Trick out my rural backyard as a preschool substitute?
August 12, 2020 2:45 PM Subscribe
We are renting a house in a rural place (25+ acres!) and have a big yard surrounded by conservation land. We also have two little kids who probably won't be in preschool this year. What can we put in our yard to make it more fun and fascinating?
So, I am willing to plunk down some money to help us keep our sanity, and would like to make our backyard a paradise for a 2 and 4 year old boy. We have frogs, crickets, snakes, newts and hummingbirds. We have a big garden area we can use. Fire pit. Lots of big rocks sticking out of the ground. Some reasonable little hills for sledding/carts. Zero play equipment. We have blessing from the landlord to put stuff up, like tire swings, etc. We are in New England. Winter will be real, but we have until November before we expect snow.
What do we get/make/build? *Specific product recommendations really appreciated.*
— The items can't be too permanent or hard-to-move. Portable swingset? OK! But huge in-ground swingset? That's a no-go.
— Do we get chickens? We have a really nice chicken coop.
— Should we bother with a sandbox, or just let em play in the real dirt?
So, I am willing to plunk down some money to help us keep our sanity, and would like to make our backyard a paradise for a 2 and 4 year old boy. We have frogs, crickets, snakes, newts and hummingbirds. We have a big garden area we can use. Fire pit. Lots of big rocks sticking out of the ground. Some reasonable little hills for sledding/carts. Zero play equipment. We have blessing from the landlord to put stuff up, like tire swings, etc. We are in New England. Winter will be real, but we have until November before we expect snow.
What do we get/make/build? *Specific product recommendations really appreciated.*
— The items can't be too permanent or hard-to-move. Portable swingset? OK! But huge in-ground swingset? That's a no-go.
— Do we get chickens? We have a really nice chicken coop.
— Should we bother with a sandbox, or just let em play in the real dirt?
I have a specific recommendation, and a general one.
Specific first: dig them a trench, run water to it somehow, and give them a couple of spades and some logs long enough to bridge that trench. That’s a common adventure playground setup in Canada and the UK, and kids love it. My daughter could spend a day with that.
General: it sounds to me like you are setting up what here in the UK is called a “Forest School.” There are books and associations that specialize in this. That may be a great place to do some research.
posted by sincarne at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2020 [9 favorites]
Specific first: dig them a trench, run water to it somehow, and give them a couple of spades and some logs long enough to bridge that trench. That’s a common adventure playground setup in Canada and the UK, and kids love it. My daughter could spend a day with that.
General: it sounds to me like you are setting up what here in the UK is called a “Forest School.” There are books and associations that specialize in this. That may be a great place to do some research.
posted by sincarne at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2020 [9 favorites]
Give them a clean dirt/mud area with access to water, like a trickle. Preferably with a hill/pile of dirt. I spent SO MANY hours as a kid playing with a 5' dirt hill and the tiny amount of water that came through irrigation lines when the pump was off. Building rivers and floating stuff down them, building dams and lakes and sailing boats (a toy, a piece of bark, a leaf, it didn't matter).
And don't freak out at how filthy they get. Put them in play clothes, and figure you'll be doing laundry and baths. :)
posted by stormyteal at 2:57 PM on August 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
And don't freak out at how filthy they get. Put them in play clothes, and figure you'll be doing laundry and baths. :)
posted by stormyteal at 2:57 PM on August 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
When you need them a bit closer, set up a water table and a sand table (that won't become a litter box) and bury little treasures in the sand for mini excavations.
Pals of mine with limited space have loved the FLISAT Children's Table from IKEA. Reuse mini plastic containers, scoops, little shovels, or plastic toys.
posted by Juniper Toast at 3:08 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Pals of mine with limited space have loved the FLISAT Children's Table from IKEA. Reuse mini plastic containers, scoops, little shovels, or plastic toys.
posted by Juniper Toast at 3:08 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I think your setup as-is is kind of perfect. Lots of things for your sons to play with and explore. It might be a good idea to have a couple of obvious playthings though and here are two suggestions on that front
A swing would be good. I ended up jury-rigging a swing by attaching a tie down strap to a ninjaline I already had going between two trees in my backyard. Can't go super high on the swing but for smaller kids it's plenty good. The ninjaline itself is pretty fun too - with the easier grips it's about as hard as swinging on monkey bars. You can also use the ninjaline as a slackline.
