Your kids can search all around the house for pillows and blankets and then use their creativity (and some pent up energy) to build a great fort. Once it’s done, why not watch a winter movie?

Deck out your game room

One way to add some interest to the indoors is by making your game room more than just the average stack of board games. Game tables for table tennis, foosball, air hockey, or pool give your kids something to do when they’re stuck inside. Not only do they keep your kids moving but they also help them develop coordination.

Laser tag

If you’re not snowed in, a great way to burn off some boredom is to head to your local laser tag joint. Your kids can hang out with their friends and run, roll, and dive while staying out of the cold.

Go to an indoor playground

What’s the best way to replicate the fun of your play set when it’s winter? Go to an indoor playground! At Play N’ Learn’s Playground Superstores, we have a large showroom with many great playsets built to test out. And we want kids to use them, so we’ve set up free play days and pay for play days where your kids can go wild on our various playsets. It’s a great way to have fun inside during the winter months, and it’s also a chance for your kids to try out cool features that you might not have on your playset like rope ladders or climbing walls.

So whether you’re snowed in or just sick of the cold, try out some active indoor fun to make the most of the winter months. Soon enough it’ll be playset season again!

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Turning Your Playground Into a Winter Wonderland

Posted in Swing Sets
December 20th, 2012 by

Turn your playground into a Winter Wonderland this season!Winter is here and the temperatures are dropping—you may have even seen the first snowfall of the season. While winter does bring fun for your kids with the holidays and winter break, the cold weather can seriously cramp their active lifestyles.

You may think that your playground or playset is off limits until it warms up again, but playsets are good for more than just swinging and sliding. They’re the perfect spot for fun winter games as well. Read on for some ideas of how to turn your playground into a winter wonderland.

Have a snowball fight

Up the stakes of your snowball fights by incorporating your playset. You and your kids can use the walls and pillars of the playset as hiding spots or shields. Try using the bottom of the slide as a storage spot for all the snowballs you’ve made. You could even make up a story involving the playset as a fortress or a castle before the snowball fight begins.

Build an igloo

Your playset can get a snowy addition in the winter when you build an igloo. You can use some of the existing structure to work off of, or start from scratch.

Make snowmen

Just because your kids aren’t able to play on their playset as much in the winter doesn’t mean it should be without company. Next time there’s a good snowfall, try building a snowman family by your playset. Can you make one that’s going down the slide?

Make a pinecone birdfeeder

Your playset probably has a lot of long beams that are perfect for hanging things. Why not use them as birdfeeder posts while the weather’s too cold for heavy duty swinging? You and your kids can make a project out of making pinecone birdfeeders by spreading peanut butter on open pinecones and rolling them in birdseed. Tie a ribbon around the top and your kids can hang them all around your playset and watch the birds come in for a feast.

Light up night

While you string lights on the hard to reach places on your house, your kids can string lights on their playset. As long as it’s not snowy or slippery, they can wrap lights around the pillars and along the balcony of the top platform. Both your house and their playground will be the most impressive in the neighborhood.

So what are you waiting for? Bundle up and head outside to make your playground into a winter wonderland. With activities like these you can put your playground to use year round while still being safe in the winter weather.

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Why Woodplay Uses California Redwood For Its Playsets

Posted in Swing Sets
November 20th, 2012 by

We sell Woodplay playsets made from redwood from the California Redwood Company. At Play N’ Learn’s Playground Superstores, we’re committed to using the highest quality products and partnering with companies that we know we can trust. That’s why we sell Woodplay playsets made from redwood from the California Redwood Company. Why California Redwood? Read on to find out more about why we’ve partnered with these companies to make the best redwood for our playsets.

1. They’re family owned and oriented.

The California Redwood Company has the longest history in the redwood industry as a family owned business for the past 126 years. Long term partnerships are important to them, just like they are to us.

2. They’re the largest redwood producer in the world.

With the second largest timberlands holding in California (over 430,000 acres) and an additional 300,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest, the California Redwood Company is the largest redwood producer in the world. All of their products are harvested and produced in the United States, and they’re committed to their local workers and communities. They’re also environmentally conscious—the CRC uses sustainable practices and was the first timber company with an approved Habitat Conservation Plan for the spotted owl and also for aquatics.

