Kid-friendly back yard

[niccig]

Our back yard is heavily landscaped in English Cottage garden. Great for the previous owner and us, but now we have DS. I've been thinking or removing the garden beds in half the yard and making it more kid-friendly for DS, but I need some ideas. Any suggestions???

Thanks.

[BeachBum]

I feel your pain. :) We are in the planning stages of a major backyard overhaul as well. I think we are going to put in a large patio/grilling area/seating area. And then put grass/chips in the rest of the yard for play space and a swing set.

One friend's home that we play at is nice because they have several outdoor playthings (8 in 1, swing set, sandbox, teeter totter), and the yard is fenced of course. But in the summer it is really hot because there are no trees. So you may also want to think about sun position in relation to how you lay out your equiptment.

Beyond that I'm not sure what we should be thinking about. Our yard is very small, courtyard sized, so maximizing every inch is a necessity.

[brittone2]

There are some awesome kids gardening books out there. We have one by Susan Lovejoy (??). I think that's her name. It has gardening things to do with kids, plants they'd be interested in, etc. It also has things to do to make the garden fun for kids...one idea is planting sunflowers in a big circle to make a sunflower house. You can trellis vines/beans, etc. to make a little tee pee. If you have really limited space that might be something fun that could be in a really small area.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761123865/qid=1111434786/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1?tag2=familieswithp-20

Is there a place you can hang an outdoor swing? A porch or a tree?

[miki]

It seems like a shame to remove your landscaping. My kid has always spent more time playing with the natural stuff in the yard--sticks, stones, flowers, leaves, etc.--than any toys I put out there. Maybe you can incorporate some kid-friendly details into the landscape without removing too much. I can easily see a cute playhouse that would go with the English Cottage look. The playhouse could have it's own "flower bed" that you could fill and re-fill with any number of things for sensory exploration--sand, gravel, wood chips, dried corn kernels (like from a sack of animal feed). If you add a water feature in front of the playhouse, like a fountain, you have something to use for water play. If you don't already, you can lay down a few slate stepping stones in a little walkway for chalk drawings.