Looking for some inspiration to help keep the kids entertained in the confines of home – as well as off devices and outdoors soaking up much-needed Vitamin D?
A simple overhaul of outdoor spaces can give months of outdoor play and entertainment as Australia adjusts to spending more time at home. Matt Leacy’s [Landart Landscapes] shares his top tips to keeping kids entertained:
- If you have a wall that can be painted, transform it into an outdoor art space with chalk paint. Or if you’re renting and need something more temporary, coat some marine ply with chalk paint and hang it against a wall with buckets of chalk for kids to use. The dark chalk paint will also make your plants pop.
- Add a small putting green to your outdoor space – even a balcony – by using a piece of synthetic turf and create contours with some sand and holes cut to putt balls into.
- Swing sets and trampolines will add much needed fun outdoor exercise spaces. You might also look at transforming a corner of the garden with a raised gardening bed or sandpit. It’s all about incorporating interesting additions and dimensions that enable the space to have different feels, purposes and aesthetics.
- A fire pit, especially heading into the cooler months, will also allow greater use of outdoor spaces on crisp autumn and winter days and evenings. The fire pit will produce warmth and natural light, and it will also be great for outdoor cooking. Just make sure you’re not using the pit when or where a fire ban is in place and that you’re always supervising the kids to ensure they’re a safe distance from it.
- Grow your own. Encourage kids to grow, tend and harvest fresh vegetables. Kids will learn the value of fresh food and how vegetables get from the garden to the dinner table.
- Get crafty. In addition to working outdoors you can also encourage your children to make things for the garden. Create plant and herb markers from old paddle pop sticks; paint old plant pots; make garden decorations from beads, shells and pebbles, hang these with thread, or fishing line; turn coconut shell halves or recycled egg cartons into seedling pots (clean the inside, paint the outside like a face and anything that sprouts will seem like hair); grow plants from vegetable scraps and cuttings.
More info: landart.com.au/the-team
