Are you worried about your kids staying indoors with too much screen time? Studies find that between their phones, computers, and tablets, kids are spending up to seven hours a day staring at screens. As a parent, you want your child to be physically, emotionally, and socially fit.
Summer is the perfect time to get the kids outdoors. Here’s how to make your backyard a space kids can enjoy this summer with ideas for activities plus safety tips.
Why Kids Need a Backyard
Playing outdoors is healthier for kids than sedentary screen-time indoors. Outdoor play improves motor development including balance and coordination. As bones and muscles are challenged, physical endurance increases.
The obesity rate for kids has soared in recent years, rising from only 7% in 1980 to one in three kids classified as obese 30 years later. Playing outdoors naturally burns more calories than sitting in front of the TV or playing games on the phone.
Kids often need more vitamin D than they get from their diets. Spending time outdoors, kids will get a healthy dose of “the sunshine vitamin.”
They can connect with nature outdoors and learn to respect it. Fresh air and greenery improve behavior and mood.
Backyard Summer Fun for Kids
Ideas for outdoor activities range from well-chosen equipment such as swingsets and pools to free fun. Kids love trampolines, and they are safer than you may think. Bouncing on one strengthens bones and burns calories. You can make a trampoline safer by having a net at the top and bottom, limiting the number of kids jumping at once and supervising them.
A treehouse in the backyard will provide hours of fun and stimulate creative thinking. DIY treehouses can be built from simple to elaborate. You can also hire someone to build it for you, and treehouse kits are available that are easy to put together. Some of these “treehouses” can be erected without a tree in the backyard.
Forts are one of the oldest activities for kids of all time. Provide the kids with basic materials like wood scraps, old tires, blankets or whatever you come up with, and leave the building to them. They’ll learn problem-solving skills, build creativity and so much more.
A portable tent or two set up in the backyard will provide a private play space for kids and a place to escape the heat. If you’re a camper, this is equipment you already have so it won’t cost anything extra.
Midday outdoors can be too hot for some summer days. Beat the heat and get outdoors at night with a game of laser tag for the neighborhood kids or the whole family. Infrared laser tag kits are available at big box stores and online.
Safety Proofing Your Backyard
It’s easy to determine if your backyard is a safe place for kids to play outdoors by using common sense. A good place to start is by considering their access to things stored in the toolshed or garage. Younger children may not realize the danger of sharp tools, pool chemicals and flammable liquids. Toolsheds, garages or any other places that store potentially dangerous items should be locked at all times.
You can keep kids safer in the backyard by choosing play equipment that is safety certified and erecting it solidly on level ground. A swing set installed unevenly can easily topple over.
If you have a backyard pool or spa, it’s your responsibility as a homeowner to know and follow local safety rules. In many municipalities, a 5-foot-high isolation fence is required. The fence should have four sides and block access to the pool from the house. A pool can be even safer when a motorized top is added.
You can make your backyard safer for kids, especially younger ones, by removing any entrapment hazards such as buckets, coolers and storage chests. When these items collect rainwater, they can even pose a drowning hazard for toddlers. Stagnate water can also help breed mosquitos, the world’s most dangerous insects. Lawn equipment and garden tools should be stored away when not in use.
If you grill outdoors in summer, your backyard will be safer for the kids if you store charcoal, matches, lighter fluid and other grilling accessories out of reach.
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