Creating a Kids Friendly Back Yard

Your back yard becomes the great outdoors if it lures the kids into the fresh air and away from their electronic gadgets. That WOULD be great! But once you get them out there, you need to ensure they’re safe and happy in a kids-friendly back yard.

One way to get them outside, and keep them amused while they’re out there, is to encourage them to participate in some gardening with you. It’s fun for them at the time, and a great life lesson for the future. Check out the Get Growing range, which includes kitset gardens, garden edging, and garden stakes.

https://getgrowing.nz/ 

No matter what you do to entertain the kids while they’re outside, safety is your prime consideration. Getting hurt isn’t a child’s idea of fun so look out for these potential dangers:

Update that gate - it's good sense to fence

Gates and fences need to be secure and make it impossible for children to wander away from the safety of your back yard. How do your current fences and gates rate in the child safety stakes? Take a look at the range of trellis from Get Growing and see how you can combine safety with style.  https://getgrowing.nz/collections/trellis

Gates don't need to be hard to set up. We make it easy with our premade pine gates. We manage to combine strong with lightweight and durable with functional. 

Water, water everywhere 

Kids are fascinated by water – with possible exception of bath time! But in an outdoor situation, water features like ponds, or paddling pools, are irresistible. Ensure there’s a barrier between your kids and water, be it netting over a pond, or a fence around the pool.

You only have two eyes

Keeping an eye on more than one child isn’t the easiest thing to do. When they’re darting here, there and everywhere, your attempts at supervising them can make you resemble a spectator at Wimbledon watching a match being played at ten times the normal speed, and on a dozen different courts. For easier supervision, set up a play zone in one spot, instead of having one child here, one child there and another child goodness knows where.

Be a cool family

Even if it’s not the sunniest of days, it’s important your kids stays in the shade as much as possible. Cloudy skies can be deceptive, and young skin burns easily. Provide shaded areas for outdoor fun, particularly if the kids are out there for hours on end.

Take time to wander around the yard before you let the kids loose, and check everything else is safe. Are garden tools and poisons locked up in the shed? Are there prickly weeds in the lawn? Are the flowers in the garden poisonous, as well as pretty? There’s a lot to think about when creating a child-friendly back yard, but when you see them enjoying fresh air instead of being glued to a mind-numbing device, you’ll realise it’s all worth it.