Patio or astroturf best for kids?

[Runningwithscissors]

We currently have uneven, crumbling concrete slabs in a small (18 x 40ft) back garden with thick shrubby borders, which only gets a bit of morning sun and is shady the rest of the day.

Would like to hear opinions on laying a new patio vs astroturf, with regards to the best play surface for children all year round (we don't want a real lawn or decking) - thanks

I keep looking at this thread wishing I could say something useful. My worry would be that the astroturf might not be very durable, and it hurts to slide/fall on astroturf as much as concrete. Patios just look nicer, too.

I agree with the whole looks thing, lljkk; certainly wouldn't have entertained the notion pre-children.

Did wonder if we could get a nice patio laid and then some astroturf on top, that we could whip off in a few years' time....

for my boys (7 and 8) they would make more use of patio - you can ride a bike round on it, roller skate, and drive things like tractors, remote control cars etc round on it. And also they could chalk games on it that can be washed off later. Could also play games like basketball, or something that needs to bounce, or even badminton. And they can kick a ball around if they like too.

(NB you don;t want actual astroturf, you want NoMow - they have it at nursery for some of the baby areas and it is soft to land on)

but on balance I would say new patio. How old are the children?

actually if you can bear the cost, the NoMow site says you can lay it on top of paving...

MrsBadger, how much is the NoMow?

We have fake grass from here www.asgoodasgrass.co.uk and I can highly recommend it. However ours is a very small area (4 x 5m) and we also have patio paving too so the combination works.

We have had it for 4 years and it still looks great.

don't know, but I presumed that having a new patio and nomow would be more expensive than choosing one or the other...

How old are your DC and what do they like to do?

We rented last year during a refurb and had just terrace area, no lawn. The DC had a ball on scooters, bikes, skateboards, playing basketball.

Now we are back they play football and tennis on the lawn. DS cycles on it but its a bit much for 3yo DD. They scooter round the house.

So in other words, they play what the terrain allows.

Thanks hillbilly, will have a look. Do your kids play more on the grass or the patio?

taffetacatski, DD is 2, so not sure what play she'll want to do more of at a later stage....

They play on both - paddling pool and mini tent is on the grass and they play football everywhere. They go up and down the patio area in their toy car and scooters. The worst bit is that we also have a pebbled area and they love distributing pebbles all over the garden!

Thanks hillbilly