Backyard Woodland Play Area

We recently cleared most of our back yard. It was heavily wooded with 80-90 foot pine trees. The ground was covered with a thick growth of English Ivy.

In the South heavy ground cover is an open invitation to snakes. And, in the South we have several species of poisonous snakes. Needless to say we never walked back there. We had the ivy cleared last year and I loved having access to more of our yard.

The trees were top heavy and so close to the house that they represented a potential threat. Over the winter three of the massive trees in the front yard fell. Kevin gamely got our his chain saw, cut them into sections and cleared them away. However if any of the trees in the back fell they were almost guaranteed to hit the house - and one of the girls' bedrooms. I decided that they all had to go.

We had the town arborist come out and evaluate the trees. With the exception of a few very old trees and one or two specimen trees he agreed that they could all come down.

We left one corner of the yard wooded. It had several large trees to accommodate Danielle's hammock and zip line.

I wanted to make this area her woodland wonderland. But, how could I draw her across the dry creek bed to play in that area? The giant remaining logs became a natural bridge.

Since it was a shady corner I wanted to add some color. I spent $10 on metal flowers from Dollar Tree to create a whimsical year round flower garden. The kids can move them around as they see fit.

I painted a piece of left over plywood with chalk board paint and leaned it against the back fence. I hung a bright plastic colander of chalk next to it.

 

We spent a week playing back there, creating our fairy gardens.

 

 

As we played other things moved into the area. Soon her balance beam was back there, as were some child-sized lawn chairs and an outdoor coffee table that had been on the deck. Perfect for picnics or woodland tea parties!

And if you are going to have tea parties, then you clearly need a kitchen. So we assembled a mud kitchen - or mud lab, depending on its purpose on any given day. Again, we made this from recycled materials, including a piece of scrap lumber and some cinder blocks. We moved forgotten play kitchen toys, thrift store items and the sand box next to it.

We had an art area. I wanted some musical instruments as well. We have several sets of wind chimes around the yard. I pulled one set apart and hung them from the fence for a xylophone. Danielle has a set of bongos she loves, but I don't want them left outside.  We made a taiko drum from an old tire and $3 worth of duct tape. The tire had been a swing but my neighbor was having fits about mosquitoes breeding in it even though I had drilled holes in the bottom to prevent water from accumulating in it.

Taiko Drum made from an old tire & duct tape

I used some inexpensive (10 cent) tiles to create a tic tac toe board set into the ground. We used rocks for the markers.  I painted the Xs and Os with nail polish.

Studies show that what children most want in their natural play spaces are: water, vegetation, animals, insects, and sand. We had trees, birds, squirrels and insects already. I moved the sandbox over (empty) and filled it with clean sand. All I needed was water.  I really wanted a rain barrel with a faucet so they could have "running" water to play with. It was a little expensive so instead  I made a small water garden with a few goldfish. I bought a plastic "whiskey barrel" for $15 from Big Lots and a $18 solar pump from  Harbor Freight Tools. Add gravel few water plants and fish (to keep the mosquitoes down) - viola!

water gardening in the rain...

Children need things to sit on, in and under. They want places that provide privacy, shade and shelter.
We had the various trees, but as a landscape it was fairly barren. Danielle really wanted a tree house, but that is beyond my construction abilities. I used a Dollar Tree hula hoop and a thrift shop sheet to create a princess-like pavilion that we hung from a tree branch. I can put up our tent out there on sunny days.

They also want different levels, nooks, crannies and places to hide. Unfortunately in the South nooks and crannies are often home to snakes, black widows, brown recluse spiders and scorpions. Not the type of animals and insects I want kids playing with!

Finally, kids crave things that can be changed. They want loose parts that they use to build and create their own inventions. Think of how many kids love Legos, for instance. The desire to create is hard-wired in most of us. That's why I added some open ended items like the metal flowers, baskets, buckets, lengths of rope, etc. I'd like a pallet or two as well. The kids can move things around depending on their mood and the day. There are a few stumps for balancing stones, seats and general construction, but most were just too heavy to carry across the dry creek bed.

I had wanted to create a path from logs, but sawing logs to the correct thickness was harder than I thought it would be. Instead I bought some stepping stones ($3 each) and painted them bright colors for a path. Since these are plastic the kids can move them and incorporate them into their games.

Most of the things in the new play space were moved from other parts of our house or yard. A fair number (like the tire drum) were created from recycled objects. All together I spent less than $75 on materials for this newly developed play area.

 

The zip line is up and we still have one large tree without a purpose. It's just crying out for a swing. I know I have some a 2x4 and some rope somewhere...

