Children at Vancouver House, a transitional shelter for the formerly homeless, will have a jungle gym and castle to climb on, tunnels to crawl through and picnic tables with umbrellas for spending time outdoors with their parents.

About two dozen Rotary Club members used their Saturday morning to work on a playground at the shelter for the homeless families, which, in recent years, have been more likely to include small children.

Vancouver House in Manoa provides transitional living quarters for the families as they move off the street and back into mainstream society.

Homeless Solutions, which runs the shelter, has had a long relationship with Rotary Club, said Kathleen Rhoads, community service co-chair of Rotary Club of Metropolitan Ho-nolulu.

"We're very impressed with the work they do there," she said.

Rotarians gave Vancouver House a $4,000 grant for equipment for the playground, then showed up yesterday morning to level out the ground, pour concrete, assemble and paint picnic tables and cart in the toys.

The project was undertaken as Metro Rotary's part of a statewide program of hands-on good works by Rotarians called "Rotary Gives Thanks."

The playground won't be open for a week or two because a rubber mat covering for the concrete pad is still on order, Rhoads said, but the children seem impressed.

"Some of them came out and had a look around," she said. "They looked really excited.

"The playground will be a nice, safe place for them to play."

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.