Can someone give me some ideas how to get my daughter out in the garden?

Making progress with swingball but not quite there yet.

Scavenger hunts are working but there are only so many you can do!

My two, 4.5 and 2.5, are getting lots of bike riding practice along the street and round the nearest rec, and scooter practice. In the garden is mainly play with their Wendy house, outdoor kitchen thing or drawing with chalks, so similar to inside play but with fresh air and sunshine. Not warm enough for paddling pool yet…. But forecast is for 19C on Sunday!

Get a ladder or step ladder out? Wheelbarrow rides if you can stand the pace. Let her create a little garden? Den? Get a Tent out? Tracking?

Not really anywhere close to play on bike safely. I’m also recovering from surgery do daren’t go far from home. Just looking for garden stuff to do after schooling.

Ah yes, there has been a plea for tent and marshmallows roasted (burnt) over a camp stove. might do at the weekend.

They also like balancing on things so I lay a scrap bit of 2×4 on the lawn and when I have lots of large logs about (currently) a few of those as ‘stepping stones’ keep them busy for while. Anythings like that, stools, whatever and build a little ‘assault course’ for her.

If you’ve got hula hoops you can hula, or use them to setup an obstacle type course of hopping from one to another. Chalks and hopscotch. Kicking or throwing a ball to one another or her favourite cuddly toy. Get her a waa umbrella and turn the tap on have her run around while you spray water in the air trying to hit her. Travel rug and forward rolls. Long plank of wood as a balance beam.

They also like balancing on things so I lay a scrap bit of 2×4 on the lawn and when I have lots of large logs about (currently) a few of those as ‘stepping stones’

I do *exactly* that. Our garden is like the redneck olympics sometimes! 🙂

Can you order a trampoline?

I’ve been doing some digging for a new patio area and for the last 2 hours my 5yo has been collecting worms and the 7yo has been burying them in a new, safe* place.
The girls haven’t spotted the line of robins, blackbirds etc queuing up on the fence…

Based on my 3 & 6 years olds – anything that gets them filthy and/or freezing. Mud kitchen / making a massive puddle and jumping in it / ‘watering’ the plants / water pistols. Basically anything that will annoy Dad.

Yeah, some good ideas.

Reckon in a couple of days I will be fit enough for some kind of balance obstacle course.

Yeah, we do fancy a trampoline but I couldn’t physically put it together yet. I think that’s a long term plan.

A very simple one (which we have already done) is a limbo competition – we went full tilt with the details and used three windbreak poles (the limbo pole balanced on cable ties which can be slid up and down the poles) and even dad marked measurements. Of course you could simply hold a brush in your hand.

Our girls (10 yrs old) managed to clear 28″. My wife and I didn’t.

Don’t feel that outdoors needs you the adult to provide a solution to children’s need to play.
Allow them to be bored. Thier creativity kicks in. They will then find things to do. You then follow the play, not direct it.

I would echo the pile of wood, junk parts, scooters, balls, string and anything else left out for them to use. Then pour a cuppa, find a book, and ignore pleas of boredom for a few minutes…

You could even train yourself…

Playtime Revolution

My kids love making “obstacle courses” – old bits of bamboo, toys, bits of scrap wood to mark out where to turn, jump over, switch to walking backwards, etc. They either race or get me to time them.

I built myself a rough rig to practice skinnys, managed to turn it into a great obstacle course for my wee ones. That killed an hour easily and have ideas on how to make it even better. Nb he is an old 3 so perfect for a 5yr old.

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Back garden fun!

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Build a sandpit.

Build a climbing frame.

Build a tree house.

Tent? Wendy house?

I know you mentioned scavenger hunt, but I’ve been doing this to great success. Just hiding a dozen dinosaurs in the back garden for my 3 yo boy to find, although now on its nth variation which involves him ‘taggin’ each Dino with a washing line pole in order to ‘deactivate’ it before collecting. Played this game about 50 times this week, hours and hours

Got a great trampoline but hardly uses it

3 and 6 year old here.
Water, hoses, trampoline, slide, balls, bugs, inside stuff outside. That about covers it.

Sandpit, tent or Wendy house, mud kitchen. Minimum intervention they will play alone if left.

Some good ideas here!

We made an obstacle course last week
– have a small baby slide, up and down
– onto a space hopper across the lawn
– into a maze (a hose pipe laid out in a small shell twirl
– pick up the ball in the middle, tmrow it into the wheel barrow about 2 metres away.

I like the 2*4 balance addition. And scavenger hunt on the list for today.

Pavement chalk is good. A bucket of water, an empty bucket, and a bunch of things to transfer the water between the buckets – colander, bits of pipe, guttering, funnel, plastic jug. My kids had some plastic stepping stones I picked up at a car boot sale and they made up lots of different games using them. Tray with soil in and build a bike jump track for a play mobile bike. If you have a suitable tree branch, weaving a rope through an old bike rim makes a nice basket seat/swing for just sitting outside and playing the things you might do indoors outside. If you have space, assign a corner of the garden for digging a hole.

My poor kids – they’ve had years of this stuff inflicted on them!

bunch of things to transfer the water between the buckets

Garden it’s a knock out – fancy dress, water, movement… bubble wrap – for the injuries!

I’ve got a 4.5 and 1.5 year old, the youngest lives being outside but the eldest is very hard to persuade out. Once out she’s ok but the challenge is keeping an eye on the youngest whilst not neglecting the eldest.

if this works….this assault course too about 10 minutes to dig the bits out and set up, not a penny spent, I thought the balance bean might take the 4.5 yo (in the video) and her 2.5 yo sister a while to get, and the oak stump at the end i thought would faze them….no. straight to the balance beam and over, the 2.5 yo is quite frankly nuts and just jumped straight off the stump, the 4.5 you was a little more cautious and wanted to hold my hand. The see-saw troubled them though for a while. they went to bed tonight shattered, my mum rang me in fits of laughter when i sent her the video ( which was heartening as she is isolating alone) and both girls were asking to play assault course more tomorrow. 😀

now then google….

Ohh poo. that’s a video. here’s the link to it

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SCNvNpgd1Efnm4bQ7

Have you thought about trying to grow some food? Maybe plant some strawberries together.

That’s said, mine are drawn mostly to chalk, paint, water and mud.

Garden Olympics and show jumping ( she loves pretending to be a horse) working well.

Garden camping next.

That’s ace.

Top 5 toys ever

We have a pile of sticks by both our front and back doors. It gets reset every November 5TH! Sandpit and chalks get loads of use. Also if you have some trees a cheap hammock provides a surprising amount of entertainment and some string and a blanket will make a great tent.

As above though just sit outside with them, let them get board and they’ll soon find something to poke/dig/throw etc.

A few videos from a friend of mine who is a play coordinator for a local school.