I think it sounds like there is no accountability. We have a similar problem. I would suggest having a person who is in charge of giving the equipement out and collecting it. If someone wants a jump rope then they have to sign their name for it. Then you will know who has it when it's missing. Oh, and it would help if each item had a number!
It sounds like the balls are going over the playground fence and the teachers aren't able to retrieve them? So, it sounds like you need to stick with purchases like jump ropes, Hula Hoops, and sidewalk chalk. You could try bean bag toss games -- the bean bags are thrown but usually not high into the air!
It seems that every few months, PTA is asked to purchase more playground equipment (balls, jump ropes, etc.). Balls seem to disappear at a rate of 2 or 3 a week. We already have a cart that we have for the equipment to go into and the cart is put away every day. We are looking for any other ideas to make sure that our next purchase will last longer than a few months.
