Small square garden - how to make some fun and interesting spots for the kids?

[thunderinthesky]

Our garden is not too big, very standard, flat, square patio and grass and a garden shed.

What can we do on a tight budget that creates some more interesting and engaging spots for children to use and play in, all weathers??

How old are your kids?

Oh yes .. children are aged 4 and 1 :)

I’ve got a digging area for mine- they love it! I often hide things in there for them to Dig around and find- dinosaur eggs are their fav!

@OnceuponaRainbow18 that's a god idea thank you.
We have recently moved the shed so have a bit of a mud patch which we could use for this!

I thought maybe getting some stepping stones across the grass too. I had them in my garden when I was a kid and remember loving those.

How about a raised bed so that they can grow some vegetables?

Mud kitchen
Teeny sand pit. This was by far the most used of any of our outdoor toys
Water play of some kind. I saw a neat idea for a small space, also safer for kids of a narrow trench, like a piece of gutter, with the ends blocked off, filled with water and little boats.
Stepping stones are a nice idea - how about a couple of log slices too?

have a look on Pinterest, so many ideas for this kind of thing! I spend far too long on there!

if you can attach things to your walls or fences (or shed), this makes for good space saving! like guttering for water or sand play.

also pots or hanging baskets of interesting plants, lavender and Calendula are good (let the Calendula go to seed so they can play with/spread/sow the seeds)

Mini-beast area - just need some rocks, bricks, wood/branches that they can turn over and find wood lice etc. Agree with mud kitchen and sandpit. Plus a few herb pots with safe and nicely scented herbs such as mint for them to use in the mud kitchen.