Toddler friendly Balcony

[craigslittleangel]

The only outside space I have is my balcony. Large enough to have two chairs and a table in, but not very wide. It has a metal frame, and annoyingly, a gap between the bottom and the start of the frame.

Before DC birth I just framed it with wicker fencing for privacy, but that?s about all.

My DC is 18 months and loves attempting to go onto the balcony. I'm looking for ideas as to what I can do, so it looks pretty, is toddler friendly and a lot safer.
Thanks

We had one of these sandpits on ours when DD was small and we lived in a flat with no garden. Our balcony was not big enough for a table but the sandpit we had was similar to the one I linked to.

My DD loved her sandpit and her "balc" as she called it. How big is the gap? We had a small gap but it was no way big enough for a toddler to fall through....I would remove the chairs and table, pop a sndpit on there...and one chair so you can supervise.

Buy some simple window boxes and mount them on the inside of the balcony so your toddler does not attempt to lean over to see what's inside.

You could just fill them with earth and let him dig in them...though that's messy! So I would also think about herbs like lavender and basil that he can pick and smell and maybe strawberry plants <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=2.bp.blogspot.com/_GYQJWRGrR3I/S8USoSRR0oI/AAAAAAAABAE/MjthP1NQQw4/s1600/Topsy%2BTurvy%2BStrawberry%2BPlanter%2B1.jpg&imgrefurl=www.familybalancesheet.org/2010/04/topsy-turvy-strawberries-experiment.html&usg=__pwkIQHx869FUTq7WLAB_1XrgJK4=&h=1600&w=1200&sz=268&hl=en&start=21&sig2=LGVJR2V-eW1cwmF2GPTRLg&zoom=1&tbnid=YRzqRhPGe4DiHM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=113&ei=skqLT5qgJ4rN8QPV2_HoCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhanging%2Bstrawberry%2Bplanter%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ACAW_enGB356GB357%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this so you could have them nearer to the door than the balcony.

If you wanted to seal up the "gap" then it's hard to think of how other than to place something very heavy over it to conceal it completely. Chicken wire and other "fencing" won't be strong enough.

You could have boxes of earth with plants in to hide the gap...you'd lose width but he shouldn't be able to move them....not if you make them heavy enough. And never let him hang out on his own! I was so paranoid even though my DD wasnt a climber.

You could put secure trellis in the gap? At ground level I think its a great idea to also plug the gap with narrow earth filled troughs, and you could grow edible non- irritant plants such as rosemary, sage, thyme, viola, pansies, marigiold, and you could grow cherry tomatoes for fun.

Toddlers can be capable of climbing onto chairs and have little sense of danger: so I agree, always be with DC on the 'balc'.

Thanks for all your replies.

Although the balcony is big enough for a table and chair, I never got round to getting some, so its just full of junk.

The gap, unfortuantely is big enough to get her head stuck (new flats as well, so no idea why they thought that was safe!) and I'm on the first floor.

Awkaward Mary, thanks for your links. I didn't even think about stawberry pants or anything by the door.

Thanks again.

i used garden wire netting with smallest hole size on a balcony/fire escape with no problems and three small children

like www.ukgardenproducts.co.uk/Garden-Wire