Best stuff to do in a small garden?

[Coffeekisses]

Apart from drinking gin of course.

We have two boys aged 5 and 8 and a really small garden. They are not keen on walks (and it’s really busy where we live so very stressful trying to keep away from people) so we’re trying to make sure they get exercise and fun in the garden. So far we’ve done ball skills/catching/throwing/aiming for a target (get the ball into a plant pot!), playing with a small tent, egg and spoon races, and elder ds has done laps around the lawn bit (have to keep telling him to change direction as it’s so tiny he will get dizzy!). What else can we do out there? Need to wait till I’m next in work (key worker on rota) to pick up compost then we can plant seeds. We’re trying to avoid unnecessary purchases but I am considering relenting and getting a very small climbing frame or basketball hoop. Any thoughts/ideas? We have a slide but it’s the biggest that will fit in the space and already too small for them iyswim. Garden is the size of a small living room. Appreciate we’re very lucky to have it! Thanks in advance for ideas 🙂

Do you have a bird feeder and bird bath? (I don't have any ideas really, sorry.)

Can you get a swingball set?

Paint on the fence with water and proper paintbrushes.

Basketball hoop sounds like a good idea. They might even like a sand pit. All kids like to play in sand.

Can you get a swingball set?

We had ( still have ) the same and a swingball was brilliant.

Swing ball is fab. Coloured chalk is useful to mark out obstacle courses.
If you have a patio set home bargains were selling a table tennis set to put on outdoor tables for £3 the other day.

Obstacle races - used to have a sort of folding tunnel thing that was the main thing , then other parts were getting dressed/ undressed from oversized clothes, throwing balls into containers, pouring water from one container to another, skipping, hula hooping - racking brains to remember .......

If they play with toy cars then they could make an off road course? Or if you could get a sandpit, they could drive them in there instead.
Scavenger hunt?
Bug tracking - try and follow eg a woodlice for 2 mins.

I'd paint a large area or piece of plywood with blackboard paint and let them go wild with chalk. They'll have hours of fun drawing round each other and just about anything else they can find. Best bit is it takes up no room.

We have a tiny garden too. I bought a pop up basketball net that folds into a bag. We can easily pack it away when not using it and can take it to the park / beach when lockdown is over! It came with a basketball too.

Blow up or pop up goal and a foam/soft ball to keep windows safe!

Another vote for Swingball!

Pop up football goal? My son isn't particularly into football but enjoys kicking a ball around and scoring penalties!

We dusted off the swingball this afternoon😄
In this hot weather Id suggest a sprinkler or paddling pool.
Sandpits are good too. Make a treasure hunt or search for bugs. Lots of messy craft activities are great outside- roll of lining paper and make foot prints/ hand prints or paint a picture.
Create an obstacle course, or a camp.
Chalking on paving slabs, hopscotch , if you and dh join in games like british bulldog, what's the time mr wolf are good, might be showing my age 🤣.
Dont feel guilty about buying or ordering things to keep them entertained.

Fold up table tennis table. They're not too young and they'll enjoy playing forever. Its one of the best things I ever bought. I also second a bird feeding table, very enjoyable

Thank you for all the suggestions! So far we’ve been doing a lot of throwing tennis balls into plant pots but hopefully I can persuade DH it’s ok to buy a couple of bits. They would love an obstacle course!

Before you plant seeds, use some of the compost in a game of archaeology. Basically bury a load of dinosaurs in a pot and let them discover them. Also works well as an ice age game if you freeze dinosaurs in a small bowl of water.

Make giant bubbles:
Thread plastic straws onto string and tie the ends to make a ring.
Dip it flat into a bowl containing water and washing-up liquid.
Lift the ring out, catching a film of bubble mixture inside the ring.
Pull the edges of the ring together, allowing the breeze to fill the fill to make a bubble.

Any crafts that are too messy for the house, e.g. tie-dyeing
Make a mud kitchen
Treasure hunts (find something green, something round..., or take photos and they find the objects in the pictures)
Circuits - set up a station in each corner and the centre, each with a different physical activity e.g. bounce a ball x times, skipping, balance on one leg, star jumps... Time themselves carrying out a circuit. Try to beat own time or increase their individual number of repeats in a minute.

Google outdoor maths or outdoor science and pick some activities that supplement what you've been sent by school.

Make a den (use the slide to provide the basic structure).

Take torches out after dark and explore, or have a story in the den.