How to Encourage Your Child To Explore By Enriching Your Outside Space

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Any parent should want their child to spend time outside. Outside exploration offers plenty of opportunities to learn. It also shows your kids how beautiful nature can be. With stories about how unsafe the world is, it can seem best to lock your kids in and never let them out again. Of course, that’s not realistic! One thing you can do is to create an outside space that’s safe and allow them to explore it. Focus your efforts on your garden to achieve that goal. Here are a few things you should spend time on.

Fencing

Ensure the fencing around your garden is secure and rest easy that your children are safe outside. Depending on their age, they may be liable to climb through gaps (like mine). You don’t want your child ending up in next door’s garden, or worse, in the street. You should keep an eye on your kids when they’re outside obviously, but a solid fence will add extra security. Part of ours blew down in the recent storms and we’re waiting for it to be fixed.

 

Flowers

Having a variety of flowers in your garden will ensure your child sees nature at its best. It can be hard to turn your attention to flowers during these cold months. It’s worth getting to grips with when to plant flowers as soon as possible, though. If you want your garden flourishing by summer, you’re need to get to work! Speak to growing experts at your local gardening store to get an idea of where to start. Work out what flower displays you’re aiming for. Do you want a colour coded garden, or a rainbow effect? Learn as much as possible about the flowers you’re growing so you can teach your children about them when they ask. Children are inquisitive, and they’re bound to quiz you about the wonders they find during their exploration!

Herbs and Fruits

Growing herbs in your garden not only look nice, they smell wonderful and provide a sensory experience for your children. Growing fruit like raspberries, blackberries and even an apple tree if there’s space will show them where food comes from and they love picking their own. Plus, they come in handy for cooking! We’re big fans of growing in the Midwife and Life house, we have an allotment and raspberries, loganberries, strawberries, redcurrants and herbs in our back garden.

 

Play Things

Having play things in your garden will make it more appealing to your children. What’s better than having a playground right by your house? You should still be taking your kids to the local park, so they get the experience of being out and about. Even so, it’s not always possible to get outside everyday. Stocking up on a few playground pieces for your garden will ensure they can have fun, even when they’re at home. Getting this right will ensure that you get more use out of your garden. Think about the space you can dedicate to toys before you decide what to buy. If you don’t have lots of space, you could stick with a slide. If you have room for more, consider swings and trampolines to keep the fun going! Older children may want a space outside the house they can escape to. Consider buying them an outhouse or tree house they can turn into a den. If you’re good enough at DIY, why not make your own? You could get your child involved and turn it into a fun bonding experience. Not only will your child get time outside, but they’ll also get to learn a little about building.

Disclosure: this is a collaborative post, all opinions are my own

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