When you have kids, having a functional and well-equipped backyard is important. Giving your children a space to play and explore is crucial, and having a kid-friendly backyard is the perfect way to motivate them to get outside. Whether you’re looking for a new home with the perfect backyard or looking to renovate your own yard with the help of Classic Home Concepts, here are a few kid-friendly backyard ideas that both you and your little ones are sure to love. 

Build a Playground 

A classic backyard staple is a large playground or swingset. The right playset can give your child space to play and explore, as any child is sure to love spending hours climbing, swinging, and sliding. When investing in a playground, be sure to choose a set that is right for your children. Experts advise seeking out a playset that can be used by children of all ages and will continue to be functional as your children grow up. 

Include Sand or Water Play

Nothing is more fun than spending a day at the beach playing in the sand, but unfortunately, doing so is not realistic everyday for many people! IInstalling a sand box or a water table in your backyard is the perfect way to replicate this at home, and to encourage younger children to explore new sensations and learn as they play. This is a great option for nearly any sized backyard, as sandboxes and water tables are available in a variety of sizes and styles that can be easily incorporated into any space. 

Provide Plenty of Shade 

Installing large umbrellas or a canopy in your yard can serve as an effective way to protect your children from the sun’s harmful UV rays, while also serving as decoration in your yard. Choose an umbrella pattern or canopy style that matches the rest of your outdoor decor and keep yourself shaded in style. 

Include a Space for Crafts

If your child loves arts and crafts, giving them a space to work outside allows them to express their creativity and pursue the arts and crafts they love, while helping to keep their messes from entering your tidy household. This is a win-win for both of you! 

Install a Pool 

Whether you have a large outdoor space that is big enough for the installation of an inground pool or are working with a limited amount of yard space and want to give your children a small space to cool off on a hot summer day, backyard pools of all sizes are the perfect addition to your home. 

If you are lucky, you have a mom that deserves to be celebrated! Take a moment to think back to your childhood classroom around Mother’s Day: I’m sure you can recall crafting with glue and cotton balls and markers to make a “masterpiece” for her that she proudly displayed on the refrigerator for years after. Why did this creativity have to stop in second grade? 

We have listed a few ways to unearth that uniqueness for you and your mom. Here are some different ideas to help you share something special and personal with one of the most important women in your life.

Get Your Van Gogh On

Picture this: wine, blank canvases, and you and mom sprawled on the floor crafting something special. You can buy all the materials you need (canvas, acrylic paint, and brushes) for under $30 from most craft stores or box stores like Wal-Mart. You can even find kits like this online that have all you need in one purchase.

No need to be intimidated by what to paint either. If you can’t think of what to create or where to start, you can always find tutorials online. There are thousands of options on YouTube if you do a quick search!

After your masterpieces and memories are created, you and your mom can swap paintings! You have a memory and a gift, all in one. 

Create a 5-Star Dining Experience

You don’t have to be a Michelin chef to create a good meal. Get creative in the kitchen with your mom. The two of you can sit down and start with the basics: do you want to create something sweet or savory? Breakfast or dinner? Vegetarian or meat? After answering some basic questions, head off to the grocery store and get to coming up with ideas together for the perfect meal!

After you craft your meal, you can sit down and enjoy a fine dining experience in the comfort of home. You could light some candles, turn on some Frank Sinatra, and share a bottle of wine or sparkling water. Finish your fancy meal with a movie and popcorn for an extra touch!

Everlasting Memory: Tattoo Date

What better way to create a lasting memory with mom than to get tattoos together? There are a lot of great options for tattoo shops that are highly rated for specialized tattoos like Certified Tattoo Studios. You can get your mom’s handwriting on your wrist or matching images on your ankle. The options are endless and Pinterest and other websites offer great ideas for mother/child tattoos.

Spend some time talking about what both you and your mom want for a tattoo. You can decide where on the body you want it, what color, and the detail behind it. Whatever it is, we suggest you don’t rush this one! 

Have Fun

A great mom is someone to not take for granted, and if you are here – you want to give her something special. Now it’s time to get painting, cooking, and booking that appointment at your local tattoo shop. Have fun!

