Child Friendly Garden Ideas

Many of the older generations have wonderful memories of running around outside, covered in mud, building forts and playing pretend among the magical plants and flowers. The newer generations are sadly spending far too much time in front of screens, a detriment to their health and development. It’s time to allow our kids to explore and play in nature again and we’re here to help you create a child friendly garden that is both safe enough to allow you to relax whilst they freely explore, and a fun space for the children to exercise their imagination and have good old fun.

What you can achieve will obviously depend on the size of your garden, but there is something fun for all. Here are some suggestions:

Jungle Gyms

Depending on the size of your garden, you could have a full jungle gym or just opt for a slide or swing set. Kids love the physical challenge of jungle gyms and the feeling of “flying” on a swing. Another option could be a tyre swing from one of the trees in your yard.

Whimsical Spaces   

Children love the unusual and unexpected, so why not incorporate that into your garden. Plant flowers in unusual containers such as a brightly painted wheelbarrow, an old toy, teacups or perhaps a few pots with funny faces painted on. Set up a magical fairy garden in a secret little corner, complete with bright red toadstools (ornamental of course!). You could even make the trees more magical by hanging little dragonflies, windchimes, suncatchers, and lanterns in their branches.

The list is actually endless, just tap into your imagination and have some fun.

A Space to Learn

The garden is a great space to teach some practical life lessons. Why not introduce your child to growing their very own little garden?

You could start with easy-to-grow vegetables that they can actually harvest and eat, then let them choose some flowers that they’d like to see blossom. You could put in a sundial and start teaching them the concept of time. Make little wooden signposts for your garden and get the kids involved in decorating them and placing them by the correct plants.

Colourful and Functional Plants

Children love bright and fun colours so why not bring that in to your garden. Get creative and plant rainbow coloured flowers into an actual rainbow shape. Or create a patch with different shades of one colour. The functional aspect of this is planting trees that your child a can climb. Obviously you don’t want them so high that a fall could cause serious injury, but a small tree would be barrels of fun.

Outdoor Play Spaces  

Creating spaces outdoors just for your kids – perhaps an outdoor kitchen where they can mess and make mud pies to their little heart’s content, or a sandpit with trucks/spades and buckets, or even a secret and magical pathway. Another great idea is to create fun hiding spots in your garden for a good old game of hide and seek.

There are so many more ideas if you simply let your imagination run wild! But for now, we’ve given you a good head start on creating a safe place where your children can explore nature whilst learning, using their imagination and breathing in a whole lot of good, fresh air.