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Home › Articles › Family Life › A Backyard Wonderland

A Backyard Wonderland

Spruce Up Your Yard for the Little Ones

By Jacqueline Rupp

Pages:  1  2  3  

To bring more fun into the garden, bring the garden down to kid-level. "Add child-sized furnishing and garden tools for kids to use alongside of you," Donovan says. "Lots of children enjoy having their own 'secret garden,' play fort or vegetable patch. They don't have to be large areas and will bring hours of fun."

Create a special area for noontime picnics, like under a big shade tree or patio area. Add-on stylish but sturdy decorative touches like a serving tray, colorful picnicware and plantings to make the kids feel like they are at a "grown-up" caf笠

A Storybook Affair
Rocklin suggests adding some fun with a sandbox surrounded with plantings or a potting bench to encourage everyone to get their hands dirty gardening. You can also include a canopy and padded cover for a sandbox that can function as a lid or extra play spot.

Rocklin says to think about what your kids like and translate that into the garden. At the LAS Children's Garden, this is done by incorporating popular nursery rhymes, including "Jack and the Beanstalk." Rocklin says projects like these can easily be done at home. "'Jack and the Beanstalk' is a very simple garden to make at home by building a beanpole and growing as many different kinds of climbing beans as you like on the pole," she says. "Peter Rabbit's garden is also an easy project for home. Just read the story, pick out which vegetables your family likes and plant them around a garden gate. Hang a little rabbit's coat on the fence for whimsy, and the result is nothing short of inspiring."


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