The best way to maximise a child’s enjoyment of the garden is to allow a range of outdoor activities to occur without too much parental influence. Below are six suggested activities that will keep the children occupied in both small and large gardens.
1. DIGGING. Dedicate an area to the garden where children can dig. From a child perspective the bigger the space the better – its great if at least two children can comfortably sit in a pit of sand. However if your space is limited consider a couple of pots with sand and allow the children the freedom to spill sand onto the ground.
2. DRAWING. Invest in some chalk. Allow children to draw on an outdoor hard surface – either a wall or the ground. It may look terrible but it will wash away. If you have limited outdoor hard surfaces consider a chalk board or allowing the children to draw on flower pots.
3. DECORATING. Let the children decorate a section of the garden. There are plenty of accessories for the garden that can create instant fun without turning the outdoors into a candy store. Consider placing metal insects or birds on a stake into planter pots. Even the smallest garden can accommodate some decorations that appeal to the younger members of the family without offending adult sensibilities.
4. PLANTING. Give each child some dirt, seeds and a pot or section of the planting bed to grow some plants.
5. SWINGING. A swing is really a given for garden fun.
6 JUMPING. Unfortunately one of the best child outdoor entertainment systems is the trampoline. Why is this unfortunate – it looks terrible, particularly if you are safety conscious and insist on a safety net. Trampolines are designed for both the small and large garden but lets face it the dinky small trampolines do not provide the same level of fun as the larger trampolines.
A part from placing the trampoline out of sight or sinking it into the ground there is only one other way to reduce its visual impact. Buy a black trampoline. Black recedes and is one of the best colours to use outdoors when you want to make an object disappear.
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