Last year, for Lucian’s birthday party, I had this crazy idea to put a splash pad in our yard! It gets pretty hot here in the summer and I knew it would bring a lot of fun over the next few years. I love playing in a pool, but after having one at our last house, we knew for sure we didn’t want another one! We had taken Lu to a few splash pads and knew that he would love having one at home. If you haven’t met my husband, he loves a good project (hence our 100-year-old fixer upper of a house 🙂 ).
He took on the project quickly and was actually pretty excited to figure out how to make it happen! Here’s a quick overview of how he built it!
- Flattened the area
- Built a treated 2×4 frame
- Added a layer of plastic
- Added a layer of gravel
- Used pex line/pipe, irrigation valves and brass nozzles to create internal parts of the splash pad
- Programmed an arduino to open different valves at different times to make it more interactive
- More gravel
- Added a layer of turf and surrounded with bricks
- Sat back and watched the kids have an absolute blast.
This was a big hit and we are about to start running it this year. I think Lucian and his buddies will be spending a lot of time playing in the splash pad this summer. It is the perfect way to cool off without having to go to a park. And, I don’t have to be as worried or on high alert as I would if he and his buddies were all in the pool, which I love! Now, what project should I start mentioning for this year?!?! 😉
