Graham and Parker's Backyard Play area

Just some random pics from my 3 year old Twins playing in their outdoor play area today. The tampoline is out of commission right now until the new net arrives in the mail.  The old one wore out and ripped.  The toys are ones I have accumulated over the 15 years of having kids. Many of them re purposed from inside, or from my older kids.  Some were gifts given to Graham and Parker from birth til now. It's nice and relaxing out there in this nice subtle weather. It has seemed a bit cooler and not as sweltering hot lately! So nice!!

The yard may look ghetto to some or too busy, but it serves a great purpose for fun and entertainment for My Twins, their Friends, Playdates, Home Preschooling, Our Home Preschool Group, etc.   My older kids are not much for backyard play these days but do enjoy the trampoline and playing with Graham and Parker too. I plan to use the older looking blue water table for more Preschool friendly Science Experiments and other fun exploratory activities that are great for 3-4 year olds!! I have seen a lot of awesome ideas on the Play at Home Mom Blog ! I am going to use the blue water table for a lot of the things they do with their "sink" tables on this page. I can also dump the sand out of our sand & water table into the sandbox and use the sand & water table for that purpose if needed as well! It has a drain plug like the table they use on that blog!!  So fa in the past we have done the Lava Lamp and Volcano Science Experiments. They had a great time!!  I plan to do one I found that involves ice soon!!

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Backyard play area

I have been thinking about what would be the best thing to put down on the ground, in my Twins Backyard play area. Right now it is basically dirt, dead grass, weeds, and some interlocking foam play mats.

 The recent freezing cold weather we have had in December 2010 and January 2011 has wreaked havoc on our lawn, especially in the backyard play area.

I hate how in photos it looks so ugly with lush green weeds and yucky yellow and tan grass. Oh and the dirt.  ick.

I "built" up the backyard play area for my Twins and also for their playmates. I am the organizer of a playgroup with around 100 Moms in it. We have mostly Moms of singletons but also have Moms of Twins and Triplets in the group too. I wanted to create a really fun and functional backyard play area that all of the children could really enjoy. They all have a blast out there. We usually have 8-10 children out there playing at each playdate. I really enjoy seeing my Twins interact with their little friends and build friendships, as well as seeing my Twins and all of the children in the playgroup have an awesome time. I made sure to choose items that would work out well so that the children did not feel left out of playing any particular activity,. There are 2 climber/slides, a large enclosed trampoline, 1 large sandbox and sand table, 2 water tables, plenty of ride ons, 2 kiddie pools, bouncy house, seating and a picnic table for snacking, a finger painting station,  and plenty of things to pick up and play with! We rarely see the children fight over toys. They just play and have a blast together!

 I use tarps under the pools and foam tiles around and under certain toys for various reasons. The ground just looks so uninviting though. It is so brown/yellow and dull.

 

  

 It's great out there but the ground is icky in my opinion. I had looked into different materials available, but wow are they pricey. I really don't want to mess around with mulch. I think mulch is a pain in the rump. Plus ants can hang around in mulch just as much as they can in dirt or grass. We really do not have an ant problem out there right now, but we have in the past 2 years. The ants come and go. I prefer they go and stay away.  I have made up some chemical free mixtures to put down and that seems to be keeping the ants away. I hope it really does keep them away.

I would love to have one of those rubbery commercial playground floors, ya know the kind that looks like a bunch of squares but is soft or bouncy. I am pretty sure those kinds of floors are quite pricey.

I am wondering what my readers have for the ground in their children's backyard play area?  I hate the thought of having to grow grass and then keep mowing it. I don't like having to move everything and move the gating around the play area.

I will have to look around town at the hardware stores like Lowers or Home Depot. Maybe I am overlooking something that could be inexpensive and nice.

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