I'd also suggest a slide. Kids can spend a lot of time just going up and down a slide. In warmer weather you can run a hose on it and turn it into a water slide. In colder weather if they're in snowpants then they'll go flying down it.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:14 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
A swing would be good. I ended up jury-rigging a swing by attaching a tie down strap to a ninjaline I already had going between two trees in my backyard. Can't go super high on the swing but for smaller kids it's plenty good. The ninjaline itself is pretty fun too - with the easier grips it's about as hard as swinging on monkey bars. You can also use the ninjaline as a slackline.
I'd also suggest a slide. Kids can spend a lot of time just going up and down a slide. In warmer weather you can run a hose on it and turn it into a water slide. In colder weather if they're in snowpants then they'll go flying down it.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:14 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
As a kid who had a similar setup, some "outside friendly" toy cars and a dirt area to make "roads" kept me busy for about 2/3rds of my childhood (I coveted my neighbor's Tonka toys, which my parents wouldn't spring for).
I also enjoyed collecting snakes...I had a "cage" which was some screen material over a wood box. (As a parent I would want to make sure kiddos knew keeping the snakes was temporary. Garter snakes can be kept for a couple of days, typically, without harm. Be ready to be covered in their defensive musk, though.)
One thing which was amazing to me as a kid was any big piece of sheet material laid in long grass for awhile (days or weeks). You'd turn it over and find snakes, lizards, salamanders enjoying the shelter...but I grew up mostly in the PNW, where nothing venomous would be lurking under there.
Yes to the ideas of little rivulets which can be dammed or float things down, never had that as a kid (waste of water, plus my mom had an aversion to laundry and getting genuinely dirty was Big Trouble). I would have spent ages trying to build a dam to make a pond.
Fort-building materials and tools, when they're old enough, is always cool to have.
We spent a lot of time building "BMX" tracks for our crappy non-BMX bikes, too. Mostly they were just a trail in a field, building banked corners was an activity which lasted about one half a corner. Speaking of which, a single mown track that winds around through an otherwise overgrown field can be a lot of fun as the basis for adventures.
When they get old enough, archery is a neighbor-friendly (supervised!) activity which a big outdoor space can accommodate.
posted by maxwelton at 3:38 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I also enjoyed collecting snakes...I had a "cage" which was some screen material over a wood box. (As a parent I would want to make sure kiddos knew keeping the snakes was temporary. Garter snakes can be kept for a couple of days, typically, without harm. Be ready to be covered in their defensive musk, though.)
One thing which was amazing to me as a kid was any big piece of sheet material laid in long grass for awhile (days or weeks). You'd turn it over and find snakes, lizards, salamanders enjoying the shelter...but I grew up mostly in the PNW, where nothing venomous would be lurking under there.
Yes to the ideas of little rivulets which can be dammed or float things down, never had that as a kid (waste of water, plus my mom had an aversion to laundry and getting genuinely dirty was Big Trouble). I would have spent ages trying to build a dam to make a pond.
Fort-building materials and tools, when they're old enough, is always cool to have.
We spent a lot of time building "BMX" tracks for our crappy non-BMX bikes, too. Mostly they were just a trail in a field, building banked corners was an activity which lasted about one half a corner. Speaking of which, a single mown track that winds around through an otherwise overgrown field can be a lot of fun as the basis for adventures.
When they get old enough, archery is a neighbor-friendly (supervised!) activity which a big outdoor space can accommodate.
posted by maxwelton at 3:38 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had so so so much fun playing in my “dirt pile” in the corner of our yard from age 8-12. It was just an unsodded portion of the yard, probably 6 feet square. I built all kinds of roads, cities, walls, holes in that. It was glorious.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:46 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:46 PM on August 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Whether you get a sandbox or keep it to just dirt, get lots of stuff for playing in that dirt -- kitchen implements like mixing spoons and bowls and pots in plastic or metal are great and easily found at garage sales, thrift shops or dollar stores.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:51 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:51 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes, my favorite thing growing up was a big pile of dirt, we played in it so much that it never got used to fill in that low spot in the yard and when we moved a new pile of dirt was procured.
It's a little late maybe but the other thing was a pool, always a pool.
If you have trees, a rope/tire swing, maybe a couple to play Tarzan with. If you're lucky you have actual vines. If your rocks are big enough and close enough... we threw a pallet covered with a tarp over a couple of rocks and had a nice sort of cave fort.
Build a teepee or clubhouse of some sort, or maybe just have a tent for wild camping.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:31 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
It's a little late maybe but the other thing was a pool, always a pool.
If you have trees, a rope/tire swing, maybe a couple to play Tarzan with. If you're lucky you have actual vines. If your rocks are big enough and close enough... we threw a pallet covered with a tarp over a couple of rocks and had a nice sort of cave fort.