3. They make the highest quality redwood products available.

The California Redwood Company makes wood that is in excess of the specifications of existing specifications for playsets, meaning that all wood used in Woodplay playsets is super durable. At several points during the manufacturing process, the wood is graded to Woodplay specifications and anything that doesn’t measure up is dropped from the stock.

4. Redwood is the perfect material for playsets.

Redwood is a beautiful, high performance wood that will keep your playset strong throughout years of play. It’s decay resistant, dimensionally stable, easy to work with, and accepts stains and paints better than alternatives. In addition to being practical, redwood is also the most responsible wood choice. It’s sustainable and renewable, and is the fastest growing species of premium wood. That means that replanting efforts make an impact faster than with other species. Redwood sequesters carbon faster than alternative types of trees and has the lowest carbon footprint in the industry.

With a history and product like this, it’s no surprise that Play N’ Learn loves working with Woodplay and the California Redwood Company to provide the highest quality playsets while still maintaining our commitment to the environment and our local workers. Stop by a Play N’ Learn’s Playground Superstore today to see redwood in action in one of our Woodplay sets!

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Preparing Your Playset for Winter Weather

Posted in Swing Sets
October 23rd, 2012 by

Preparing Your Playset for Winter WeatherSchool’s in full swing, the days are getting shorter, and the jackets have come out of summer storage—winter is approaching. While the cold weather brings with it snow, sledding, and holidays with the family, your trusty playset probably won’t be seeing much action over the winter months.

On the east coast, where Play N’ Learn’s Playground Superstores is based, winters can range from mild to brutal, with feet of snow. So it’s important that you prepare your playset for the weather so that your investment can stand the test of time. Luckily, Play N’ Learn playsets are made of redwood or cunninghamia, which are extremely durable and stand up to the elements, including snow.

So what can you do to keep your playset in top condition through wind, sleet, and snow? Read on for tips on how to prepare your playset for winter weather.

1. Do a full check up

Part of good winter preparation is knowing what condition your playset is in at all times. That means that every time you go out in the yard, you take note of any cracks, corrosion, or degrading parts. You’ll be able to order new parts or make plans for repairs over the winter so that once it warms up again, there will be no need to delay the start of play.

2. Cover up

If you don’t already, cover your sandbox with something heavy enough that it won’t blow away. This will protect the sand from falling leaves and snow as well as animals passing through that might consider using it as a litter box.

3. Clean up summer dirt

Remove all leaves and debris from your play set—if piles of leaves are allowed to accumulate on the wood, they can accumulate moisture, promoting mildew and mold on your playset. Your kids can help pick up trash, leaves, sticks, and brush off dirt.

4. Remove any last toys

Before your slide is covered in snow and your play fort becomes an ice castle, have your kids go through the swing set and bring in any toys they may have stashed in there. Chalk, notepads, stuffed animals, juice boxes—who knows what may have made it outside during summer play. You’ll be able to use the toys over the winter and again next summer since they won’t be frozen at the top of your playset!

The most important part of getting your playset ready for winter weather is to make sure it’s cleaned up and covered up, so it looks like it’s in its original condition. After winter’s over, you’ll be able to do a closer inventory of any damage or degradation that’s occurred over the months and do springtime repairs in time for the warm weather. As long as your playset is made of durable redwood and is in strong condition before the winter starts, it should make it through the winter just fine and come out the other side ready for more fun!

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The Advantages of Buying from Locally Owned Businesses

Posted in Play N' Learn News
September 20th, 2012 by

Play N' Learn has been locally owned and operated since 1986.Here at Play N’ Learn, we’re full supporters of the “buy locally” movement sweeping the country. We’re a locally-owned company that’s been in business since 1986, so we’re naturally inclined to support other local and small business like us.

But our bias is well-founded—there are plenty of great reasons to buy locally. Read on for some advantages of supporting local businesses.

1. Good, friendly service

Because local businesses usually deal in specialties rather than general needs, their employees are well versed in that subject and have a good understanding of the product. In addition to providing you detailed answers to your questions, they’ll be able to take the time to get to know you and your needs as a customer.

