Our next PTO project is a walking track that will encircle the playground area. We will probably be doing as much of the actual labor ourselves as possible. Has anyone else done this sort of project. We have some ideas, but would greatly appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!

What kind of track are you looking to put in? Will this be paved or gravel or bark? We just put in a paved 1/8 mile track with a walking path down to it at our school. In the past there had been a bark and a gravel one but each of those disappeared within a couple of years of being put in.

One of our parents owns an excavating company and excavated for us for free. He also worked a deal with one of the paving companies for us that came in lower than the 3 quotes we had gotten.

We also applied for and received a grant from KaBoom!/Home Depot for this project and we had fundraisers dedicated to it for 2 years.

We are looking at an 1/8 mile loop around a portion of our playground area. One of our parents has his own construction company and has offered to do all the excavation work for free. We have recently found out that we can get as much wood mulch as we want for free from our city's compost site and are considering that for a base to cut down on the amount of pea gravel we need. We would LOVE to have something paved, but unless we can find a major donor or grant, our funds are pretty limited.

Talk with your parent with the construction company - can he work a deal with another company he already has contacts with? Or even get another company to donate?