How to make your garden more child-friendly – use a Wendy house!
Guest Article by Abbi Stewart
So many people worry about making their garden a fun and play orientated environment for their children. It can be hard to encourage children to get outside and play – and with all the health scares we see about our children daily it is no wonder we are concerned about them getting outside and being more active.
Children love to be outside, but making your garden somewhere suitable for your children to play can be a difficult task. Here are some ideas for getting the children outside more, and adding features which will not only make the garden child friendly but also add a stylish and aesthetically pleasing touch.
Wendy houses can be a brilliant way of giving your child a place to play. Not only will it allow them to have their own space, but it will also give them somewhere to hide and shelter if it starts to rain. It will also keep their toys out of the weather, without you having to drag them in the house every time they finish playing with them.
Having a playhouse or Wendy house in the garden can be a perfect hideaway, and with the variety of beautifully hand-painted wooden playhouses available now – just like the one shown here from Big Game Hunter’s playhouse shop – they do not have to be an eyesore in your garden. You can almost look at them as a miniature shed for your child, although they are a lot more appealing to look at than a boring garden shed! A Wendy house is also a great place to develop the imaginative side of play – it can become a shop, a creative house for doing crafts in, an ice cream parlour or a tardis in one of Doctor Who’s adventures!
Cheap plastic is a thing of the past now there is such an extensive range of wooden toys and play equipment to choose from. As well as being more hard-wearing than plastic versions which can easily split and crack, wooden toys fit into the landscape of a garden so much better, and blend with a more natural look. They also look a lot more expensive than they are so will add a touch of class without breaking the bank.
Climbing frames, see-saws and wooden sandpits are all great ways of enhancing your garden – both to make them look good and also to give your children so many more reasons to be outside playing. The range of these things has increased, so they can be bought at lower prices – meaning you get a lot more for your money.
You may still feel that all this play equipment may dominate the garden – but a great way to incorporate a playhouse or climbing frame, is to carefully position it within the layout of trees or bushes that you may have. If you are planning to create a more leafy area in your garden do this with the children’s play things in mind. There is nothing better than having a playhouse concealed in amongst bushes and trees – it will give your children an even more magical feel to their playtime. Ultimately you will give them no reason to be inside and it will be almost impossible to drag them in at teatime or bedtime!
