The outdoors are great for letting the young ones run, play and jump around. However, there are a few careful design considerations to keep top of mind when you’re creating the perfect outdoor oasis for you and your family. Here are a few reminders to keep your outdoor areas fun and safe for all ages.
Kids love organic natural elements and nature-inclusive challenges, like tree branches for swinging or large stones for balancing. Those organic play spaces can have a far bigger impact than the most impressive play structures. They also allow you to enjoy your space without some of the stranger oddities that those same play structures may include.
Maybe this means lower-level patio furniture with a big coffee table for afternoon snacks or a kid-sized picnic table for Saturday morning picnics. Most patio furniture features easy-clean surfaces, but some hold up better than others. Glass tabletops can be iffy for young kids, and so can furniture with sharp corners, so opt for rounded edges. Hammocks, kid-sized hanging chairs and oversized round swings for lounging in the shade all invite kids to enjoy the outdoors with their parents.
If you have kids who’ll be practicing some sort of sport, you’ll want grass that can hold up to a lot of use. The same goes for any grass that gets foot traffic consistently. Opt for a hardy, tough-to-kill grass like zoysia, Bermuda grass or St. Augustine. You could also forego grass altogether and opt for a ground cover (like chamomile or creeping thyme) or a wood or recycled rubber mulch space edged with plants.