Our children are the light of our lives, whether they were brought into this world naturally, with the help of tuboplasty, or if you adopted your bundle of joy because you knew they were meant to come home with you. It’s for this reason that we as parents can sometimes go a little overboard in getting them presents, whether that’s for their birthdays, Christmas, or just for a celebration. And in the modern age, many of those gifts end up being electronics.

But there are so many other great gifts that your children can get use or joy out of other than those that require an electrical outlet or batteries. Here are some great presents to get them that aren’t electronic.

Books

Getting a book might not be at the top of your child’s wishlist, but instilling a passion for reading early on could benefit them in the future, and they might even find they actually enjoy reading—who would have guessed!

That being said, your nine-year-old likely won’t find much enjoyment in reading Pride and Prejudice, so you should get them a book or genre that you think they would enjoy. This might include a popular read like Harry Potter or something that they’ve never even heard of before.

Instruments

While it takes dedication and hard work to learn, getting your child an instrument can do wonders for them. Not only will it provide them with a new hobby, but it can also turn into a passion that they can continue to pursue for the rest of their lives if they are interested enough.

They might take interest in the drums, guitar, violin, piano, or just about any other instrument. Getting them their very own instrument could open the doorway for a whole lifetime of enjoyment!

Games for the Family

Contrary to popular belief, according to kids, there are actually lots of fun games that don’t include video games. Board games are a great way for the entire family to get together or for them to have fun with their friends, along with tabletop games like ping pong, air hockey, foosball, and more.

Something for Outside

The opposite of an electronic gift for your kids is pretty much one that requires them to go outside, and as bad as that might sound to them in the modern world, there are lots of fun things they can do outside.

You could get them a bike, a scooter, roller skates, or even a trampoline. If they are into sports, they might enjoy a basketball hoop or a new football with their favorite team on it. Even something as simple as sidewalk chalk or as elaborate as a swingset can be a great gift.!

Aww, You Shouldn’t Have!

No matter what you decide to get your child for the next special occasion, they’re guaranteed to have a blast with it! And if you decide to get them an electronic, even if they already have plenty, there’s no doubt they’ll love it.

If your kids are fans of amusement parks, they’ve likely heard of Universal Studios, and if by chance they haven’t, they’re in for a real treat. Taking your kids to Universal is sure to put a smile on their faces, but there are a few things that you absolutely have to do with them while the whole group is there.

Character Encounters

Young kids will have an absolute blast interacting with and meeting their favorite characters in person. Some of the characters they might see include Spongebob Squarepants, Spiderman, the minions, Transformers, Shrek, The Simpsons, The Cat in the Hat, Popeye, Captain America, and more. There’s nothing quite like meeting your heroes!

Ride in the Front

While you won’t be able to wait in every single line for the front of rides, you need to do so on at least one with your kids. Maybe that means snagging the front seat of Transformers: the Ride, or sitting in the front of The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. There’s nothing wrong with other seats, but there’s something special about getting to sit in front that your kids will appreciate.

Explore Harry Potter World

What kid didn’t dream of going to Hogwarts? Well, at Universal, they can. You could practically spend an entire day exploring both of the Wizarding parks, including Diagon Ally and Hogsmead. They’ll be in awe as you ride alongside Harry and the gang on several rides, drink butterbeer from the movies, and explore shops that are filled with cool treats and merchandise. Plus, they can even visit Olivander’s Wand Shop to get their very own wand and become a wizard themselves!

Get a Frozen Treat

Walking around Orlando can be hot, so you’ll need to get your child a frozen treat at some point. Universal just so happens to have a wide variety of ice cream shops to dine on, like The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, Cold Stone Creamery, Chill Ice Cream, Cathay’s Ice Cream, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, Haagen Dazs, Hop on Pop Ice Cream Shop, Menchies Frozen Yogurt, and more!

Capture the Moment

Going home without taking a picture of your kids’ first time at Universal Studio would be criminal, so make sure to take lots of photos throughout the park. Get ones with characters, in front of interesting shops or rides, and maybe even purchase the photos that are taken while the whole family is on a ride. And if you want to get artistic, have your kids get caricatures drawn. Once it’s in a frame on your wall back home, it will make for the perfect conversation starter.

The Time of Their Lives

Whether you’ve just had a successful bunion surgery recovery, are overdue for a vacation, or want to celebrate being a family, any excuse you have to visit Universal Studios is a good one, and your kids—as well as yourself—will be all the happier because of it.