Fun Ways to Turn Your Backyard Into a Kid Zone

This post is sponsored by RST.

Children are wild animals, and they need a space where they can be free to behave as such. Enter the backyard. If you’re little beasts are in need of energy channeling, look no further than the backyard for a solution. Just think of them, running free for hours on end. But how can you lure them out there?

By setting up your backyard as a kid zone, you can set your children free, and give them countless afternoons they'll never forget.

Release Their Inner Artist

If you turn your children’s creative sensibilities to the outdoors, you’ll be less likely to find evidence of them on your walls. The simplest activity my kids love is to take a bucket of water and paint brushes out onto the patio. They “paint” with the water on the cement, and then do it all over again as it dries.

A little table and chairs set up outside and some basic art supplies allow them to enjoy the great outdoors, and keeps the mess out of your kitchen. One great idea I saw was a family who had hung a huge piece of blackboard material along the fence in their backyard, which the kids continually decorated with every color of chalk.

Kids Dig Dirt

You might wish they'd stay clean, but the fact is that little kids love to get dirty. If you give them some allowed options for getting dirty in the back yard, you’ll be their favorite parent. The classic sandbox is a surefire success with any kid, and they seem to never get sick of it. Creating a mud pie station out of a plastic table, some kitchen utensils, and some pie tins will also keep them busy and happy.

For kids who like to have a job to do, set aside a corner of your backyard garden that is just for them. Help them to plant low-maintenance plants there, and work together with them to care for the garden. If you have a smaller backyard, set them up with a little container garden, and watch their confidence grow with their plants.

Baby Fishes

In the wintertime, when my little girls get antsy, I fill up the bathtub and plop them in. They’ll play in there for hours sometimes (as long as I add warm water) and emerge relaxed and happy. Kids are drawn to water, so if you turn the sprinkler on, they will come. To keep things interesting, consider setting up a variety of different kinds of sprinklers in a row, creating a “carwash” that the kids can ride their bike through. You can also hold their attention with a slip n’ slide obstacle course, complete with beach balls and water balloons.

Thank you RST for these great ideas! Even though summer seems like a long way off, spring will be here soon which is a perfect time to start any backyard projects you have planned. Make sure to check out RST for all your outdoor needs!

This post was written by Tiecen, who graduated from California Sate University in 2008 and started picking up work as a corporate web content writer. She enjoys learning new things every day and enjoys writing content for RST Outdoor.

This is a sponsored post, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.