Children's Outdoor Play Spaces

Who spends more time in your yard - you or your children? Kids love to sit, dine and lounge (if they can stay still) in pint-sized versions of patio furniture. And, of course, they need a place outdoors to play and call their own. Regardless of the size of their space, there is play equipment and design ideas and activities that will occupy their busy bodies and minds.

About.com Readers' Choice Awards 2012: Favorite Outdoor Toy
Have you played outside lately? What was the toy or fun activity that encouraged you or the children in your life to play? A playhouse, swing set or play structure? Something on which to ride in the yard -- either on pathways or float in the pool? Nominate your favorite outdoor toy for the 2012 Readers' Choice Awards.

Kiddie Pool Garden Planter
Kerry Michaels, About.com's Guide to Container Gardens, shows you the steps to transform an ordinary kiddie pool into a raised garden planter, big enough to grow vegetables and herbs.

A Brief History of Portable Kiddie Pools
Splasher or "kiddie" pools made their entrance in residential backyards sometime around 1940. Enjoy this look at the kiddie pools' brief history.

Child's Play: How to Build a Sandbox
This sandbox requires no lumber or carpentry skills. It starts as a children's sandbox, but refilled later with topsoil, it becomes a raised garden bed. Instead of wood, you'll use pre-fabricated interlocking blocks, the type sold to make low garden walls or retaining walls. You can find these at any garden center in attractive shades of concrete or faux stone.

Outdoor Toys - The Best New Outdoor Toys
What's new in the world of children's outdoor toys? Check out this list from Kristen Ryan, About.com Guide to Toys. Writes Kristen, "Some of the best new outdoor toys include multiple uses, portability and great storage options."

Award-Winning Outdoor Toys
While considering gift ideas for children, keep in mind that the current generation of kids spends less time outdoors than any other generation in history. While a computer game or screen may be on your favorite child's list, why not introduce them to the pure, low-tech world of outdoor toys and activities?

Outdoor Painting for Kids
Bring out your child's inner artiste on a huge outdoor canvas that gives them creative freedom to roam. It's a fun project that keeps the kids busy and gives you time to sit back and watch.

Classic Kids Outdoor Games
In a simpler time, kids played outdoors all the time. As Adair Lara says, they "were set out in the yard in the morning and brought in at night, like cats." To stave off boredom, they played every game they had ever heard of, and invented hundreds of variations. See what Susan Adcox, About.com Guide to Grandparents, suggests.

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