making the most of a tiny yard?

[Anonymous]

We have a 5 and 6 year old and a small row house back yard. We've never done too much with it besides planting pretty things and setting up a grill and dining table since we live a few blocks from 3 different play grounds.

But, now we are looking at 2 months at home (optimistically) and want to give our kids the best shot at entertaining themselves while we work. So far sidewalk chalk, sticks, scooters for the parking pad, and stacking things have gotten us pretty far but I want to add a couple things.

What do people think of those dome shaped climbing structures? We would have room. Or a free standing swing like this: https://www.amazon.com/SUPER-DEAL-Saucer-All-Steel-Weather/dp/B07M763DC1/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=free+standing+swing&qid=1585688676&sr=8-3

They do play soccer with a mini goal and do like to play catch. For whatever reason, they won't play corn hole. Open to any ideas to make our little space work for them and us!

[Anonymous]

That would be fun but pricy for just one piece of equipment and they may be too big for it. I'd get a small trampoline but only let one on at a time or maybe even a bouncy house.

[Anonymous]

Sandbox (even a plastic bin filled with play sand, pop-up tent or other easy fort, darts... plastic slide (depending on age)

[Anonymous]

We ended up just getting our similarly aged kids a lot of games to play - cones and rings, bean bag toss, that sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sandbox (even a plastic bin filled with play sand, pop-up tent or other easy fort, darts... plastic slide (depending on age)

Do a sand/water table and a sprinkler or kiddie pool in warmer weather.

[Anonymous]

We got a bouncy house for our almost 3 year old and almost 6 year old. Throw in some balls and it has been good for an hour here and an hour there.

[Anonymous]

Bounce house is a good idea, or netted trampoline. Monkey bars / climbing if you have space. Sand/water/mud play of some kind.

We have a freestanding swingset (no climbing thing) that is used a lot but honestly the safe clearance around a swing is probably bigger than you think. I get nervous about ours even though I have seen them set much closer to a fence than we have it -- if DD came off at the top of the arc, she'd go over the fence.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do that round swing, unless you're really going to cement it down because I think they'd tip it. Also it's might not be worth the space it takes up.

It will be hot soon. Get some sort of sprinkler to attach to the hose and water guns. Will your space work with a basketball goal or some sort? Bouncy house?

[Anonymous]

Do you get sunlight? Some kids love planting a garden and o know it's helped mine love vegetables. Salad greens are pretty easy to get time of year before it gets hot.

Google square foot garden for some small space ideas. Or just do large pots.

[Anonymous]

My kids loved our climbing dome but we had a huge backyard. Its a pretty semi-permanent structure so I'm not sure if getting one that fills your backyard is a good idea. I'd look into getting homelike a small pop up camping tent that they can play in and you can easily take down. fort making materials that can be outside maybe a tetherball. if you have the diameter space. With a tetherball you can install it where you can take it down when you aren't playing. You can try vertical gardening to avoid the garden stuff taking valuable space. Google DIY vertical planters -you can make them out of all kinds of stuff.

I'd let them paint out there, get some clay, let them paint pots, make a pathway etc.

[Anonymous]

We also have a small back yard.
We have a swing hanging on a tree branch and we have a mini trampoline we bring out. Adirondack chairs for the adults. Small plastic play structure.
We have a small vegetable garden.
A collapsible fire pit.
A picnic blanket.

You could also get corn hole set.
The key thing is a lot of things you can pull out and then put away so it's easy to change your activity.

[Anonymous]

GET A KIDDIE POOL!

Get the large-ish one for $30 or so - like 10 feet by 20 ft (roughly) with three inflatable rings. I just looked at the target site - we used to buy one every year from Target - and I don't see the one we used to get. So start looking now for it before they sell out.

When the kids were that age (I have teenagers now) we would put that in our back parking pad and it would entertain them all day lng. We'd leave the water in it for two or three days, them empty and clean. (and like someone else said, we'd put it away, do other things, then bring it back out in a few days).

The trick is that you really need something to put under it, as it gets slippery and the kids fall onto hard concrete (or the concrete causes tears). So we got those padded square tiles that interlock and made a mat that went under the pool.

Seriously, this summer could get bad if we're still social distancing and it's hot and no pools are open. Adults can even get in. I'm thinking of getting one for my teenagers! They could just cool off or float around in it for a bit just to cool off.

Also, in our gardening beds we planted super easy things - cherry tomatoes and cucumbers was all we really had space for. The kids also loved eating things right off the vines.

[Anonymous]

My kids are older but the most used play item we ever got them was a trampoline (with netting). They used it for hours almost every day for years and years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you get sunlight? Some kids love planting a garden and o know it's helped mine love vegetables. Salad greens are pretty easy to get time of year before it gets hot.

Google square foot garden for some small space ideas. Or just do large pots.

OP here.

Yes, we get TONS of light. One of the best parts of our tiny house (end of row so one side fully exposed) is all the light. But, we've only grocery shopped and amazon ordered for the last few weeks. So, I wasn't sure about getting soil and new seedlings. How would you go about this?

We did not get the swing but did order the dome which will take up a good bit of space but I marked out an area that they don't really use currently.

Kiddie pool and upgrading sprinkler great ideas. We gave away the water table when they seemed done with it last summer.

I did have them use old 2 x 4s and left over bricks from some repair work for an obstacle course today. What else can I use that's not buying more plastic stuff?

[Anonymous]

I blew up a yoga ball and my 4 year old is loving rolling around the (tiny rowhouse) back yard on it. The climbing dome isn’t getting any use, but we brought the mini trampoline inside and that’s getting a ton of love. I’m really tempted to get a bounce house, but worry it could turn into an attractive nuisance.