Toddler Friendly Garden - Desperate for help/ideas

[OuiOui]

My dd is 11 months old and we've recently moved into a house with a smallish garden (altho it is London so we count ourselves very lucky) However it's quite wild and the grass area is very wet. We've had a handyman clear it up but don't know what to do about the wet grass. We want to put new turf down but don't know if the wetness will continue to seep through. Anyone any ideas? Also want to put up a small play area (swing/slide) type thing and sand pit (next Spring really) Open to all ideas. Know anyone who can help? We're in Highgate.

It sounds a bit odd if the grass area is staying wet after the dry spell London has been having. If it doesn't show any signs of drying out maybe the drainage needs looking at. I know someone whose lawn was affected by some building work that was done in the garden next door & it made their garden more boggy, till the lawn was mostly moss. Not very helpful I'm afraid!

Hi OuiOui,
We too have a very small garden, it was split into two levels, patio on the bottom and grass on the top. When our triplets were a year old we decided that it would not be safe for them so this is what my husband did! We kept the two levels, but we did away with the patio and grass and put decking down, with three wooden steps up, but a gate across at the bottom to stop them climbing up. We also put a short fence to stop them falling from the top deck to the bottom! Then Harry built them a playhouse on the top deck, 8ftx6ft, with a stable type door, windows with shutters, using plastic sheets for glass. He painted it in Cuprinol paint, a sagey green and forget-me-knot blue, very pretty. Because of its size we were able to get vitually all their toys which are normally under the stairs out there, great, no more clutter indoors.
So all year round, even in the winter as long as they are wrapped up, they can get out, no mud to tread in. In the summer its great, we are all bare foot as the wood is so warm, and of course its great for pushing trains, etc along. The other bonus is its easy to keep clean, just sweep it up!
Harry built them a sand pit next to the playhouse, with a wooden lid, they had that until they were three, then got fed up with it, so we dismantled it, giving them more room now as they are getting bigger. Its great inside the playhouse, they have a kitchen area, and the boys have a workbench, plus a table and chairs, a bookcase, etc etc etc.
Hope this gives you some ideas, it has been brilliant for us, we still have flowers, we just put them in nice large containers, then we can move them around the garden to create a different look.