We are getting animals at the Preschool

I remember growing up that occasionally a group would visit our farm like my class (I think it may have been kindergarten) to see the farm animals.  I would always be curious why everyone got so excited, they sure would not have been so excited if they had to feed and water them every day.  I think the kids here at our preschool probably feel the same way when we use farm animal images or talk about planting something for them to grow.  They are going to be herding their cows, bulls, sheep, and goats right after school ends.  Every rainy season their entire family plants crops and grows them until harvest season.  Things that would be a big deal to most USA kids their age are just life to them.  Now cars, computers, video games, cartoons those are a big deal to them.  I believe they would still get excited by safari animals like lions, elephants, and giraffes.  

Imagine this guy all painted up with golden yellow body and burley brown spots.

So when I talk about bringing animals to our pre-school it has to be something special.  Meet our first piece of the art center in our playground.  His legs and neck are 1 1/2"  pipe.  his body is made of furniture pipe so I could use our new pipe bender and bend the curves in.  I covered the body with a metal plate that will be painted with chalkboard paint so the kids can draw on it (hence the art center).  The head is made from 2" pipe and bent flat bar to create a little bit of a snout and the horns are made of furniture pipe.  I left the ears off intentionally because everything I did was too sharp and hard of an edge.  This little guy will be set in concrete so he will only be about 4' high.

On the activity center, I got to work setting the beams the monkey bars would be attached to.  The trick to holding a six foot 2x6 in place while you mark it to be trimmed and set it level is to put nails just underneath where you want it and then set the beam on the nails.  You can modify the level by putting cardboard between the nail and the board but only for slight variations.  Large variations you need to reset the nail location.

Doing the math to determine how long a piece of wood needs to be for the supports for the climbing wall and slide wall.  I could have also used my math to determine the angle of cut for the climbing wall (the slide wall was 45 degrees) since I want it to be pretty steep.  Honestly, it was easier to just put the board at the end of the frame and mark it.

I set metal posts in concrete where they go to ground to keep them stable.  I did those myself because it was during the Tanzanian lunch hour of 2 to 5 pm.

These are the monkey bars going between the two main frame pieces.  Unfortunately one of the posts moved or warped or both.  Probably moved while pouring and rodding the concrete.  So we have a different measurement on one end of the monkey bars from the other.  I decided to make up the two ends and then assume (very dangerous) that if I just made the rest of the monkey bars to fit between the installation flat bar it would work.  I was a little worried because one of my flat bars was slightly bent but the dry fit test indicates it will fit very tightly.

I also have a surprise item I made up for the team to build.  Right now it is just an idea in my head so I am hoping it works.  Dangerous when I get things like an old tire to use.

I ordered some sand for the playground and the soccer field the team will be building.  

Rough estimate I get a cubic yard from each cart.

Now to this weeks fun part.  When the cutting disc on a side grinder breaks and goes flying.

Fortunately, I was wearing blue jeans and not my river pants.  It still went through my jeans, the pocket, and my underwear.  It is about 2 1/2" long.  It seemed to cauterize as it cut through as the blood was already dry.  I did have to remove two small pieces of the cutting disc before cleaning and sealing up with some super glue.

One last thing for all those tired of me talking about planing boards.  Just remember sawdust is man glitter.