Music filled the overcast skies, muffling the drilling, hammering and yammering between volunteers and team leaders, as swings, a slide, a climbing wall and a basketball hoop took shape in an aqua, plum and yellow color scheme.

"To me it's literally a dream come true," said Holly Holowach, program manager at the Weinberg Village, a transitional housing complex.

Three-year-old Sky Hillis couldn't wait to get on the "big slide."

The day before, Sky, other children and adults made stepping stones, decorating small round discs with colorful glass orbs and tiles. Workers were installing the 27 stepping stones on a mud pathway between two buildings, adding larger stepping stones to fill in the spaces.

Holowach said she recognized a need for a playground when she began working at the site in 2003 and children would hang around her desk complaining about being bored. When at capacity, the village has about 45 adults and 75 to 100 children.

She made an inquiry to KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to building safe play spaces in communities across the country.

Last year Home Depot, which has built 250 playgrounds in the United States and Canada with KaBOOM!, wanted to build its first Hawai'i playground. That's when KaBOOM! called, she said.

Home Depot donated about $45,000 for the project and Weinberg Village provided about $10,000. The volunteers were expected to work about six hours, Holowach said. Additional money from a private source will pay for a rubberized safety surface, she said.

In addition, a public address system and lunch for the entire crew were donated, said Jenn Garner, KaBOOM! project manager. On Tuesday and Wednesday about 20 volunteers prepared the site, dug holes for the play equipment and unloaded the building material. People were upbeat and excited, she said.

"It must be the air: Everyone is willing to help and make things a success," Garner said.

Sara Izen and Doreen Lee were struggling with a bolt on a piece of the playground equipment but enjoying the process. "We want to pitch in and help Waimanalo so we'll have an idea of what it's like when we build our playground," Izen said. They are volunteers for the effort to get a playground for Kuhio Park Terrace in Kalihi.

Prior to the construction, Weinberg Village residents met with KaBOOM! personnel, said Georgene Keanu, a resident and mother of three toddlers. The children were involved in choosing the types of equipment, the colors and the final design.

Everyone has been excited about the project for months, she said, adding that the closest playground was at Waimanalo Beach Park.

"For me its a relief that we're going to have a playground," she said. "It's somewhere where the kids can play and have fun and it's in a very safe area."

It is the biggest playground of four that Brian Zinn, Home Depot store manager, has built. About 60 employees joined him.

Besides the playground there was enough money for picnic tables, planter boxes with benches, a separate basketball hoop in the parking lot and a mural, Zinn said. The playground includes a large corkscrew slide, two swings and a tower for pre-schoolers.

"At the end of the day I get to watch the kids stare at their playground with gleaming eyes," Zinn said. "It's almost like Christmas for them."