Wednesday 31 May 2017

Garden Games & Activities!


Now the weather is starting to pick up and get a little warmer it's the perfect time to clean up the garden, get the outdoor toys out and get outside for some fresh air. Both of my 2 are very much outdoor children and love nothing better than getting filthy, playing in the sandpit and just generally being outside running riot! 

We have alot of outdoor toys for the children and most recently my husband has made them a designated little play area to try and contain their toys here rather than then being scattered all over the garden. We're pretty lucky to have a decent sized garden, our previous house had a very small garden and although we made full use of the space it is lovely to be able to have more space for them to run around and play in. 

So if you're thinking about investing in some outdoor toys I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on what my children love and what keeps them entertained. I have 5 year old Alfie and 2 year old Elarna, now that Elarna is that bit older all the outdoor things we do have are fairly good to be used by both of them.

My first choice has to be our trampoline, this has got to be our most used piece of outdoor equipment. I actually bought it on a whim before we moved house, it never would have fit in our previous garden and I knew Alfie would have loved it. It was on offer at the time and hands down I have to say the best £65.00 I have ever spent......hours and hours of bouncing and entertainment. I think at some point we will upgrade it to a slightly larger one but for the moment it serves its purpose and is very much enjoyed 

My next suggestion would be a slide, this was bought when Alfie was 1 year old I think and it's very well used, Elarna loves to play on it now and so does Alfie still! It's a nice size, we probably could do with a slightly larger one for Alfie but seen as he still gets use from it we will be keeping it for a while longer.


The sandpit we have is also brilliant (if you can cope with sandy mess). We have a lovely sandpit that has a slatted cover than turns into seats so they don't have to sit directly in the sand. I would say whenever the weather is nice the kids are happy to play in it together for a while. Alfie is very good and knows to wipe himself down before coming in the house but Elarna needs to learn this a bit more! There is something about sand that attracts kids so it's most certainly a good investment. 

Some sort of ball game. We have a basketball net which both Alfie and Elarna love, Elarna has her own method of shooting hoops (think a chair and standing on said chair chucking the ball through the hoop!), Alfie just loves trying to get the ball through the net. For Alfie's birthday my parents bought a football goal for him as he's been showing real interest in playing football since starting school, so I can't wait to set that up for him as I think he'll enjoy trying to score goals. 

I can't write an outdoorsy post without mentioning water. Of course, children love to play with water. Me.....not so much. Water play is something I do try and restrict because they just get too over excited! That being said they do have a sweet little waterway toy with ducks that float around so I fill that up and let them play with it when it's warm. Bubbles are also a winner in our house, we have this brilliant bubble tornado that is filled with bubble mix in a reservoir which is battery powered and basically blows a ton of bubbles out creating lots of giggles and trying to catch the bubbles. It does use alot of bubble mix though and although I have experimented with a variety of others the official bubble mix is the best one to use.

Finally, a sports day kit. I bought this fab little set last year to take away with us on holiday and it was brilliant. It contained an egg and spoon race, a sack race, bean bag throwing and a three legged race. I can't tell you how much we used it and it will definitely be coming away with us this year. Really good for encouraging physical activity and having fun.

We really do love getting outdoor in the sun and enjoying fresh air, I think it's so important for children to be able to get outside and enjoy the outdoors when they can. Has anyone else get on any ideas for outdoor activities?

* Post in collaboration with Wayfair!

3 comments:

  1. My children love being outside too. The trampoline they love all seasons even the coldest day coats on and bouncing. Though I am hating sand at the moment as my house gets covered 😂😂 #thatfridaylinky

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  2. We used to have a swing when I was a kid and I loved it! Unfortunately we never had a suitable garden to get one for the Tubblet. Ah well :)

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  3. My kids (6 & 2) love being outside too. Our garden is quite small so we don't have room for a trampoline or slide, but we're only a 5min walk from the park so they have lots of chance to run around there. Our sandpit is a big hit, and I am planning to buy a bubble machine for this summer. I love the idea of a sports day kit too - I've not heard of that before but I'll definitely google it! Thanks for the recommendation. #blogcrush

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