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Everyone would love a huge backyard, but this isn’t always the case. Many new developments are sacrificing yard space for bigger square footage inside the house while older properties sometimes don’t have huge backyards people desire. If you’re fortunate enough to have a fairly good size backyard, consider yourself lucky! Not only can you try a lot of playground ideas for your kids, but you probably have extra space for other desirable backyard amenities like a pool, patio and other fun things.
However, don’t stress if your backyard is on the small size! There are a lot of benefits of having for having a tiny yard. Not only there is less work to keep up, but you also have smaller utility bills, water bills and fewer landscaping needs.
If you are looking to spruce up your small backyard and make it as presentable as you can or family friendly, then you’ll be able to renovate with a smaller budget, but still have a big difference. And finally, a little backyard can provide a cozier, more intimate feeling that larger yards don’t always have.
Your kids don’t care if you have a big or small backyard, really, and just care about having a yard to play in. It’s more the parents who care about such a small space. Don’t fret because a small area can be just as fun and appealing as a large one. You can still do a lot with a small backyard in terms of playground toys and the like for your children; you just have to be strategic about what you do and where you place it.
Interesting Things in this Post
Backyard Ideas for Small Yards
Make Good Use of the Backyard Fences and Walls
So how do you maximize your backyard with limited space? Get creative! You don’t always have to place toys like others, but can also use the fence and patio to add playground necessities that your kids will love and have fun playing with.
Thinking out of the box when it comes to space will help you maximize what you’re able to do with your small backyard, allowing you to do more for less!
Things that you can hang on the fence include whiteboards and chalkboards. Your kids will love writing and draw on them when it’s warm out. This is a creative idea if you don’t have any concrete in your backyard for your kids to doodle on with chalk (affiliate link) and adds a whimsical feel to your tiny space.
Our other blogger, Jacob, often encourages his daughters to draw on the bench of his deck.
And if you have a very sturdy backyard wall that’s pretty high up, you might even be able to install a rock climbing board! You can build your own with a small budget. All you’ll need is Birch Plywood, T-Nuts, wood glue, wood screws and climbing holds, as well as a weekend with a few hours to assemble it all. It’s a useful backyard addition if you have kids who love to climb and are full of energy.
Safety always comes first. If you are unconfident in DIY the climbing board, you could consider getting one online. Or hire a qualified technician to install it for you.
A fence is also useful when trying fostering your child’s musical interests since you can create a music fence that will provide them hours of fun and take up no room. All you have to do is use any object you can think of that makes music when you hit it like pots and pans, spoons and so much more.
You can also create a DIY water wall on a fence by using cut up water bottles or containers. It’s super easy to assemble and fun to play with! All you have to do is attach the water bottles to the fence in a circuit path so that the water can flow to each of the containers, eventually falling to the ground. It’s the perfect activity for when it’s hot out!
If you want a sandbox for your kids, you can create a small one using an old bookcase that you can easily place in the corner of your tiny yard somewhere. You’ll just have to repaint it, put it on its back and fill it with sand. The bookshelf doesn’t even have to be that big; you just need one large enough to fit your child!
Swings for Small Backyard
If you have a tree in the backyard, you can easily create a quaint and unique swing set by repurposing an old chair into a swing that can hang from the tree. Or you can use traditional swings if you aren’t huge on the whole DIY aspect. Plus, you can get creative and hang a tire swing that allows at least two kids to swing in glee from your backyard tree! Or you can skip the swing part and just use hanging chairs that double as cool spots to just chill as a family instead of having to use any precious backyard space for patio chairs.
Whatever is suitable for your kids would work! Just make sure to choose tree swing straps that are safe and could withstand all these weights. Of course, always pick the trees that are strong and sturdy.
Since we are talking about swings, another option you could consider is to create an obstacle course with monkey bars. Simply suspend a line between any two trees, then include a few monkey bars, or gymnastics rings on it. This challenging course can promote physical development to your children and can undoubtedly provide hours of adventurous swinging and hanging.
Treehouse for Small Backyard
Even though you might not like the fact that a tree is taking up space in your tiny backyard, you can always use it to create a tree house for your kids. It’s must-have when you don’t have room for traditional playhouses and allows your kids to use their imagination and stay active while climbing up to it.
They’re relatively simple to build, and you don’t have to make it too high up so that you can just holster your kids up to the tree house if they’re too little to climb. And you can even use the tree house to store toys, allowing you to save on backyard space in your tiny yard!
If you are looking for tutorials on building a treehouse, you should check out “Black & Decker’s The Complete Guide to Treehouses“(affiliate link). It contains a wealth of valuable information in constructing and designing a treehouse for your kid. This guide also received many positive feedbacks from its readers.
If your small backyard doesn’t have a tree, you can consider creating a playhouse under your deck if it has stairs. It’s the perfect spot for a playhouse since it doesn’t require any more room, allowing your kids to play house without compromising any of your tiny backyard’s space.
Once again, safety always comes first. It is vital to ensure the deck is strong and sturdy so that it won’t collapse into the playhouse underneath.
Small Storage for Backyard
Another dilemma parents have with small backyard spaces is where to store all the outdoor toys. Although you can always purchase a toy box, you’ll lose room having to store it in your small backyard. But you can always create an outdoor storage toy box that doubles as a bench in the yard or deck. This way, your small backyard gets two things for the space of one!
There are also sheds (affiliate link) that are created for small spaces. You might consider getting one that has a more vertically design so that it would not occupy too much area in the backyard.
The same idea would also hold true for your plants and flowers. Rather than placing each one on the ground separately, consider displaying them on a plant hanger or a vertically designed flowers holder.
Of course, you always have the option just to buy a backyard playset, but you do have to rethink since you don’t have a lot of room to work with. When looking for a playset, you’ll have to find that that’s more vertical than horizontal, thus saving you space. Many models have a base tower with a playhouse at the top and maybe a sandbox below, allowing you maximum fun in a small area.
Also, see if you can customize your playset with small accessories like telescopes, rock walls, tic-tac-toe boards and the like that don’t take up much room and provide more entertainment options for your kids. Also, add-on features could be helpful. It allows you to customize the playset so that your kids can be entertained when they get older.
If you are going to go out and buy one, don’t buy the first one that appeals to you. Do your research to find the best one that will fit your small backyard and still provide lots of entertainment options. If you’re already hesitant about all the room it’ll take, skip the playset and try the aforementioned options instead!
And remember to consider your child’s age when creating a small backyard playground. You don’t want to create something that’s too old for them, or that’s unsafe. You want to make sure your kids can utilize their small backyard at whatever age. Therefore, you might have to add or remove things as your kids continue to grow.
So despite having a small backyard, you still have loads of different options when it comes to creating a fun playground your kids will love. Although it might seem like a daunting task, you just need to get creative about what to add to your tiny backyard. And honestly, having a small yard is better than no yard at all! Many urban areas don’t have room for yards and children who live in apartments barely have a small balcony to play outside in! These kids have to go outside and play in the streets or head to a park if they want to play outdoors, so be thankful your children have at least some yard to call their own.
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A freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA with more than 7 years of experience, writing for magazines and blogs. She is also a social media maven and communications specialist. Parenting is one of her favored topics. She is a happy mom with two boys and due with her little girl in May.