Build a teepee or clubhouse of some sort, or maybe just have a tent for wild camping.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:31 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you want a climbing thing, I would recommend something like this. It's not the exact one we got, but since that was 10 years ago Im not sure they are in business still. Reasons this is good: it's free-standing, it's a classic climbing / scrambing play setup, it's multi-purpose and doesn't force one play style (easy to make into a fort, or repurpose into other games). Reasons it's not good: we affectionately called it "the arm breaker", but no one ever actually broke an arm. Would still buy again.
posted by true at 4:56 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by true at 4:56 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also seconding mud piles, wood scraps, rocks, water, etc. Just put it out there and let them have at it.
posted by true at 4:57 PM on August 12, 2020
posted by true at 4:57 PM on August 12, 2020
Tonka trucks and construction equipment!
posted by monotreme at 5:02 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by monotreme at 5:02 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hours and hours and hours of time have been spent on hoppers.
posted by papergirl at 5:13 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by papergirl at 5:13 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
What about binoculars? They can look at birds and any other wildlife from afar.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 5:45 PM on August 12, 2020
posted by Constance Mirabella at 5:45 PM on August 12, 2020
Trampoline.
A hot tub. In the summer we used it without the heat for our 3 children 2, 3, and 4. In the winter with a foot of fresh snow, they loved LOVED to go in the heated hot tub. Snowball throwing followed by a dip in the hot tub and a lunch of soup and grilled cheese was fun for the kids and truth be told, for this big kid. It is a relatively expensive item especially if the landlord wants you to remove it when you leave. When I sold my house the buyer wanted it removed. That was adult fun with a Sawzall and sledgehammer.
Your kids are young, but a small, not too steep, zip line that you can spot for is fun.
My kids also loved to tend a small garden. We planted trees when they were born and they loved to check them out.
I would also get them a plastic bat with a tee and a bunch of plastic balls to whack.
I would also organize hikes where they had a small list of things to collect such as a flower, a big rock, a frog, etc. One of you and your spouse can be the hike leader.
posted by AugustWest at 5:50 PM on August 12, 2020
A hot tub. In the summer we used it without the heat for our 3 children 2, 3, and 4. In the winter with a foot of fresh snow, they loved LOVED to go in the heated hot tub. Snowball throwing followed by a dip in the hot tub and a lunch of soup and grilled cheese was fun for the kids and truth be told, for this big kid. It is a relatively expensive item especially if the landlord wants you to remove it when you leave. When I sold my house the buyer wanted it removed. That was adult fun with a Sawzall and sledgehammer.
Your kids are young, but a small, not too steep, zip line that you can spot for is fun.
My kids also loved to tend a small garden. We planted trees when they were born and they loved to check them out.
I would also get them a plastic bat with a tee and a bunch of plastic balls to whack.
I would also organize hikes where they had a small list of things to collect such as a flower, a big rock, a frog, etc. One of you and your spouse can be the hike leader.
posted by AugustWest at 5:50 PM on August 12, 2020
Unless you have a pond or creek close to the house you probably ought to get a wading pool. A sprinkler is fun to play in too.
Long handled nets come in handy for catching frogs, newts and insects. And if you want to keep some of your finds around for a while to observe, you'll want to have some containers. We usually had at least a few of these Kritter Keepers in various sizes around the house.
posted by Redstart at 6:17 PM on August 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Long handled nets come in handy for catching frogs, newts and insects. And if you want to keep some of your finds around for a while to observe, you'll want to have some containers. We usually had at least a few of these Kritter Keepers in various sizes around the house.
posted by Redstart at 6:17 PM on August 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Nthing that dirt + water made for hours of fun as a kid. We also had a swing, basic slide/seesaw type set thing. We did do some garden stuff with our parents. Set up a bird feeder.
In our neighborhood, I'm seeing that parents have set up some nice small popup tents/playhouses made out of cloth (easy to put up and take down). Hammocks are nice. Do you have any kind of porch or patio? - if so rocking chairs, rocking bench, porch swings, etc. are nice for parents and kids. Small screened in trampoline can be fun (supervised).
Twister is easy to play outside. In not too long, you can do stuff with the older one like badminton, bocce, and croquet.
Mr. gudrun got a kick out of a basic telescope as a kid when away from city/suburb light pollution.
posted by gudrun at 6:59 PM on August 12, 2020
In our neighborhood, I'm seeing that parents have set up some nice small popup tents/playhouses made out of cloth (easy to put up and take down). Hammocks are nice. Do you have any kind of porch or patio? - if so rocking chairs, rocking bench, porch swings, etc. are nice for parents and kids. Small screened in trampoline can be fun (supervised).
