The tetherball is a great idea. I also saw an inexpensive new thing. Are you familiar with the concrete blocks that are about 20 inches? I guess thay are called stepping stones. I saw a playground where someone took those and used two shades and made a checkerboard. The kids used homemade pieces to move around for pawns. (You could use basically anything) They also made a "permanent" hopscotch area with the pavers and the kids loved to hop on those.
I doubt seriously that our school dream of a brand new play system can come to fruition anytime soon. We are a school of only 130 kids and in a very rural area. So, what I am looking at is doing things in stages. I was wondering at the beginning what are some low cost additions I can try to add on the playground that will let the parents get involved and excited, yet will let me bank most of the fundraising money for the big purchase in a few years. I found a tetherball set for around $130 in a Park Core catalog. Just wondering what ya'll have.