Briars in child's play area?

I recently moved to a new house that has a wonderful little area of the back yard that is enclosed and would be perfect for my 4 year old to play in but i have one major problem. BRIARS! Big think redish purple ones that i tried to pull up and after tugging and having them go straight through my gloves i finally gave up. I'm wondering how to salvage this area. The briars are too deep to pull up the roots! Also there seems to be alot of grubs and all types of nasty bugs and such under the weeds that i have been pulling. Is there a way to get rid of the briars and bugs?

Answers:
Roundup does not kill briars properly.You can get chemicals that will if you ask at garden supplier.You could also snip them with a secateurs and then dig up the roots .If you clean away all the debris the bugs will leave.

Other answers:
buy a weedkiller called Roundup, it kills EVERYTHING and also kills off the roots of the plant. Be very careful as to how you use it, it doesn't discriminate against plants you want and don't want. As for bugs, for slugs leave a jar of beer out, they will crawl in and drown. The other bugs should be able to get rid of some with a bug killer, but you may have to accept that bugs are natural and you will never be able to eradicate them completely. Please be very careful with your 4 year old, don't allow him/her anywhere near where you have sprayed, it will seriously harm him/her's health.
buy a weedkiller called Roundup, it kills EVERYTHING and also kills off the roots of the plant. Be very careful as to how you use it, it doesn't discriminate against plants you want and don't want. As for bugs, for slugs leave a jar of beer out, they will crawl in and drown. The other bugs should be able to get rid of some with a bug killer, but you may have to accept that bugs are natural and you will never be able to eradicate them completely. Please be very careful with your 4 year old, don't allow him/her anywhere near where you have sprayed, it will seriously harm him/her's health.
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