Looking for some ways to create a fun area in your yard that will keep your kids outdoors all summer? Me too! Here’s some ideas I’m loving for creating outdoor playscapes on the cheap!
1. Shop your own backyard for natural materials like branches, logs and rocks.
You could create a no-sew teepee with fallen branches. I wonder if you could do this with strips of plastic tablecloths from the dollar store?
This colorful playscape would cost next to nothing if you could find a source of old logs.
Create opportunities for storytelling by leaving toys like dinosaurs, farm animals, trucks or even fairies in your landscape
for your kids to discover. This is an awesome way to use what you have in a new way!
How fun is this log drum set?!
I may have squealed when I saw this playscape. The only thing missing is a sign that says “Never-Never Land.”
2. Take advantage of yard sale finds.
Watch yard sales for xylophones you can take apart to create an outdoor music garden for your outdoor playscapes.
How fun is this old boat-turned sand box?
You know those old salad bowls you see at yard sales and thrift stores? Turn them into toadstools!
Watch for old pots, pants, spoons and sinks to create a mud kitchen.
3. Give them opportunities to get creative in their outdoor space.
Kids get bored with toys. Give them opportunities to create and the landscape changes daily.
This paint-free activity lets them create pictures with water on framed slate.
Ditch the coloring books! Use sticks or even landscaping materials to create large scale pictures that they can
“color” with leaves, flowers and more.
4. Just add water!
You don’t need fancy toys or playground equipment. Water will keep em’ busy for hours.
Mount a gutter on your fence for a fun place to float boats.
Recycle bottles for a fun water wall.
5. Provide the materials and let them build their own space.
Half the fun of an outdoor playscape is imagining what could be so let them take the lead!
Collect wood, stones and building materials and let their imaginations run wild.
Have you created your own outdoor playscape? Tell us about it!