2. Have your service issues handled at home

Have you ever had to send something away to have it fixed? Once you factor in the trips to the post office, shipping costs, and the time you go without the item, it can be a very inconvenient process. But when you buy locally, you also have local service. That means when something breaks or needs a tune up, your shop owner will be right there to handle it, or find someone who can.

3. Invest in your community

Because locally owned businesses are owned by and hire from people within the community, they have a higher investment in making sure your neighborhood flourishes. Local businesses are more likely to be involved in community organizations like schools, sports teams, and non-profits that directly affect your neighborhood and family, because it’s also where they live.

4. Green friendly

Small and local businesses often buy within the community, meaning there’s less transportation of goods and use of fuel. Also, most businesses are in a town center as opposed to on the outskirts of town, which makes your travel to a centralized hub and cuts down on sprawl and destruction of habitats on the edges of town.

5. Keep your community interesting

What’s worse than strip mall upon strip mall of chain stores? Supporting local businesses means you’ll be supporting many small shops that specialize in what your neighborhood really wants, whether it’s specialty restaurants, outdoor gear, book stores, vintage boutiques, and more. Because the success of each business is truly based on how much the community uses it (and not how much a national chain invests in it), you’ll be shaping the identity of your neighborhood. Plus, people are more likely to settle down in an area that has a distinct local atmosphere—and who doesn’t like an interesting place to live?

These are just a few of the benefits of buying locally. Here at Play N’ Learn we embrace the idea of local thinking and focusing on our community here in Maryland and Virginia. To experience the local difference first hand, stop by one of our stores to check out one of our many playsets, trampolines, basketball goals, and other cool stuff.

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Healthy and Productive Rainy Day Activities for Kids

Posted in Staying Active
August 23rd, 2012 by

Play inside at select Play N' Learn locations!Just because the weather is bad doesn’t mean you need to resign yourself to letting your children just watch TV all day. There are other productive, creative activities that they can take part in that will keep them plenty occupied and content until the weather clears up.

They can draw and write. One activity that has fallen by the wayside since prepackaged entertainment became widespread is the practice of telling ones’ own stories. This is an important skill to have, and teaching your children early to be able to formulate narratives and ideas on their own will leave them much better-suited to eventually practicing excellent reading comprehension and understanding of events from history. Plus, who knows: maybe you’ll start them off toward being the next famous novelist!

They can play board games. Board games leave more room for creativity and exploration than more static forms of entertainment; you get that experience of moving through space and time and dealing with what happens to you, just like in real-life. And with the many available types and ranges of board games, there’s never a shortage of styles and methods to play, depending on the mood and interests of your children.

They can play imaginary games. Like drawing and writing, creating imaginary structures within which to play helps a child exercise his or her mind and sense of how to interact with the world. Designing rules and characters to occupy lets them determine how to interact with the world and ways to deal with problems that arise, because it’s all up to the child to solve – they can’t just lean on the societally established norms that they might otherwise be able to depend on in other aspects of life, and that’s a healthy change of pace.

They can read or listen. This may sound like an obvious one, but there are still obvious benefits to taking in stories either through reading or listening over watching a movie or TV. Both allow for the child fill in more of the gaps in the story with his or her own mind and then understand how a story is told. Listening to stories in particular has become a lost practice but can still be very fun and exciting, particularly with the atmosphere of a rainy day.

They can play inside at select Play N’ Learn locations. Just because it’s messy outside doesn’t mean your child can’t get exercise and activity all the same! Enjoy Pay-for-Play at our Columbia location, or sign up for Free Play Days at our Chantilly, VA and Richmond, VA locations. Waiting for you is a full showroom and play area protected from the elements. And who knows: maybe your child will find something he or she likes so much that you’ll have a new way to entertain them at home as well!

Most parents dread the constant patter of a child saying, “I’m bored.” But as long as you outline plenty of ways to have fun early on, even if it’s rainy out, you’ll have to deal with that sort of complaint far, far less.

