Many of my friends try, each year, to get their family to spend more time in the backyard. And each year they fail. It’s easy to stay inside the house, watching TV, surfing the Internet and speaking on the phone with friends and family. But with the right family backyard ideas, you can get your family to bond while enjoying the outdoors this summer. There are so many family activities for summer to make sure you enjoy being in nature together. Here are some tips for how to get kids to play outside.
Family Backyard Ideas To Get Kids To Play Outside
Summer is starting to peek around the corner. With summer’s arrival comes the thought of backyard parties, days at the beach, and other warm, outdoor activities. Part of getting ready for summer is getting your family backyard ready for summer. In this way, you and the kids will want to spend a lot of time back there. Here are ideas to make your backyard more inviting so that you don’t have to get the kids to play outside. They will want to naturally!
Make Your Backyard Comfortable For Family
The first step for getting family outside is to make sure you have the right backyard furniture. You need to make your backyard a welcoming and inviting space. This is something you’re never going to achieve if people are left sitting on wobbly plastic chairs. Invest in making your backyard comfortable, and you’ll be halfway to making it an extension of your living space. You may want to try some of these DIY Pallet ideas for making your backyard cozy.
Make Your Backyard Accessible To Kids
Many people make the mistake of making it too difficult to sit in the backyard. If someone needs to go and get a key and open the door, they’re going to feel less tempted to go outside. So, leave the door open or the key in the lock. Consider getting glass doors that make your outside feel more like it’s part of your home. Keep the shades open so everyone can see how pretty it is outside. This alone may help get kids to play outside.
Provide Backyard Snacks and Reading Materials
People like to sit outside and drink orange juice, a cold beer or a glass of wine. You can use this to your advantage. Leave a cooler with some drinks and snacks lying outside, and people will go outside, get a bite to eat and a drink, and they will be tempted to sit outside or play some backyard games.
Plan Family Backyard Entertainment
If you also have reading materials – like books and magazines – people won’t feel the need to go back into the house to be entertained. It’s nice if your family can all sit together and read books and magazines, but it’s even better if you can get your family to spend some quality time together and really enjoy each other’s company. To make this happen, try to play some water games if it is a hot day. If everyone has a lot of fun, they are more likely to want to participate next time you suggest hanging out in the backyard.
Another important part of how to get kids to play outside is having some resources. A game of soccer or football can work great, so have some sports balls on hand. Cornhole is another of the really fun backyard games to play. If you have younger children and a big enough backyard, you could also consider organizing a treasure hunt.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that family games in the backyard are all about jumping around and getting tired, but they don’t have to be. A classic board game like Monopoly could work perfectly. Whatever it takes, just get outside and enjoy some sun and fresh air and the benefits of spending time with family!
Make Sure You Have Enough Backyard Lights
Hopefully during summer you spend lots of warm nights in your backyard while enjoy your friends and family. Don’t let your backyard be too dark, and brighten it up with some lights. In fact, a great decision would be to install some outdoor solar lighting so you don’t even have to pay for the nighttime electricity.
While you don’t want to bombard your backyard with lights, you definitely want to have enough lights so people can make their way around the backyard. Solar lights are a great option for that, as only a few will give you the lighting you need without requiring an increase in your monthly electricity bill.
Add a Fire Pit To Your Backyard
To take your backyard from average to outstanding, invest in a fire pit or build one yourself. Having a fire pit in your backyard will make your backyard a premier destination for all of your friends and family, and it will warm up those summer nights that are a little chillier than others. There is a wide variety in different types of fire pits, and you can no doubt find one that fits the décor for your backyard.
If you are feeling adventurous and you want to save some money, you can even dig your own fire pit. Search online for some designs that usually can be completed by one trip to the home improvement store. You can pick up bricks and a shovel for very cheap, and start digging your own fire pit in preparation for cooking S’mores this summer.
