Inside: How to Create a Child-Friendly Garden. Collaborative post.
There’s no escaping the fact that once you bring children into the world, almost every one of your priorities shifts. One of these priorities is what sort of space you want your garden to be. Prior to being a parent, it’s likely that you wanted your garden to be a space of calm that’s ideal for hosting social gatherings.
Despite this, when little ones come along, the garden isn’t so much of a relaxing haven as it is a play area. So, just how do you go about making this shift from an adult-friendly garden to a child-friendly one?
Install Turf
Firstly, whether it’s natural or artificial, a lawn is the best surface for playtime, and with the right lawn edging and maintenance, you can still ensure it looks neat and tidy. Due to the rough and tumble nature of kids, they need a soft surface to fall onto.
This way, your little ones will be able to practice handstands and cartwheels, play ballgames, or play in any way they like. When it comes to plants in the surrounding areas, make sure you opt for plants that are easy to maintain and able to withstand footfall, as well as the occasional football.
Design a Sensory Garden
It’s always a positive thing to encourage your little ones to explore your garden and stimulate their senses. In order to stimulate the eyes, you should opt for brightly coloured flowers like sunflowers, nasturtiums, and marigolds.
For hearing, rustling seed heads and rattling grasses sound delightful, while sage leaves have interesting textures that encourage kids to use their sense of touch. Next, smells can be incorporated into the space via chocolate cosmos or the curry plant.
Finally, the tastebuds can be stimulated via strawberries, mint, chives, or other fruits and herbs.
Incorporate Winding Paths
One thing that kids love to do outside is ride bikes, scooters, and pretty much anything with wheels. While a traditional patio will do the job for this, creating winding paths brings more of a challenge, which contributes to the fun.
Not only does this set up a great track for wheeling around, but it also provides a great foundation for many other fun-filled games. Therefore, the adults can get involved in the fun, too. Not to mention that is creates an attractive aesthetic, allowing you to create a simultaneously beautiful and fun garden space.
Keep Play Equipment in Mind
No child-friendly garden is complete without play equipment; therefore, the design must allow for this. If you don’t have a lot of garden space, don’t be afraid to get creative with the space you do have. You don’t have to solely stick with products that are already on the market.
As long as you ensure everything is safe and secure, you can build your own play equipment that effortlessly slots into the contours of your garden. For instance, you might place a slide on some garden steps or create a sandpit in a lone corner.
Nothing Beats Natural
Last but not least, the perfect child-friendly garden isn’t necessarily filled with endless toys, it’s just about being imaginative about your natural resources and creating play areas from such. For instance, tree stumps can be transformed into obstacle course, while paving slabs can be laid to create steppingstones.
Similarly, instead of throwing away garden waste such as branches and leaves, see if your children can find an imaginative use for it instead. You’d be surprised about how easily children can create their own fun from the simplest of things just by using a little creativity and imagination.