Making backyard good for young kids

[Sparkymoo]

Have seen a great house but it has a backyard. Decent size - neighbours have a trampoline, raised bed with bushes, small shed and seating area. So not an enormous courtyard but some room.

Partner loves the house but thinks we have to have a garden as we have a 4 year old. I think being 5 min walk from lots of things to do and having a decent yard is enough.

Any ideas on making backyards play friendly?

(We only have one child, I was brought up with a much smaller backyard and played in it all the time, he was brought up with a garden but quite a working garden as in veg plot so actually wasn't very play friendly).

Is there a park within walking distance? What are the streets like where you are? We live in a village with a couple of parks in walking distance and also have a back garden. DC (age 4) does play in the garden but spends much more time going to the park/going on his bike or scooter on the paths nearby - although this might be harder if you are somewhere with busy roads!

Having your own space is good as they will be able to play there by themselves from an earlier age, but it doesn't have to be grass - a patio can be better for bouncing a ball around and won't get muddy after lots of rain. You could add some play equipment if you like (goalpost, sandpit, basketball hoop on the wall)

I’ve not tried it myself, but there’s rubber matting available to lay on patio in case of falls.

5 min to park, library, play cafe, under 10 mins to beach. I think it's ideal, especially as he gets older and wants to do things himself with friends, lots of shops, retro gaming cafez safe places for bike, swimming pool.

And I think we could do goalposts for yard. I'm from a big family, small yard and we used to play cricket!

Kind of wish we'd seen this house after seeing a couple more to show what it's offering better.

There are houses with gardens but they are 20 min from centre and you end up more careful reliant.

It sounds like you have plenty of places to go for outside space nearby, how lovely being so close to the beach.

My DC mostly use the trampoline l, their sand and water tray and mud area for digging in, which it sounds like you could do based on the neighbours garden.

Hard ground is better for riding trikes and bikes and playing with tomorrow controlled cars.

You could soften the look of it by adding tall plants/flowers in pots and growing up the fence.

It seems like a good size for a child to play in and for adults to relax in.
What does your dc like to do? Mine liked water play, digging and helping to grow stuff, kick or throw a ball around, having a garden picnic, sitting and reading outside, paddling pool in the summer.

It's great you have so many places nearby but some days it's nice just to relax at home or no one feels up to it so a garden, even small is useful.

Kids adapt.

If a garden was 100% necessary for bringing up kids then why are millions of people worldwide able to survive living in flats ?

For me gardens are only useful for kids for a very limited time period. Between say the ages of about 2-3 and maybe 7-8. Before that age they are happy in any space no matter how small as they can't do much stuff. After that it takes an enormous garden to keep them happy as the want to run around, bike, maybe play football and games and generally that requires a fair bit of space.

Go and see a couple more anyway ASAP if you feel you need to.

It sounds great though.

If it's big enough for a 10 foot trampoline and some space for mud, worms, flowers and space to sit and have a BBQ, then it is big enough.

We have garden birthday parties in ours, but football is a nightmare in any garden because the ball inevitably gets kicked over. The park is better for that.

That is so true about the football going over the fence.or.wall anyway!

How old is your dc? Our first garden was mostly paved yard with planted borders down one side and across the bottom. We had a water table and little sand pit out but there was room for DS's wooden railway to wind around as well, or his pedal car/scooter, plus we put the interlocking foam mats on the paving in the summer for more comfort.

We moved from that house when he was five; it was definitely better suited to a pre-schooler than a school age child. But we didn't live near a park or beach at that time so we did need the garden for outside play. The area you're looking at sounds ideal for you, so if the smaller garden is the compromise, it's not the worst thing in the world.

You do get a lot of value from any outside space anyway, you can still sit out with a little table and chairs and have drinks in summer or read in the sun.

Trampoline. A circular swing. Mud kitchen. Tbh if you have a decent park. By the time they are 8+ No one wants to hang out in the garden.

We're buying a house with a yard now instead of a proper garden, and it was a big con when viewing, but actually I think it'll suit us well.

Nobody has to mow the lawn, less general upkeep, no expense of getting gardeners in to trim hedges, and no boggy ground after rain. These are all things we hated about our last house! It'll hopefully free up time and money to spend with our kids, instead of weekend garden maintenance.

We're planning on lots of long planters and flowerpots to add some much needed greenery. It's not enormous but a good size, I suspect similar to what you're describing. It currently has a big greenhouse and shed in it, and still room for a generous seating area and some play space for kids. We have an enclosed driveway area to the front too for bike riding etc.

Our kids are 5, 2, and baby on the way. What sold us on it is similar to you I think - it's pretty much on the same road as both primary school & nursery, 5 mins from library, park, community garden, bus stop etc. I can't see why it wouldn't suit a young family, the only thing you really lose is a "pretty" garden, but that's subjective and there are lots of other ways to make it look nice!

What is the distinction between a backyard and a garden? Our back garden has paving all over, but some of our neighbours have lawns - last year one of them has taken out their paving to create a lawn area so that could be possible? Personally I prefer a hard surface as a lawn would just get muddy.

We have put rubber playground tiles down to make it safer for our toddler, and we have a playhouse, sandpit and trikes and car. I don't allow ball games as they'll end up over the fence. We'll get a trampoline once they're older. We don't spend hours out there as we're a family who likes to get out and about. Even if it was huge I'd get bored and would rather visit multiple parks than be stuck in the garden all day.

It's concrete, old terrace houses so not sure could get it up.

Was thinking could green the walls, get trellis up and ivy or passion flowers so it was nice to look at. (I like looking at red brick but think partner would appreciate as much green as possible).

Have seen a house nearby has paved theirs with nice stone, looks lovely.