Sheets of plywood, two-by-fours, glue, resin, and lots of elbow grease are turning everyday construction basics into playground structures in a Mississippi State student project.

Associate professor Michael Berk discusses the playground project with students Marie Childs of Macon, left, and Rachael Alsup of Dresden, Tenn.

Fifteen architecture majors in a studio class taught by associate professor Michael A. Berk were asked to use off-the-shelf products to design and build outdoor structures for a preschool playground. For the students, the project served both as a community service effort and a lesson in the use of modular pieces to make pre-assembled structures.

The project also is helping introduce a larger project in which the class is researching and proposing designs for low-cost modular classroom units, he explained.

The students recently dug foundations, mixed and poured concrete, and installed the playground pieces at D.W. Aiken Village, MSU's family housing complex on College View Drive. The complex's pre-school serves about 30 kids ranging from 3 to 5 years of age.

Design teams created a range of structures, including one resembling a spider and another in a ladder-like configuration.

"These are wonderfully imaginative structures that our children will enjoy," said preschool director Tamar M. Burrell. "We are thrilled with the results. It's a project that has benefited everyone involved."

MSU's campus landscape department furnished assistance and products, while the Forest Products Laboratory provided assistance with wood preservatives.