How To Create A Garden That Your Family Will Enjoy

When was the last time that you spent some quality time outdoors with your children? According to research, only 51% of children go outside to walk or play once a day with either parent. Moreover, the study showed that boys were more likely to be taken outside than girls. As too much time spent indoors can be bad for children’s health, the American Heart Association recommends that kids aged 2 and older should participate in at least 60 minutes of enjoyable, moderate-intensity physical activities—such as a friendly game of soccer or gardening—every day. To encourage your family to spend more time outdoors, consider creating a garden that your loved ones will enjoy. Not only do you get to benefit from the fresh air, but you also get to spend a lot of quality, gadget-free time with your little ones. Here are several ways to create a family-friendly garden that everyone will love.

Work out what you want in a garden

The first thing that you need to do when planning a garden is to work out what you want in it. Sit down with your family and talk about what activities you want to do in the space. Do you plan to grow flowers or vegetables? Do you want an area for active play? How about a sitting area? Once you’ve decided on what things you want to include in your garden, break up your space into different zones and go from there.

Create a sitting area

A sitting area gives your family a place where you can have meaningful conversations or spend time together doing crafts or playing board games. There are so many options for your garden sitting area—you can have wicker furniture with cushions for added comfort in your patio, or wooden benches under a big tree. You can also create hidden sitting areas throughout your garden for some quiet reading time or a moment of reflection.

Add water elements

Adding water elements gives life and freshness to any garden. You can have a koi pond, a swimming pool, a reflection pool, or an outdoor water fountain in your garden. Whatever you choose to have, make sure not to leave very young children unsupervised when in the garden, and clean your pond, pool, or fountain regularly to avoid algae build up. If you don’t have much room for a water feature, try including a tabletop water fountain in your patio.

Group play equipment in one zone

It’s a good idea to have all your child’s play equipment in one zone in the garden for a more cohesive look. As for the type of play equipment that you can have in the garden, you can have a playhouse, a sand pit, a plastic swing or a tire swing, an in-ground trampoline, slides, and a see-saw.

Spending some time outdoors is beneficial for your family’s health. Try these tips to create a family-friendly garden that you and your loved ones will enjoy for a long time.