Child Friendly Gardens

Making your garden child friendly is not always necessarily the number one priority. We do want to encourage our children to play outside more, but we also want our gardens to be somewhere we can enjoy. Gardens are usually somewhere we go to relax – to bask in the sun in peaceful tranquillity. But how can we incorporate garden play equipment sympathetically and without letting it completely take over our garden?

Wooden Play Equipment

The easiest way to ensure that play equipment blends into a garden is by always selecting wooden play equipment. Wooden Climbing Frames are very popular and offer a whole host of different elements and activities for your children.  Climbing frames are not simply for climbing, they can have swings, monkey bars, slides and all manner of other accessories for both physical and creative activities.

To install something like a climbing frame you really need to consider the space and area you are willing to ‘give over’ to it. It is no good purchasing something which will end up obstructing a view or preventing access to a shed for example. Take time to measure the area which you will use – both on the ground and the height you want it to go to. This is the part where you can get creative and clever when blending it in to your garden.

Use Your Space to its Full Potential

Carefully consider the areas you have in your garden that would be suitable – ideally these will be fairly flat areas. Look at the plants and trees you have in your garden – would it be possible to conceal parts of the frame behind bushes or trees? Remember you need around 1.5 – 2 metres either side of the frame if there is to be a swing, for example, so do take this into consideration. Deciding on an ‘L’ shape design may make things fit in better – you may be able to use up space around a corner so you are really maximising on the space used. Take pictures of the area from different angles – that way the climbing frame retailer will be able to advise you better. Click here for details of a retailer who can advise and design using modular elements of your choosing.

The benefits of using the natural aspects of your garden to conceal the climbing frame not only will prevent it from taking over, but it can also create a more magical area for your children to play in. Having a tree or flowers over hanging parts of the tower will improve the possibilities for exciting play scenarios!

Think about the colours that will go onto the frame. Natural wooden swing seats and green slides will blend in better than, say a bright pink slide or brightly coloured accessories!

Too Small for a Climbing Frame?

 If your garden is too small for any climbing frame – bearing in mind the smallest ones are around 3metres square, then a tree house could incorporate all the benefits and play value of a climbing frame using your garden natural assets. If you are DIY minded, there is a lot of help on the internet to guide you in the best way of creating one. There is an interesting article here on the channel 4 website which has some useful tips.

You needn’t create the entire thing from scratch either. Think about adding accessories like rope ladders, climbing stones or a tree swing to give it even more elements that your children can enjoy. You could probably even add a slide if your tree is not too tall.

For help and guidance on climbing frames and other play equipment, contact Big Game Hunter’s climbing frame shop.