Encouraging your kids to stay active is so important if you want them to be healthy. But it can be tough because you’re fighting an uphill battle against screens and a lot of kids would rather spend their time sitting inside playing on their phone or playing video games. If you find that you have trouble getting your kids to play outside and get some exercise, you need to create a fun space for them so that they want to get out and get some fresh air. That’s why it’s so important that you create a family friendly garden.
If you set up your garden in the right way, it can be a great space for the kids to play and for you to spend time as a family, and it’s also a good place for you to relax on a sunny afternoon if the kids aren’t around. These are some of the best ways to create a family friendly garden that the kids will love playing in.
Safety First
Safety should always be your biggest priority when setting up your garden because you want kids to be able to play out there without you having to worry about them getting injured. There are things in the garden that you wouldn’t necessarily consider hazards, but they’re very dangerous for children. Water features are a great way to create a relaxing atmosphere in your garden and they attract some great wildlife as well. But if there are going to be young children playing in the garden, you have to be careful. People don’t realise that it is possible for a child to drown in just a few inches of water, so even small water features can be dangerous. If you want a water feature, make sure that it’s a child friendly one. If you already have a pond in the garden, that is harder to remove, so you should make sure to cover it with some safety grids so children cannot fall into it.
You need to make sure that you secure all of the fences around the garden so there are no gaps for the kids to get out. Even though you’re supervising them in the garden, it only takes a few seconds to lose track of them and for them to get out of the garden and go wandering on their own. If the garden is secure and there are no hazards, you can rest easy and let them enjoy themselves.
Finally, you need to check the plants that are in the garden. Young kids like to explore the world by putting things in their mouths a lot of the time and that’s a big problem if there are poisonous plants in the garden. Before you let the kids play out there, you need to identify all of the plants and check that they aren’t dangerous. If you can’t identify a plant, it’s best to play it safe and just get rid of it.
Create A Shaded Area
This is partly about safety, but it’s also a good area for you to sit and relax while you supervise the kids out in the garden. In the height of summer, it’s not good for young children to be out in the heat all day, so they need a shaded area where they can have a break. If you put a nice patio in and consider building a pergola over the top, you can create a nice seating area in the shade. It’s ideal for the kids to have a break from the sun and have some snacks and drinks. You can also use it as a place to entertain guests on a warm summer evening once the kids are all in bed. Sectioning off an area of the garden and making it into a patio also means that you have less maintenance to do on the garden.
Create A Play Zone
Even though you’re creating a garden for the kids, you still want an area where the adults can relax and you also need some space for plants as well. You already have the patio, but you should section the rest of the garden into two zones. You can reserve one area for a lawn and some nice plants, and the other area can be a play zone for the kids. In their area, you can get some play equipment like slides and swings and put them up for them. It may also be a good idea to split the two areas with a fence, so you can make sure that the kids are never out of sight if you’re trying to supervise them while you’re getting on with something else in the house. If you limit their access to the adult area of the garden, that also means that you have more freedom to install water features and ponds etc.
When you’re creating your play zone, it’s important to remember that kids can get bored quite quickly. If you put play equipment in there, they’re not going to enjoy it forever and they might grow out of it in a few years. That’s why it’s not a good idea to spend lots of money on equipment that can’t be moved out easily.
Get Plenty Of Storage
You already know that finding a place to store the kids’ toys is important unless you want your house to be overrun with mess. It’s no different out in the garden and the toys will quickly start to build up. Toys that are left out overnight are also going to get damaged quickly and might get covered in bugs and slugs. That’s why you should definitely get a shed out in the garden to store all of their toys as well as some of your own stuff like lawn mowers and tools. If you are keeping tools in the shed, it’s important that you get a lock on there because they could be dangerous for the children. A shed can also be great as a summer house for them to play in or maybe even a games room as they get older.
Creating a family friendly garden is so important because it helps to keep the kids active and gives you a space where you can enjoy some quality family time.