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Turn Your Backyard Into A Sports Arena with A Goalrilla Hoop

Posted in Basketball Hoops
July 23rd, 2012 by

Turn Your Backyard into a Sports Arena with a Goarilla HoopMost of us engage with sports by watching it on TV and remembering what we used to play in school. But this doesn’t have to be the case. There are plenty of ways to bring the sports experience to your yard or home, and there isn’t really a sport that can’t be approximated in some way.

Basketball: Basketball is perfect for bringing home, because there are fewer players needed as compared to many other sports. And with a Goalrilla hoop, you can shoot, drive and play like you would anywhere else. Just put it in a rounded area of your driveway or on the street in front of your house and enjoy with friends, your kids, and their friends.

Soccer: Soccer requires a little more space to play properly, so if you have a bigger yard, you can put smaller nets on either side (or just one) and conduct scaled-down games there. But there are also other ways to enjoy soccer at home, whether it’s training devices designed to improve dribbling or control or simpler games like keepaway and regular passing drills. Soccer’s also a movement-intensive game, so it’s great exercise for the whole family.

Baseball: Baseball’s tricky, because it requires a large amount of space. Use a wiffleball and wiffle-bat instead of real equipment to keep it contained to a yard. There’s also the classic fallback of playing catch, and there are a number of accessories you can get to enjoy various aspects of the game, like hitting trainers and tees.

Hockey: If you have an area of blacktop or street where you can safely set up a small goal, street hockey is easy to play: all you need is a specially-designed puck or street hockey ball and a few sticks. And if there’s a pond near you that freezes over during winter, that’s even better. Just remember: both playing on the street and playing on ice are dangerous, so take care to make sure that you’re keeping the environment as safe as possible.

Football: Football’s easy! All you need is a football and you can play two-hand touch. No tackling at home, though: leave that to the pros.

Golf: There are three ways to work on your golf game at home. First, you can get a strip to putt on, equipped with a cup. Second, you can get a net to hit into, which allows you the most opportunity to work on your swing with all different clubs. (You can put this in an unfinished room in the basement.) Third, you can chip and work on your short game in the backyard. But when you’re hitting around in the backyard, keep anything but the wedges stowed away.

With all these different ways to enjoy the territory of your own home, there’s really no good excuse to pass up on healthy exercise. And after purchasing a Goalrilla hoop, you’ll find that it’ll be hard not to go out and play on it!

Check out our website to see our selection of Goalrilla hoops and other ways to spice up your backyard play!

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Planning Your Backyard Stay-cation

Posted in Staying Active
June 21st, 2012 by

Planning Your Backyard Stay-cation“I’m bored, there’s nothing to do.”

It’s the most dreaded sentence parents hear during summer vacation.

While it’s a safe bet you may hear that once in awhile, there are a few steps you can take to keep your children out of the summer doldrums. Start by planning a backyard stay-cation!

Stay-cations serve many purposes; they not only give children something to look forward to, they also allow you and your children to work together to plan it. Creativity is the most important tool when it comes to a stay-cation.

Plan on using your playset as the focal point for the stay-cation. Create fun and easy contests using every part of the playset—see who can swing the longest or complete an obstacle course in the shortest amount of time.

Including a water element brightens up stay-cations. Sprinklers are always fun, as are mini-pools and squirt guns. Fill up a basket of water balloons and watch as your children have fun and on a hot July day.

Don’t forget to schedule a picnic lunch during your stay-cation. Include your children’s favorite lunchtime meal and snacks to make this event special. The anticipation helps keep everyone involved and focused.

Breaking up the stay-cation helps keep the idea fresh and interesting to your children, so here are a few backyard games that are easy to plan and fun for everyone:

  • Freeze tag
  • Hopscotch
  • Beanbag toss
  • Wiffle ball
  • Foursquare
  • Obstacle course

A stay-cation should also have planned down time so everyone can recharge their batteries. Sidewalk chalk, coloring books, and crayons are inexpensive and help little artists display their latest creations. Visit the local library for summer classics that make for excellent reading circle time.

Don’t forget that part of stay-cation planning should include an inspection of your playset to make any necessary adjustments. You may even want to add new accessories to make your stay-cation the best ever!

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Rob Unger
Rich Weintraub
Buddy Humphreys
Play N' Learn Guest

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