parents of young kids - how much do you use your yard?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
+1. We appreciate not having to go to the park each time we want to play outside. We enjoy parks and playgrounds too, but it’s nice to have the option to get some things done at home while they play. |
Anonymous
| Seconding the stage of life comment. I missed not having a big yard during the toddler years and again during the lockdown days of Covid. But now that my kids are 10 and 13, they want to meet their friends out at the park. The stretches without the big yard we’re tough but it is also just a phase. With older kids I’d only want a big yard if it had a pool. |
Anonymous
|
A ton--every day. We love it. I wouldn't want it to be any bigger (about 1000 sq ft of grass) but we leveled it and my kids are out there playing soccer and baseball right now. We frequently host gatherings on our patio and in the yard with a play structure. In the summer we turn on the sprinkler for our kids, which they love. Can't imagine the pandemic without this little slice of private outdoor space. We also created a bunch of garden beds and I did not anticipate how much I'd enjoy planting and maintaining those. Our dogs are also big fans. All that being said, it is work to keep it useful and beautiful (if you don't maintain, you definitely won't use it) and I think we wouldn't have known the difference if we had bought a place without it initially.
I wouldn't discount the utility of good outdoor space but if you weigh it all out and decide this is the house for you, then make the most out of your local parks and green spaces. |
Anonymous
| Alllllll the time. We have 1/3 acre. |
Anonymous
| We have a decent-sized back yard and use it daily (weather-permitting) — even with a nature center and a park with hiking trails within walking distance (West Springfield, VA). |
Anonymous
| I have nearly 2 acres and we use the backyard daily (front is for show). However, I really fell in love with a house with a tiny and steeply sloped yard when we ended up winning the bid on our house. I still think back and know we could have made it work. It would've been different for sure, but in some ways better to go socialize at those nearby tot lots while kids are young. |
Anonymous
|
I wish we had a big yard, but a tiny townhouse yard was a tradeoff for other things (price, walking distance and safe infrastructure for getting to lots of things in the neighborhood, avoiding my spouse's irrational prejudice against ranches....). We've found that it's great for the toddler, and best for messy but defined space activities like sand box, water table, and gardening. It feels pretty small for the elementary schooler, he likes the idea of popping outside on his own but a lot of the more active stuff he wants to do does require a larger open space.
I did think like a lot of others here - good for the younger years when going down the street to a park is ideal, less great for the time in between playground and independent with friend ages, good again to be walking distance to a lot of safe public spaces for the teenage years. I loved having a big yard growing up in a rural area and miss it, but i also felt hemmed in and dependent on rides from my parents in a way that I don't want for my kids. |
Anonymous
| We have a smaller backyard than some posters, it’s definitely not half an acre or anything but we have enough room for a play set, a deck, toys, grass to run around in. Its so nice. We used to live in an apartment without a private backyard and, although it’s nice to take them to the playground and we still do, it’s wonderful to have an outdoor place for them to play while I’m making dinner etc. I wouldn’t completely discount a great house with a smaller yard but with the ages of my kids it’s so important to have a decent outdoor space and I wouldn’t buy anything without a yard big enough to keep them occupied. |
Anonymous
| Daily, and now that my youngest is 11 she still uses it several times a week. 14 year old no longer does. |
Anonymous
| We always went to parks so when we moved to a larger house, we weren’t concerned about no yard for the kids. Our backyard is a terraced deck. It actually became a Mecca for kids (HS age now) during Covid. They would hang out. So glad we didn’t get a yard with grass. It was such a short time when they were little that it would get used. An entertainment deck is far better and get more use. |
Anonymous
| We have a tiny yard but are in a DC neighborhood where the kids run up and down the streets to and from neighbors houses. Even if we had a big yard, I doubt we would use it, other than to be lazier re walking our dog |
Anonymous
| Older kids use the yard a lot. I have a 21,20 and 15 year old and the pool and deck used all summer and my dog loves it year around. I BBQ 9 months a year. I have 1/2 acre. My neighbors use it way more. |
Anonymous
| Honestly we rarely use it. You know if you are a lawn person or not. If you enjoy taking care of a big yard or spending a lot of time there, go for it. Otherwise it will be a burden |
Anonymous
| Our three kids (8 and under) use our yard every day. We have a play structure and a “hideout” they built under a pair of big spruce trees. 3/4 acre lot. |
Anonymous
| OP you might not mind having a very small yard when you have a baby and toddler because no matter where they are (backyard or a playground) you have to be right there constantly supervising. In a few years you will probably want a decent sized yard. My kids are almost 5 and 8 and for the past year or so I've been able to just send them out there (it's fenced in) and either get stuff done in the house or hang out in the screened in porch while they play. I would hate to have to take them somewhere every time they wanted (or needed) to run around and get fresh air. My oldest doesn't really like playgrounds anymore and would rather go in our trampoline or throw a football in the backyard. Try to think past your current stage and think about a few years from now. |