When you’ve got little ones running around, naturally you want to ensure that your entire home, including your outdoor space, is as child-friendly as possible. After all, it’s not just your home anymore, it’s also your little one’s home too, and naturally you want to make sure that they are safe and secure within that space, as well as having lots of areas that they can play and and enjoy.
This means that when it comes to garden design, the question is: how can you create a garden that’s more family-friendly? On the one hand you want to create an outdoor space that meets the needs of the entire family and is child-friendly, but on the other hand you don’t want to miss out on having a relaxing and tranquil space that the grown ups can enjoy either. Admittedly, there’s a lot to think about and consider.
The good news is that it’s perfectly doable to create a garden that caters to both of those needs – it’s simply a case of getting your approach right, that’s all. Bearing that in mind, below is a guide to some of the simple ways you can create an outdoor space that meets the needs of your entire family.
Create zones
A great step to take when it comes to creating a family friendly garden is to separate the outdoor space into zones. This will allow you to pack a few different uses into one outdoor space, allowing you to cater to everyone’s needs a little more easily.
For instance, you might want to create a zone where your children can play that features grass, artificial grass, or a soft finish like wood bark. This area can include all of their outdoor toys, from their climbing frame and swing set to their push bikes and other outdoor play essentials.
You might also want to create an area for relaxing in – somewhere that you can sit and unwind in the garden. How about decking an area to use as a relaxation area as well as somewhere that the whole family can sit out and enjoy a BBQ or eat dinner outside? Decking is a great option as it looks great and is also family-friendly.
Be clear about safety
One of the most important things to take into account when creating a child-friendly garden is to think about safety. If you’re going to create a space where you’re happy for your children to play, safety needs to be one of your top priorities.
This means thinking about how secure the garden is – what you want is a space that is securely fenced in, as the last thing you want to worry about is your little ones getting out or a passerby being able to see in.
If you’re going to include a water feature in your garden, it needs to be a feature that has no standing water, as children can drown in the smallest amount of water. A foundation can be a great idea, as the water instantly drains away, but avoid having a pond or other standing water feature on display.
There you have it, a few useful tips for how you can create a more family friendly outdoor space.
I’m attempting to rebuild my garden backyard for my children and came across your new blog about it. Thank you for your post! I believe that the garden is a wonderful outdoor space for our children to play in from time to time, I also want to make sure they are safe and secure within that space too.