Redoing front garden with toddlers in mind

[Anonymous]

I’m redoing my front garden from scratch because right now it’s all English ivy (ugh). Planning on tearing out a cracked concrete pad and putting down permeable pavers, putting a small amount of grass in, and a shade garden under a tree that’s already there. I have
a toddler and am pregnant with another child so I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for things your toddlers love in your garden that I should put in now? This is a front garden in the city so we probably won’t put in a swing set, etc.

[Anonymous]

I hesitate to suggest anything because it’s dangerous to allow kids to think it’s ok to play in the front yard, too close to road.
However-
Set aside a little garden bed where they can plant a bulb or flower of seeds, and watch it grow. “Their” garden.

[Anonymous]

To be clear, I would always be out there with them and there is a fence around the yard.

I LOVE the idea of their own little garden.

[Anonymous]

A butterfly garden is nice to have at this age.

[Anonymous]

lambs ear is nice to touch, and it's very hardy

[Anonymous]

As a parent of one teen and one young adult, I would think about the future, too. My kids stopped going outside to play by late ES. Now, we have to mow the lawn that nobody uses. We are actually thinking of ripping the lawn out and putting in low maintenance plants. We did this in our home in CA, too, but that was partly due to the drought.

[Anonymous]

If you have even a little bit of sun, I suggest grape tomatoes. They are easy for toddlers to harvest, and grow like weeks. They will even reseed themselves for the next year.

[Anonymous]

We are avid gardeners and my kids have never been interested in our garden. Their favorite thing that we grow are pumpkins. They are very, very excited to watch the pumpkins grow and take over.

They play outside for hours, but it's mostly scooters, chalk, bikes and tag with the other kids. Nothing to do with a garden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are avid gardeners and my kids have never been interested in our garden. Their favorite thing that we grow are pumpkins. They are very, very excited to watch the pumpkins grow and take over.

They play outside for hours, but it's mostly scooters, chalk, bikes and tag with the other kids. Nothing to do with a garden.

My kids like digging in dirt, finding worms, planting and watching things grow. YMMV

[Anonymous]

There are lovely books and web sites about children's gardens with great ideas. Keep in mind that gardens can evolve (less so with hardscaping, due to cost, but the rest of it).

When we were single and working, our garden was low key, easy care.

When we had babies and little kids it had swings, sandboxes, water play, room to run and kick a ball, simple beds of colorful perennial native flowers to attract pollinators, and veggies, bean huts, and herbs.

When they grew out of the yard toys, those went away replaced by trees, a fire pit area to hang out with friends and roast marshmallows, a little area of outdoor movies on a screen. The garden part became more designed, the veggies moved into more permanent raised beds, new hardscaping for entertaining.

Now empty nesters it's all about space for entertaining adults and enjoying the hobby of gardening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have even a little bit of sun, I suggest grape tomatoes. They are easy for toddlers to harvest, and grow like weeks. They will even reseed themselves for the next year.

This. They’re so easy to grow and our toddler and neighbor kids love picking them. In the months when they’re not growing, the kids like digging in the dirt.

[Anonymous]

If the tree has a strong enough branch, hang a simple swing.

Build a ground level sand pit (with a cover).

In full sun, create a small bed with perennial pollinators friendly plants, annual edible herbs and flowers, and veggies. [Easy starters: bee balm, ecchinacea, rudbekia, fall asters, spring bulbs; calendula, nasturium, thyme, lovage, bronze fennel, sage, basil; sugar snap peas in spring, grape tomatoes or sun golds in summer, red asparagus beans in summer, kale in fall.

Build a structure for vines to grow over to create a shady hide-away in a sunny spot, or use a soccer goal for double duty, or use an igloo climber so it is a gym when no vines are growing and a hideaway when covered with vines.

Make use of any wall or solid surface you have for water "painting", chalk, projecting movies.

Put easels in the yard for finger painting or mount the painting part of them on a wall.

Create an area for using found natural object for imaginary play (build a little house out of acorns, sticks, leaves, stones).

Buy a simple climber gym, or create a tiered garden out of something big enough to double as a climber.

Make room for a sprinkler or small easily drained tub for water play.

Put an outdoor toy box in a shady, out of view spot.

All of this is easily removed or redone when they grow out of it.

[Anonymous]

Op here. There are some great ideas in this thread. I definitely don't have room for all of them but keep them coming!

[Anonymous]

When my son was a toddler he found a garden gnome at the nursery and fell in love with it. We put it in a little area we called his garden - had some strawberries and other plants he said he wanted. We also put in a few logs he could sit on and climb over. Also some lawn to play ball.

[Anonymous]

P.s. - I am not a garden gnome gardener. But man, my kid loved that thing for years. He’s 18 now and still remembers it.