Giant spiders, wobbly castles, and rocket ship slides: Introducing the best children's playgrounds in the world

Shipwreck: This playground in Sweden features a multi-coloured ship-slide and a lighthouse

The pair honed their creative skills as theatre and set designers, before deciding to revolutionise children's playgrounds after noticing how boring and uninspiring most playscapes had become.

They explain on their website: 'We see the world as a place full of colour. We meet boys that like pink and girls that likes trees, so why only play on a monkey frame and a sandbox, when you can play in a moon crater or a submarine or a giant spider or an enormous snail or a Trojans horse or a rocket or an ant or a princess castle. The fantasy is infinite.'

Warped: Monstrum created a Salvador Dali-esque effect at this housing development

They haven't totally killed off all the traditional games you'd expect to find in a playground - they still build slides, climbing frames and carousels - instead they've incorporated them into their wacky designs, creating a whole new experience for kids.

And there's thought given to different age groups too. They reveal: 'The most successful playgrounds have a clearly defined age group.

'Nursery children need comfort, presence of adults and smaller challenges. Whereas kindergarten children need more speed and difficult challenges, contex and elements like tree houses, where nursery kids can’t play.

'Younger kids are driven and inspired by watching the skills of the older kids (mentors), and the older kids are driven by the small victories in which they can measure there own advancement with heighs, length and speed.'

Seascape: Submarines and ships adorn this aquatic-themed playpark

Age conscious: Monstrum's designers create special zones in their playgrounds for different age groups

Fantasyland: This playground is titled 'The rocket and the princess tower'

The Monstrum-created playgrounds let kids' imaginations run wild

On Monstrum's website, Mr Nielsen reveals the ultimate inspiration behind his creations comes from his 13-year-old son Sixten Gustav.

When Sixten was five, his dad filmed him for 24 hours to get an insight into the mind of a small child.

He explained: 'We followed Sixten Gustav through an entire workday. He wakes up, brushes his teeth, eats, attend kindergarten, meeting his friends, playing, trying, succeeding, fails and try again.

'When you are 5 years old, nothing is really in solid frames. Everything is a little new. Everything is fun.'

At the moment Monstrum's playscapes can only be found across Denmark and Sweden, but parents are campaigning for the company to take their creations further afield.

They've already agreed a deal with a company in the far east to create specially designed playgrounds in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Design credentials: Monstrum's founders started out as theatre and set designers, before turning their attention to playgrounds

Inside the mind of a child: Designer Ole Nielsen studied his own son to learn what children need from a playground

... He discovered children have short attention spans and need quick gratification

World beaters: After conquering Scandinavia, Monstrum are taking their revolutionary playgrounds to the far east next