Tag Archives: Kids

Backyard Fun, Outdoor Entertaining, Portable Fun

Enjoy a Picnic This Afternoon!

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My daughter and I have “afternoon adventures”, as we call them, at least once a week. Some times we go to the park, sometimes the museum, but we almost always have a picnic at the end of our adventure. There is something exciting and relaxing about enjoying the nice afternoon temperatures and dining outdoors. With the amazing new picnic baskets available today, adults and children alike can easily enjoy dining al fresco any time they choose! These are not the wicker baskets of the past. They come with not only a fully insulated container that holds food and drinks, but also a full place setting for two! Plates, silverware, cloth napkins, cutting board, and even a cork screw come tucked inside. They are super convenient, super stylish, and super fun! Plan your own afternoon adventure, and don’t forget your picnic basket.

Backyard Fun

Sandboxes Are a Never-Ending Classic

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Experts agree that the simpler the plaything, the more effectively kids are able to create and imagine.  Nothing is simpler than sand, and nothing gets a kid’s creativity and imagination going quite like an old-fashioned sandbox.

Kids of all ages flock to sandboxes in parks and at schools, and who can resist that ultimate sandbox — the beach.   It doesn’t matter whether children have elaborate sand tools, cups and spoons from the kitchen, or nothing but their hands and feet, there seems no limit to the fun they can have with sand.

Put a sandbox in the backyard and your kids will spend hours building, pretending, creating, and experiencing the best kind of play, active play that engages the mind and the body.  They may even forget about the TV and the computer games that so easily lull them into a zombie-like stupor.  It’s amazing how such a simple substance as sand can offer so many possibilities and bring so much enjoyment.

Backyard Fun, Outdoor Entertaining

Unique Outdoor Games Encourage More Family Time Together

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One of my favorite things to do when the weather is pleasant is to herd the family outside for some fun outdoor games.  My preferences, though, are more unusual outdoor games.  I certainly love kicking the soccer ball around and tapping the croquet balls with a mallet, but it’s those less than common outdoor games that really get my family’s attention and keep us together having fun for longer amounts of time.  Like chess, for example.

What’s so unusual about chess?  The chess I’m thinking of has thigh-high sized weatherproof pieces and an enormous chess board that can be easily set up in the backyard or on the patio.   At this size, you can have a truly unique experience with a classic game of strategy.  Outdoor chess is fun to play one on one or in teams, and all family members will get a kick out of working together to defeat the opponents.  With enough people — and some fun costumes — you could even substitute real people for playing pieces.  Now, that’s a unique outdoor game.

Backyard Fun

Wood Swing Set Kits Make It Easy To Do It Yourself

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Have your kids successfully talked you into buying a backyard wooden swing set, but you dread the thought of visiting a showroom and being talked into dropping thousands of dollars on mediocre equipment (and even more on the installation of that mediocre equipment)?  Consider the following three words: do it yourself. The good news is that even a novice do-it-yourself enthusiast can purchase high quality, and reasonably priced wooden swing set kits on the internet and assemble one as soon as it arrives at your door.  Even better news is that do-it-yourself wooden swing set kits are available for purchase without wood included or with wood included. Deciding which swing set kit to choose depends only on how involved you wish the do-it-yourself aspect of the construction to be.

Do-it-yourself swing set kits, whether they come with wood or without, should always offer free shipping and come with complete step-by-step instructions for construction — all necessary hardware and basic accessories (such as swings, monkey bars, canopy top, etc.) should be included.  Many additional accessories are almost always available for purchase, but any wooden swing set kit that requires separate purchase of necessary hardware should be avoided. Every nut, bolt, bracket, and spring clip needed to complete the project should always be included with the kit.

Here’s the big question.  How does a do-it-yourself enthusiast make the choice between wooden swing sets that come without the wood versus swing sets that come with the wood? Consider the following. Kits that do not come with wood allow you the luxury of hand selecting the type of wood, and even each specific piece of wood, that will be used in the construction. More time and tools are needed for these kits, though, because each piece must be searched for, transported to the home, cut to exactly the right size, and sanded, and then holes must be drilled for each piece of hardware. Do-it-yourself enthusiasts who are truly enthusiastic about home construction projects may prefer this approach.

On the other hand, wooden swing set kits that come with the wood included may sometimes be a better choice for the do-it-yourself enthusiast who does not have the time to select and sand the wood. The wood that comes with these kits is usually high quality and intended to last for many years with proper care. An advantage to swing set kits that include the wood is that all the wood is pre-cut, pre-sanded, and pre-drilled. With these major steps already completed, you can construct the wooden swing set in a fraction of the time.

Whether you choose a wooden swing set kit that includes wood or not, you can significantly reduce your costs by shopping wisely and constructing the equipment yourself. Either choice gives your kids a fun, safe, and long-lasting place to play and provides you with a feeling of pride and accomplishment.  So, go ahead and do it yourself!

Backyard Fun, Outdoor Safety Tips

Backyard Playground Safety: Safety on the Swing Set

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Considering safety when planning and constructing new backyard playground equipment is crucial, but just as important is considering safety while the kids are engaged in active play on that well-designed and well-constructed equipment.  Kids just want to have fun, but sometimes that fun can have some hidden dangers about which parents and caregivers should be aware.

Did you know that bike helmets, when worn on playground equipment, can pose a serious danger to kids?  Bike helmets cannot pass through some spaces and children can easily become trapped.   Additionally, strangulation by the helmet’s chinstrap is a potential danger.

Did you know that ropes, jump ropes, clothes lines, or pet leashes should never be attached to playground equipment because they can be a strangulation hazard?  Even the drawstring found in hooded sweatshirts can cause strangulation if a child on a swing set becomes entangled by it.

While a responsible parent or other adult should always be around to supervise kids who play on the backyard swing set, it’s also important to empower kids by sharing this information with them.  Parents should help kids understand that seemingly harmless items like bike helmets, jump ropes, pet leashes, etc. should never make their way onto any swing set or other playground equipment.  No gory details necessary…just let them know it’s not safe, so it’s not ok.

In my next and last post on backyard playground safety, I’ll tackle another often neglected area of swing set safety — equipment upkeep and maintenance over time.