Plant For Fragrance In Your Backyard
When you think about family backyard ideas, you probably don’t think about what your backyard will smell like during the summer. Adding some fragrance to your backyard can make afternoon barbecues much more enjoyable. Plant some jasmine in pots and arrange it throughout your backyard, making sure you have it on the edges of your backyard. During the summer, the jasmine will bloom and make your backyard smell wonderful.
Put some chairs or a hammock underneath the jasmine after it grows, and you’ll have an incredibly natural and great smelling place to read a book or simply nap for a few hours. Combine the sweet jasmine smell with the smoky smell of a summer barbecue, and you’ll have a backyard that you won’t be able to keep your neighbor kids from playing in either!
The Benefits of Playing Outside
Outdoor play offers numerous benefits for both children and adults. One of which is just being outside the sunlight and fresh air. Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D, which is important for bone health and immune function. Spending time outdoors can help ensure an adequate intake of vitamin D.
Physical Development
Playing outdoors is, of course, great exercise that promotes well-being and physical development. Children are naturally drawn to active outside play because it allows them to explore their environment, develop muscle strength and coordination, and gain great self-confidence. Playing outdoors also increases flexibility, improves motor skills, and helps grow a wide variety of physical skills, including those involved in sports.
Mood Enhancing And Better Sleep
Children have a great need for physical activity and they almost always love the chance to use their muscles to run, swing, jump, skate, climb, and ride a bike. They like to use their whole body when they play outdoors, and find physical activities interesting and challenging. Plus, playing outdoors can have a positive impact on mental health, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. Being out in the fresh air and sunshine does wonders for their mood (think endorphins!). It also does wonders for wearing them out and getting them to go to bed earlier, a problem that is way too common in the Youngblood house!
Get A New Perspective
For instance, when children are pushed in a swing, or when they propel a swing by themselves, they use many of their muscles to hold on, balance, and coordinate their body – in sync with the rhythm of moving back and forth. Also, while swinging, kids get a chance to see the world from a new perspective, literally soaring through the air. Just remember to provide comfort and security. For little ones, use a swing with a back support and a child restraint. Start out slow and push them from the front, so your face is in full view.
Personal Growth And Self Confidence
Toys that require balance and coordination – such as skates, scooters, and bikes – teach children new skills, encourage the development of self-confidence, and satisfy their interest in exploration. Choose sporting equipment that has “grow-with-me” features, starting at beginner and moving on up to advanced That way, children have the opportunity to master skills at their own pace. The beginner mode will give kids that extra boost of confidence they need when learning a new skill and then, as your child progresses to the advanced mode, they can practice their newly acquired skills to try new and exciting challenges. They can learn the exciting and personal growth that comes with pushing limits and reaching new goals.
Good For Imagination
Outdoor time also fuels the imagination. I remember running through the woods as a youngster creating games and scenarios that made me think and invent and dream. A tree can by a mast of a pirate ship. A cave can be an ancient setting for an archeology dig. A old wooden bridge can be the secret entrance to a magical forrest. A creek can be the only thing separating you from the “bad guys!”
Wildlife Viewing
The other benefit is you just never know what creature you might encounter. Just this morning, my son playing in his backyard fort and marveling at all the squirrels in the neighborhood as the “flew” through the air from tree to tree. I highly recommend staying away from the snakes and wild things but there is still something wonderful about seeing a deer or fox or wild turkey in the woods – especially for a youngster. Spending time outdoors helps foster a love and appreciation for nature, which is important for environmental awareness and conservation.
Conclusion
How to get kids to play outside is really not that difficult. Just take away their electronics and send them out to enjoy the back yard. Better yet, go out and enjoy it with them. You can work on projects and family backyard ideas to make the back even more inviting together and executing those ideas can be part of the fun times you spend outdoors together creating, building, and doing! Or playing and relaxing are fine too. Just get outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.
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Kori Sleep says
What an informative post with so many ideas for playing outside..plus i am craving family vacation and the summer. Fun summer bbq’s, cards with my cousins in New York by the pool, lounging with friends and my dog: are running in my mind. Thank you for the tips and the sweet memories that are going on in my mind:)