A playground roundabout (or merry-go-round) is a flat disk about 3 metres in diameter that can be made to spin by pushing on its handles. The children who spin it can jump on, and experience a dizzying ride. "Roundabout" is also often a synonym for carousel.
The playground roundabout is a simplified version of a fairground carousel.
The roundabout uses rotary motion, which means it spins around in a circle either clockwise or anti-clockwise.
An innovator found by the BBC has connected the roundabout to a pump, so that water is raised while the children play. This device is known as the Roundabout PlayPump. There are about 600 PlayPumps in South Africa, providing clean drinking water to about one million impoverished people.