The Under $200 Playroom Makeover

The other day Danielle said our playroom was "boo-ring!" When I asked why, she replied that it was "too grown up."  Hmmmm.. 

I looked around and saw dark colors, adult sized furniture and piles of disorganized toys. Sure, it was big and there were a lot of toys down there, but I had to agree that it didn't really look like a  FUN place to play.

I didn't want to spend a fortune making over a room to suit a 6 year old. After all I had just bought the dark rugs few years ago - they hide dirt so nicely! And I hate to paint so that wasn't going to be the main focus of my redecorating strategy. (I just finished repainting Amanda's room - more than a year after I stripped her ugly wallpaper.)



Looking at the room I could see that two tables in one space was just too much. I need to move the big table out of the room. I repainted  the child sized table and chairs pink & white so they are more "girl-y".



I moved the dolls and got rid of the rolling cart that held doll clothes & dishes.

My concession to painting was to create an accent wall at this end of the room. I wanted to use chalkboard paint, but I didn't want a black wall in an already dark room.

I donated the easel. Danielle prefers to sit at a table to draw or paint so there was no point in wasting the floor space. Not only was this an inexpensive make-over, but I donated so many of the girls old toys and things that we ended up with a nice tax write off as well.

I moved the air hockey table out and brought  in an old chair from another room. I added an inexpensive floor lamp and a hot pink chair from WalMart to make a kids reading area closer to the Craft Center (total cost $40). I found the furry pillow at Goodwill ($3).

Cozy reading area on a gray day

the "pillow pile" featuring converted baby quilt

The rug was from Danielle's baby room. I made a floor pillow by folding her baby quilt over 2 inexpensive pillows ($10) and sewing the edges together - by hand.  This end of the room is now my Quiet Zone for art, reading,etc.

Before - cluttered

The center of the room is now the Medium Zone for TV and the girls' computer. I raided Dollar Tree for brightly colored bins to store the toys and things that were piled into this unit. These bins hold the girls' games, Legos, blocks, etc.

After - bright & organized with easy access

  

Now Amanda has her own space to watch TV or use the computer, but can still be included in the action of the other kids playing.



 

 

 

The final area is the Active Zone.

I confess that I wanted (and bought) a swing and a rope ladder for this area, but I was vetoed. They are both outside now. I had to settle for a very cute, brightly colored Alex Hopscotch Rug.



Before - no definition

I moved a lot of furniture around. I searched other rooms of the house for things that would work in this room -- like the hanging Moravian star light.

I removed the two tan arm chairs and used the space for a tent that was blocking traffic in another room (you can see it in the picture above). The chairs are now in that room which makes so much more sense.

The pallet was free from Lowe's.
 I used leftover plywood and paint to finish it off.

Next I moved the pallet stage I had made for Danielle's ballerina birthday party into that end of the room. I stapled some colored lights along the border and used leftover tulle for curtains. Within a day every musical toy we own migrated over to the stage area - and I wasn't the one who moved them!

The Memorex MKS-SS1 SingStand Home Karaoke Systemstand microphone was one of the best gifts the girls have ever gotten (thanks to my generous in-laws). It was less than $50 from Amazon I highly recommend it for both boys & girls of all ages. Even our adult friends like to get in on the act! You can just sing into the mike or you can plug in your phone and run music through the base. Add a karoake app and you've got a party.

The microphone & the hopscotch rug were
gifts from the girls' grandparents.

 

I cleared out the shelves and moved the dolls, toy food & dishes, Barbies, cars, etc. all into that area.  

 

 

After - "Active Zone"

 














I created a dress up space with a $20 adjustable garment rack and an inexpensive ($10) full length mirror. The dress up clothes which had been stuffed into a toy box are now being played with almost daily.

The wooden wall decorations came from Goodwill. I painted
the low wall with hot pink chalkboard paint like the table top.

 

This all cost just over $100 dollars.

The rest of the money went for paint and drawing boards. I spent about $30 for bright pink paint on the accent wall by the craft center and $10 on the white pain for the table and chairs. I painted a few flowers on our old bulletin board, added a white board ($20) and a stick on erasable flower decal ($7).

I bought 2 small jars of hot pink chalkboard paint ($7 each from Jo Ann's --without a coupon.) I painted 2 low walls and the top of the small table and I still have some left.

This was clearly an instance where less is more. Reorganizing toys and furniture with a plan in mind was the center of this "make over" project. I didn't move walls, buy rugs, a lot of furniture or even repaint the entire room. I thought about how I wanted us to use the room and what we needed to make that happen. I tried to take the girls' interests and preferences into account rather than just making this another adult room.