What toys/activities do you have in your backyard?

The boys aren't the slightest bit interested in the climber we have...and they flat out refuse to ride in their swing. We'd like to get them some items for the yard, but aren't sure which direction to go.

They haven't really mastered the whole foot-pedal thing for ride-ons and when we were at Toddler play group a few weeks ago Nick wailed when I put him in a Cozy Coupe. Joe didn't cry, but he climbed right back out without any interest.

 

At that age, my guys were only interested in the little toddler ride-ons that don't have pedals (they didn't master pedaling until 2y9m). The ride-ons were their primary activity. The coupe was impossible for them to maneuver back then. They did really love the tiny castle slide (Little Tikes) that I bought them second-hand. It was definitely an entry-level slide. We also bought one of those Little Tikes basketball hoops. It wasn't a big hit but they did enjoy it now and then. Would your guys enjoy just kicking a soccer ball around the yard? How about sidewalk chalk? or blowing bubbles (you blow them, they chase them). A little sand table or sand box might be fun. As they get older they'll become more interested in playing outside.

 

A big pile of dirt....or in Seattle, I guess it would be mud. :lol: Really though, I find the simpler the better! A soccer ball, or those Little Tykes big dump trucks are hits with my two little ones right now. They also have one ride-on without pedals that they like.

 

Our sand and water table right now has dry rice and beans in it. They love that, it can keep them occupied for quite a while. They also like taking their doll strollers outside and pushing them around. I know you have boys, but you could get them shopping carts or something else. I have them do tasks like move this pile of rocks from here to here, and they love doing stuff like that. Or we pick up leaves, go visit the trees in our yard, sidewalk chalk, and paint with water.

 

right now we have one of those little houses (I think it's step 2 or little tykes?) that my next door neighbor gave us (her girls were too old to play with it now). we have some balls, buckets (we have a lot of landscaping rocks so they LOVE to play with those and put them in the bucket), and we have the toddler roller coaster by step 2. We are planning on getting a slide but not sure exactly when. It's starting to get chilly here so we aren't playing outside quite as much and we're thinking of bringing the house and coaster in for the winter but we'll see.

 

I'm glad to hear that lots of people keep it simple (at least at this stage). I'm just not up to handling the park on my own anymore. I take them to lots of free-roam parks, but our days of parks with playground equipment are numbered until I can trust them to not walk off the edge of something and kill themselves. They are just too quick and always going in opposite direcitons. They aren't actually bored in our backyard...they are loving exploring it. I just felt like I was depriving them somewhat.

We do have the Little Tikes basketball hoop, but, sadly, they are barely tall enough to reach it on their tippy toes on the shortest setting. I've been scouring craigslist for some good ideas and am hoping this thread will provide me with some search terms I may have overlooked!

 

We have the sand and water table, 2 lawn mowers, kiddie chairs, the now empty wading pool, and a couple of balls they can throw around. Only 1 of my boys likes the lawn mower so he and I will have races. The other likes throwing the ball in the pool or out of it. The 3 of us sometimes sit in the empty pool together.

I also have a couple of knock-off tupperware containers that they like to put stuff like rocks in and carry around. We also blow bubbles.

We don't have room or $$ for a swingset but I'm thinking of getting a not-too-tall climber with slide.

 

Other than what you have we have balls and a sand box

 

We have a pair of Radio Flyer scooter bikes, a wagon, a Little Tikes fort/slide, a small picnic table, an oversized plastic ball, and a baby swing. Everything else is rocks, weeds, sticks, dirt, etc. And, as you might guess, they'll play for much longer with a stick than they ever do with any of their toys.

 

We have a small Step 2 house ( got for $20.00 :shok: on craigslist) that the twinkies LOVE, it has a half door and a double swinging door that they love to open and shut. We also just got a turtle sand box (the one with the lid) and we put ball pit balls in it, what a hit!! they love crawling in and making the balls spill out.
heres a picture!!
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb69/lgrazia/IMG_4362.jpg

 

We have a couple of balls that the kids like to chase around. Our twins love to look for rocks, which they will spend a lot of time doing. We have he push mowers for them. They just love to run!!!

 

We have a few ball, a slide (and a swing set, but they are too small for that right now, but they ask to get on the swings at times, this slide is a Little Tikes one and is separate from the swing set), and a playhouse.

 

We have a sand table and a Little Tikes endless adventure playhouse with swing extension (it has a slide). These things keep them occupied, although now playing outside will be rare. It's turning to winter here in Michigan.

We did buy a little trike that has a handle so you can push it while walking behind it. Got it at a garage sale for $3. They did like this too.

 

My 2 love their Fisher Price Rock, Roll & Ride trikes. They got them when they were about 1 1/2. First they can used it as a rocker, then once they are ready to move on, the rocker becomes a handle that you can push them with, then when they start to use their feet, the handle comes off. Mine don't pedal yet, but they sure have some foot power! My 6 yr old got one when he was a year, and he still rides his. That is why I told my Mom to get them for the twins as well. They have really held up well. They also have a tractor that doesn't have pedals that they really like. We just got our swing set up and they mainly enjoy sliding. At first they would walk up the slide and then slide down (the slide has pretty high sides) but now they have mastered climbing the ladder, which makes me nervous!! I have to stand there the entire time because I am afraid they will slip and fall. It's pretty tall. They have a sand box that they play in once and a while. They also like their Little Tykes battery powered 4 wheelers. At first they did not like them, but now they ride them all the time. They don't go very fast, so they even ride them in the house when it is rainy outside. But I definetly recommend the Fisher Price trike.

 

Mine just started being interested in the Cozy Coupe (we don't have one, but there's one at daycare), a month or two ago. Suddenly "driving" is a huge thing with them, but 4 months ago they could not have cared less.

They do still use the climber/slide, but not as much as when they were 14-18 months. I think they'll come back to it once they can really climb on it (besides just going down the slide).

When we go to the playground, they are really into the little house -- there's nothing in it but a dirt floor, but they like to run in & out of the door, look out all the windows, open & close the shutters, etc.

I'm also thinking of getting them a plastic lawnmower -- they like the one at daycare, and they both yell "lawnmower" whenever they see a real one.

We have one Kettler trike with a push bar, which is awesome. We have one without a push bar, which the girls also like, but mommy does not like it nearly as much -- it's really hard on my back! They can't pedal at all yet, so we always have to push them.

ETA: Sidewalk chalk is big now too. And (as Kelly said) they love to push strollers around. I normally don't let them take the doll stroller outside, but they always want to. (And boys can push strollers too...) And when it's warm, they like to "play with water," which means that I fill a plastic tub with water and give them a bunch of old sippy cups, and they pour the water back & forth and dump it on themselves.

Of course, they spend at least half the time in the yard digging in the rock border with little plastic shovels and then dumping the rocks on the sidewalk or something, or trying to walk on the downspout.

 

I totally hear you about the playground. Same problem here.

We have a small little tikes climber/slide, a little tikes activity garden, one of those long fabric tunnels that can collapse, a water table (though that's put away now for cold weather), some balls, a couple of little ride-ons (the push kind, not the pedal kind) and I think that's about it. Oh yes, an air mattress on the ground. Our neighbors had a garage sale and it didn't sell, and the girls had so much fun flopping down on it and bouncing that they told us to take it home and let them have at it until it popped. It hasn't popped yet. I think it looks a little trashy lying around like that, but they love it so I don't really care!

They also love to ride in our hammock, but only for 2 minutes or so.