does anyone have musical instruments in their playground?

[lingle]

we are hoping to do this in the course of a garden redesign. I've found a few websites but I'm wondering if anyone has had experiences, positive or negative, of this.
Vandalism and being sturdy and weatherproof are obviously key concerns.

We have a piece of play equipment that incorporates musical instruments - there are chimes and a xylophone type thing and something else that I can't remember. I gather that it is popular and used frequently (though probably for a short time by any given child).

They have instruments in our sure start garden, they have stood the test of time well. They have a xylophone and a steel drum type tortoise thing and some chimes. They are good, and kids only play for a short time, which is good because lots of children can have a go then. I suspect the beaters have been replaced a few times.

Does your school have residential neighbours?:?

Think hard about how much extra noise you are going to introduce to the playtimes racket.

Also remember that year 5 will try ANY means possible to misuse the equipment , even if that misuse destroys it.
Year 5 at DS's school are busy trying to break a willow arbour ( to make harry potter wands and ninja staves or a new route through ), have already redistributed gravel from paths onto flower beds and stamped down any seedling with in a foot of the path.

We have instruments in KS1 playground and within a year the mallets for beating the plastic pipe drums or the metal pipes disappeared. The school hasn't replaced them, much to the children's frustration.

The plastic pipes (basic sewage pipes) make a wonderful sound with a ping pong mallet - however, they also make a great home for wasps and this has been an ongoing problem at our school. Battle with the wasps has renewed again this year.

great responses, thank you. So -

1. beaters/mallets will disappear
2. anything that means the playground supervisors are having to stop year 5s misusing the equipment is impractical

3.neighbours!

1. open pipes are likely to attract pests such as wasps

we have a new infants school, opened this year. The Yr 2 playground has musical instruments - the xylyphone thing that sounds like steel drums, chimes thingie, and drums.

It was fabulous on the first day of the first term. Sounded like a carnival! And that was just the kids playing on the instruments. Really really lovely.

They don't play with them quite so much now they're used to them, but it is simply lovely that they have them there and they do love to have a go.

Noise isn't really an issue. If anything it is an improvement over the usual playground noise of insessant screaming!