Twister is easy to play outside. In not too long, you can do stuff with the older one like badminton, bocce, and croquet.
Mr. gudrun got a kick out of a basic telescope as a kid when away from city/suburb light pollution.
posted by gudrun at 6:59 PM on August 12, 2020
I am agreeing with the adventure playground ideas. Here in Toronto there's a really really really good one that I drove across town to get to because my kid loved it so much. The website has a great slideshow that talks about the features that didn't cost a fortune.And a video as well. (Mind the volume!) We especially loved the tightrope, the pizza oven, and the water feature that let kids build the irrigation channel. Make sure they have tarps and old curtains and rope for making forts!
posted by peagood at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2020
posted by peagood at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2020
We made a zipline from a tree to another tree. It can be really simple and safe or as adventurous and dangerous as you feel your kids can handle. It drew a lot of neighboring kids, whichof course you may not want these days.
posted by anadem at 7:03 PM on August 12, 2020
posted by anadem at 7:03 PM on August 12, 2020
Too late for edit, but a big YES to chickens: once they're familiar with you all they're so cute and cuddly .. and eggs! If you find they're eating your veggies or pooping where you don't want them, make them an enclosure (they *must* have a safe, predator-proof place to sleep of course; they and you get miserably stressed if a raccoon or fox can get them)
posted by anadem at 7:32 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by anadem at 7:32 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I would also put in some sort of vertical surface for painting/drawing/other creativity. You can make it something where you can hang paper for painting or make it a big chalkboard. When the painting happens outside, there's so much more freedom. Besides the fact that it's no big deal to spill paint or get it on stuff, the art supplies are unlimited...what happens if you dip a flower in paint and stamp it on the paper? A leaf? what if you spray some water on the paper while it's still drying? Why not glue on some leaves? Paint it with glue and throw dirt at it? Also, I've recently been looking into how to develop motor skills for writing, and apparently drawing on easels/vertical surfaces builds the shoulder strength/stability necessary for writing and other fine motor control.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:59 PM on August 12, 2020
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:59 PM on August 12, 2020
I asked this question a few years back and the answers were all good (although I still draw the line at a trampoline).
I really wish we had the space to have a small playhouse in our backyard. It might be fun to build one together with your kids (doesn't have to be elaborate but kids seem to appreciate having an "inside" and an "outside" for pretend play.
Water table or wading pool for sure, with lots of containers for splashing and dumping. A solar powered fountain will add some fun to a wading pool.
We recently put together a bug hotel for our yard and the leaf cutter and mason bees are hard at work filling it up. The kids enjoyed cramming the bamboo into it.
Observation setup with good magnifying glasses or a magnifier lens for your phone so you can look at bugs and creek water close up.
If you have a good tree for one of those round web swings, that will be popular.
Bubble machine. I cannot tell you how popular this is if you break it out for 10 minutes or so when you need a break or you need the kids to race around in circles and get tired.
Rody Horse is awesome.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 10:13 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I really wish we had the space to have a small playhouse in our backyard. It might be fun to build one together with your kids (doesn't have to be elaborate but kids seem to appreciate having an "inside" and an "outside" for pretend play.
Water table or wading pool for sure, with lots of containers for splashing and dumping. A solar powered fountain will add some fun to a wading pool.
We recently put together a bug hotel for our yard and the leaf cutter and mason bees are hard at work filling it up. The kids enjoyed cramming the bamboo into it.
Observation setup with good magnifying glasses or a magnifier lens for your phone so you can look at bugs and creek water close up.
If you have a good tree for one of those round web swings, that will be popular.
Bubble machine. I cannot tell you how popular this is if you break it out for 10 minutes or so when you need a break or you need the kids to race around in circles and get tired.
Rody Horse is awesome.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 10:13 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I would strongly recommend a trampoline, my 4 year old used ours almost every day
I would also recommend The Giant Construction Kit with Unlimited Possibilities https://quadrousa.com/
Or if that is too expensive, maybe A couple of AmazonBasics Over-Sized Hollow Wooden Building Block Set for Kids, Natural, 20-Piece Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJW2JYF/
posted by uncreative at 5:10 AM on August 13, 2020
I would also recommend The Giant Construction Kit with Unlimited Possibilities https://quadrousa.com/
Or if that is too expensive, maybe A couple of AmazonBasics Over-Sized Hollow Wooden Building Block Set for Kids, Natural, 20-Piece Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJW2JYF/
posted by uncreative at 5:10 AM on August 13, 2020
When I was a kid, our neighbor's dad got a bunch of PVC pipe cut into various lengths and some cut in half lengthwise, with various connectors, for building waterworks in their sandbox. Hook up the garden hose, and you have hours and hours of fun!
posted by abeja bicicleta at 5:52 AM on August 13, 2020
posted by abeja bicicleta at 5:52 AM on August 13, 2020
We always preferred real dirt to a sandbox. And access to a garden hose so we could dig holes and fill them up with water for little boats, etc.
