Outdoor Play

[Alwaysgreener]

Snowmom Water play attached to the dance sounds cool Can you post a picture of your water play fence?

[Blackcat31]

I have a sandbox, a couple ride on toys, some scooters and a dome climber for each age group (toddler/bigs) and a swing set for big kids only.
No Cozy Coupe cars as they simply initiate sitting and I want the kids to run not sit outside
No swings for the under 4 age group as they have zero clue how to actually swing and I am not pushing anyone or looking for belly riders to put their teeth through their lips.
No trampolines as they are WAY too much of a liability for my comfort level and I HATE them…. my own kids were never allowed to have one either.
Lots of balls, sidewalk chalk and games/activities available to encourage actual movement outdoors. I hate taking kids out just to have them sit.

[GirlMomma]

I have a swing set, small trampoline, basketball hoop, baseball set, a sand box with buckets and sea shells, a raised dirt bed with trucks and dinosaurs, tricycles and those Little Tike ride on toys.

I have a water table on the way and I’m looking at little splash pads for them to play on. I’m just not sure if it’s a good idea to have that out all the time or if it should be something special we do every now and then.

[Cat Herder]

That's crazy. Most logical people would suspect that kid had an iron deficiency and simply correct it. I guess summer vacations at the beach are out for them, too. Parents today... geez louise....

[Cat Herder]

Swing sets are a royal pain. 18 inches of mulch is just one of the issues. I always wanted to get a dump truck load of dirt, like at construction sites, and let them have at it. The problem is then the possibility of a cave-in when it is tall, stray cats using it as a litterbox, groundhogs, snakes, etc, etc.

Every time I have a fun idea, George Lass, Mason and Rube get in my head.. look for the clues and gravelings.

[Snowmom]

This reminds me of a local story:
A year back, our area had a big hoopla about a daycare center who marketed themselves as a nature based, drop in preschool. It was such a huge deal when they opened, because nature based is THE latest trend in the SAHM world here and drop in care was coveted.
Eventually, it got a lot of negative attention regarding their sand and dirt play. Apparently, a child (around 3) there would regularly go home and poop out lots of sand and small pebbles. We all know that even the best and most diligent of us providers can't always be on the littles who constantly put things in their mouths that they know they're not suppose to. Especially in a large group care setting that is designed to be dirty.
Well, this created a backlash in the mom's group world that sparked a couple others to speak out about pebbled poop and how terrible the supervision must be there, since it's happened to apparently 3 kids. About a month later, the story was on the local news.
6 months later, daycare is up for sale because enrollment tanked.


Personally, I hate sand. It ends up everywhere and created too much cleaning for me. I stuck with water play attached to my fence. I attached squishy tubes, funnels and buckets with zip ties to the fence and they use cups to fill and dump.

[TenderHearts]

Wow those sound amazing. We only have grass where they play. I have climbers, rock climbing structure, slides, playhouse, balls, bubbles, teeter totter and some other random things but I really want to do a play dirt area but this group I have I know it would be an issue right away. I am really wanting to take my swing set down, I'm so tired of it for a thousand reasons.

[Cat Herder]

I have three sandboxes with different themes, one is sand and water. They do carry it out, a bit at a time, to the play kitchens, I refill with about 5 bags per year, $4 per. Not too bad.

The mud area is next to the creek, so it cleans itself up when there are bad rains to wash it all away. There is always some raking and debris cleanup for them to do later.

There are four children's gardens. One is flowers, one a pumpkin patch, one a raised bed for rooting cuttings, and one a big vegetable garden. They are sick of squash, zucchini, green beans, okra, blueberries, plums, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant by fall. Then the pumpkins come, they really like those because we make cookies from them. I get excited about the greens, then

The playground has a couple of climber/slides, a couple of playhouses, a couple of kitchen/grills, a dome climber, basketball hoop, hoppers, balls, dump trucks, water mister, and the above sand/water tables. The backfield is where the ball games, sensory activities, bubble mowers, hula hoops, and relay races take place. Sprinklers, egg hunts, and inflatable water slides go in the front yard a couple of times per year. Sidewalk chalk, scooters, and scooter boards on the paved driveway.

The rest, I make up as I go along. I am pretty good at coming up with ideas, it's the energy to do it all often that gets me these days.

[Rockgirl]

I have cozy coupes, a slide, balls, bubbles, basketball goal, and a large sandbox. #1 sandbox rule is that the sand stays in the sandbox. #2 is no throwing sand. I don’t give chances….if they don’t follow those rules, they’re done in the sandbox for the day. My group LOVES the sandbox, so it’s not even an issue.

[TenderHearts]

I would love to know what everyone has for outdoor play. Also if you have an area or table for dirt for kiddos who like play planting/gardening, how do you keep the kids from taking dirt away from that area?