As soon as the weather is decent, we find ourselves spending majority of our days outside in the backyard. After a long, cold winter, the kids are always beyond excited to run around the backyard and play with the outside toys. Being a daycare provider, it should be of no surprise that we have a lot of different toys around our yard. Here are some of our favorites we play with, broken down by age ranges.
1.) Cozy Coupe Gas Pump. To go along with the Cozy Coupe. By now
the little one has gotten into pretend play a bit and wants to do something
more than just cruise in the Coupe. Add a gas pump to the mix and you'll be
given hours of play time.
2.) Sandbox. It's not the start of summer
until the littles have eaten a handful of sand. It's a beginning of nice
weather tradition at daycare.
3.) Tee Ball Set. Great, long lasting set that
the kids love.
4.) Teeter Totter. This is a perfect one to teach
kiddos how to balance and work together.
5.) Sidewalk Chalk. Who are we kidding? Sidewalk
chalk is great for all ages 1+! Even I love to color with the kiddos!
6.) Play Mower. The love to "mow" the
grass and have mower races against each other!
7.) Wheelbarrow. I love this wheelbarrow from
Little Tikes because it can't fit a child inside to be pushed around. This may
or may not have been an issue with other toy wheelbarrows.
8.) Trampoline. I bought this for the living
room this winter (it was a lifesaver), but the kids have loved it so much that
it's now in the backyard for jumping. I'm not a fan of larger trampolines, so
this one is just about perfect, especially for the younger kids.
9.) Basketball Hoop. I love that this set is
adjustable and can last a lot longer than all of the other kids first
basketball hoops out there.
10.) Ride on Toys. Any ride on toys are great, but
the kids especially like ones that play music, beep, and have a storage space
under the seat for random little toys and twigs.
11.) Climber. The next step up in climbers. At one
time we didn't have a climber for the 18 month-3 years crowd, then I scored one
for free on Craigslist. Now I see them as a vital part of outside time.
12.) Grill Play Set. My minis love to
"grill" right along with dad. Our grill was even a Starbucks one
afternoon last summer (according to the kids).
13.) Ball Pit. I was against ball pits for the
longest time because I didn't want to deal with kids jumping in on top of other
kids or the balls being thrown at one another. Once the kids got the ground
rules down, our ball pits have been so much fun! Want something a bit bigger
than this ball pit? Grab a small or medium size plastic pool, ball pit
ball such as these, and you've got yourself an extra big and fun ball
pit!
A Buying Tip or Two:
·
Love
these ideas but don't want to spend the money to get a "fun"
backyard? Check out your local Craigslist or buy/sell swap sights on Facebook.
All of these outside toys hold up well and are great second hand purchases!
·
Toys
R Us, K-mart, and Target will be running spring toy sales in the coming
weeks, which means a lot of these items will be on sale for nearly half of the
original price. Be sure to check online prices as well for any deals.
To read more gift giving and summer toy
recommendations, check out our favorites for 0-18 Months!
* These are all items I
have bought with my own money. I have in no way been paid by any of these
manufacturers.