Family friendly yard, is it possible?

[Playthegameout]

We currently have a yard at the back of our house. No grass or plants whatsoever. It was used by the previous owner to store his cars so it is a decent size. We have a toddler and would love to make the space more useable with spring on the horizon. We don't have much to spend so we can't afford to dig up the concrete and have it made into a proper garden yet. But it's a cracking Sun trap with high walls for privacy. We are complete novices but we were thinking of some nice bright stuff in tubs? No idea what though. Could we grow any fruit or veggies? Also is there any way we could get a covering to make the floor a little more forgiving if ds falls?

we covered a huge section of our patio with some playmats from ebay, they were dead cheap too. mine were green to blend in with the grass but they come in different colours, some are solid, mine were lattice like. really nice too walk on and very forgiving for bumps and knocks

Oh you can do loads!
Look at books on growing in pots,vertical gardening,permaculture.You can even do trees in tubs!
Water butt and wormery.
Feed the birds.
Insect,bee,bird,bat houses.

Mural on the walls and/or the ground.
Paint on hopscotch.
You could bark cover and area.

You can grow lots of productive stuff in pots.Sunny walls are a bonus.How about a fig? Espalier a fruit tree? Make raised beds?A herb spiral?

Hammock and stand.
How about a pergola or sail for a shadier area?

Dont forget about using the walls too -hanging baskets and low level troughs for DC to touch, plastic open guttering is easy/lightweight to put up for toddlers to run toys and water down. I used to have a yard garden pre-DC and grew veg in containers - tomatoes do really well in large pots.

You can get loads of cheap stuff in places like pound shops and wilkos,including trees,plants,and fruit bushes.
Think outside the box for containers -old tyres,washing machine drums, etc etc.
Allow for somewhere to store tools,bikes etc.
Bet your toddler would like a sandpit.

Get a list of poisonous plants -since you have a blank canvas its easy to avoid them.

Having a large space like that is cracking for toddlers anyway - you can have a sand table or pit, lots of space for scooters and then bikes, a water table or tub, space where they can bounce balls, chalk on the floor and fences, etc.,etc. Much easier to use all year round than grass is.

While a list of poisonous plants is useful, and surprising when you see the baddies, it's at the young stage you need to be instilling the rules about not eating anything in the garden, unless it's veggie coded, perhaps.

Thanks everyone, sorry I've been away for a while. Going to definitely take on board your ideas, looking at putting in some veg troughs, sand and water play area. Also painting part of a wall with blackboard paint. The mats have been ordered from eBay too. Luckily my mum has some free time over Easter and is coming over to help . Really excited about it now we know there's plenty of things we can do.

ikea runnen covers really well to create a nice area for grown up seats -its in squares which clip together so gives over uneven concrete.
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90234226/