Planning Play Areas Into Your Landscaping
Every home that has children should have a designated place outside for the them to play in. Providing an outdoor play area for children brings lots of rewards: the children love it, parents know the children are safe and happy, and the rest of the garden is (usually) left to grow without too much disturbance. In fact, it may turn out that if you create a nice enough place, It could become a favorite hangout of all the kids in the neighborhood, which might or might not be something you want. It’s usually fairly easy to add at least a small play area into your garden design plans.
For small kids, a play area should be closer to the home so the children can be visible but not feel too restricted. An area that is visible from a kitchen window is perfect. While there are a lot of manmade toys that can be placed in a play area, young kids will often prefer to think up their own games using nothing more than sticks, rocks, and other natural materials. A simple sandbox (covered when not in use, to keep out neighborhood pets) will keep small children happy for hours, especially if there is a source of water nearby. Add some natural elements to the sandbox like small stones or sea shells. (Later, you can turn any sandboxes into garden beds.) Old logs make a good climbing frames and so can a small tree, especially if it has strong branches that are closer to the ground.
The older kids will prefer their play areas be a little further away from the house. Still, they should always be in a very visible place that has been specifically planned into the front yard design or backyard landscaping ideas. Older kids love to use their imaginations so don’t give them a treehouse right away. Begin with the simple, possibly using some boards nailed to a tree as steps or even a piece of rope to climb up into the trees. The tree can then be anything. A house, plane, ship, or anything the imagination can come up with.
A rough grassy patch can be good as a play area as it is soft enough to fall in and possibly long enough to be a hiding spot. If this idea doesn’t work with the rest of your landscaping ideas, you might try bark chunks or chips as a surface under play equipment which can work as a cushion for those inevitable falls.
An area of concrete will also be a well used spot as the kids grow up. This is where they will wheel dolls in prams, try out the rollerblades, learn to ride a tricycle and, later, a bike, and practice various other skills. And if you give the kids a sunny spot of their own, who knows, they may even discover gardening.
Tags: childrens play areas, landscaping for kids, landscaping ideas, recreational landscaping