Some kind of playhouse or treehouse would be great. Dad built us a playhouse that was exactly big enough to fit in the bed of a pickup truck so it could move whenever we did. It had real siding and shingles on the roof. This site has some free building plans: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/free-playhouse-plans-1357134
If you have more money than time/skill/inclination, a prefab or ready-to-assemble garden shed is also good. Or maybe a tent, weather permitting.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:42 AM on August 13, 2020
Some kind of playhouse or treehouse would be great. Dad built us a playhouse that was exactly big enough to fit in the bed of a pickup truck so it could move whenever we did. It had real siding and shingles on the roof. This site has some free building plans: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/free-playhouse-plans-1357134
If you have more money than time/skill/inclination, a prefab or ready-to-assemble garden shed is also good. Or maybe a tent, weather permitting.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:42 AM on August 13, 2020
Dirt piles, Tonka trucks and Matchbox cars kept my sons busy for years! Do you have any large trees? A couple of hanging tires (not hung too high for a 2 and 4 year old) would be great fun as well. Sounds like an ideal setup!
posted by summerstorm at 9:37 AM on August 13, 2020
posted by summerstorm at 9:37 AM on August 13, 2020
Our neighbors made a 10 or 12 sided balance beam structure out of wooden planks that is a big hit here. They also put in slack lines and a ninja course which is all removable but a big hit with my goofballs who are roughly the same age as yours.
posted by melodykramer at 7:59 PM on August 13, 2020
posted by melodykramer at 7:59 PM on August 13, 2020
Given the age of the kids I would avoid any fixed water hazards for at least two maybe four more years - you want to be able to look away or sprint into the house for some dry mittens without worrying about safety.
A roofed enclosure - playhouse, or a dining gazebo will make the yard much more usable during bad weather. On drizzly days the kids can stay outside and keep playing and pop in and out of the roofed area without being called inside and then getting distracted by the electronics. Get something large enough for adults to enable you to sit out side and do paperwork etc, while supervising without getting too damp or snowy so you are tempted to bring them in. It allows the kids to be reading and doing paper games and crafts and playing with rag dolls and toys that would be damaged by wet and still get to breathe the outside air when there is precipitation. It provides a place to quickly stash things you don't want to get too wet until you have time to properly put them away. With kids there will be times when you don't want to clean up the yard before you race off somewhere else as getting them fed or into the car has suddenly become a priority due to unexpected plans.
A plastic picnic table and plastic chairs in both kid and adult sizes are likely to be useful.
Teach them to about map making. They will enjoy that. You can start with the end papers from The House at Pooh Corner and then make a map of the yard with fancy names for the various places in the yard that are important to them.
Put up a clothes line at their height and get them to hang clothes on it. They can hang the socks and underpants. It can be used to send message capsules from one child to another, to hang bed sheets to make tents and to send dolls over dangerous rivers of lava.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:21 AM on August 14, 2020
A roofed enclosure - playhouse, or a dining gazebo will make the yard much more usable during bad weather. On drizzly days the kids can stay outside and keep playing and pop in and out of the roofed area without being called inside and then getting distracted by the electronics. Get something large enough for adults to enable you to sit out side and do paperwork etc, while supervising without getting too damp or snowy so you are tempted to bring them in. It allows the kids to be reading and doing paper games and crafts and playing with rag dolls and toys that would be damaged by wet and still get to breathe the outside air when there is precipitation. It provides a place to quickly stash things you don't want to get too wet until you have time to properly put them away. With kids there will be times when you don't want to clean up the yard before you race off somewhere else as getting them fed or into the car has suddenly become a priority due to unexpected plans.
A plastic picnic table and plastic chairs in both kid and adult sizes are likely to be useful.
Teach them to about map making. They will enjoy that. You can start with the end papers from The House at Pooh Corner and then make a map of the yard with fancy names for the various places in the yard that are important to them.
Put up a clothes line at their height and get them to hang clothes on it. They can hang the socks and underpants. It can be used to send message capsules from one child to another, to hang bed sheets to make tents and to send dolls over dangerous rivers of lava.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:21 AM on August 14, 2020
« Older Fastest way to find cold therapy machine for knee... | What easily digestible video history resources... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Grandysaur at 2:55 PM on August 12, 2020 [5 favorites]