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Installing jungle gyms or mini-soccer fields in the yard may seem daunting, but carving out play areas for children doesn't have to involve a major construction headache.

Designing a playground outdoors can be as simple as clearing a spot in the yard, making sure it's a safe space free of cacti — and asking the kids what they want to do there.

"Remember, your kids aren't going to walk a nice tight area around a play system," said Walter Koch, a home builder who recently finished installing a jungle gym for his 3-year-old daughter, Alli.

The set, which the Kochs bought online from Wal-Mart for about $700, includes three swings, a slide and a rock-climbing rope. The area was designed based on equipment and activities that Alli liked in playgrounds and in friends' backyards. The family spent another $3,000 adding a wall and putting in grass.

"Size wasn't a real factor in it," Koch said. The family's backyard playground is "as big as necessary for the surrounding area to be free of any safety obstructions."

Koch and his wife, Joyce, opted to put the play system in their backyard but also made their front yard kid-friendly. Although a dining set is in the front, there's also room for their daughter to roller-skate or ride her tricycle.

Landscape-design experts say it's crucial for parents to be realistic about how much space they'll need to house play equipment such as basketball hoops, slides and swings.

"The most important thing is to have chosen the play structure first," said Judith Ratliff, landscape architect with Duffield Ratliff Landscape Design.

"A lot of times, they get carried away thinking this is neat, and then they realize it's too big," she said, noting that jungle gyms these days can be elaborate. "They're a lot bigger than an old backyard swing set — that's for sure."

Homeowners typically need 500 to 700 square feet of yard space to accommodate a play set, said Dennis Artery, owner of Tucson Play Systems Inc.

"We've managed to get some really neat systems in really tiny areas," said Artery, who noted that the equipment often looks bigger at the store than it would in a yard. "It's really easy for us to tailor them to what the people's needs are," he said.

Artery's 11-year-old store sells and installs various types of play sets that can include rope ladders, chain-ladder climbers and variations on the old-fashioned swing, such as a tire or swivel swing. Regular prices range from $2,399 to $61,059. The sets are designed for children 18 months old and up. And they're designed to let you add other features later on.

The store can install a shade over the equipment, allowing at least some summertime play in the desert heat. Once the play system is in place, it requires little maintenance, Artery said. Re-staining the wood, though, is recommended for cosmetic reasons.

Tucson Play Systems employs certified playground-safety instructors who provide guidance throughout the design and installation stages.

Even if a play set comes with instructions, those may not be enough. Walter and Joyce Koch bought their play equipment online, and he relied on his skills as a builder to assemble the parts.

"A non-experienced person in assembling this could possibly make some mistakes and potentially jeopardize their child's safety," Walter Koch said. "People should maybe devote some of their money to somebody who knows what they're doing."

Choosing ground cover is another step in the design process of a playground. Grass may be enough for kicking a ball around, but shock-absorbing materials are recommended for play sets. Common ground covers include sand, pea gravel, wood fiber and rubber mulch.

Landscape designers say the advantage with materials such as gravel is that they are easy to scrape away once the kids head off to college.

"You can easily add plants without having to jackhammer out," said Paul Connolly, a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and a certified landscape designer with Sonoran Gardens Inc.

"There's no irrigation line there, so it's very easy to add irrigation areas there," Connolly said. "If you think about it in advance, it's very easy to accommodate how you can make different use of that space."