3 Brilliant DIY Backyard Ideas for Kids

You children might have outgrown their sandbox, so rather than it being sat in lying around, you can quickly convert this into their own custom raised bed.

With the following items, this can be constructed in next to no time:

• Funky kid’s sandbox
• Weed barrier fabric
• Gravel
• Potting soil
• Starter plants
• Small garden trowel (kid sized)
• Paving slabs

Find a suitable location and place slabs underneath the sandbox. This raises it a little and helps with drainage.

Drill holes in the bottom plastic around 15-20cm apart.

Place weed control fabric in the bottom to prevent weeds making their way through the holes you have drilled.

Spread a good 5cm of gravel over the fabric and then cover with potting soil.

Compost or fertiliser can be added to add more nutrients.

Shallow rooting veggies and herbs are ideal for this such as basil, coriander, mint, radish and lettuce, among others.

Now it’s up to the kids to really get dirty and plant their veggies as per your instructions.

To make sure they know what they are, you can have them make their own colourful plant ID tags for each plant.

Kids will be happy to see their own veggies growing in their old sandbox.

Now all they need to do is watch them grow and tend to them.

This is an excellent way of growing potatoes and is easy for kids to care for.

All you need are the following items:

• Empty 20-litre bucket
• ½ inch drill bit and drill
• Fine wire mesh to line bucket
• Gravel
• Potting soil
• 2 or 3 bricks for each bucket

With the drill, you need to place holes around the outer edge of the bucket around 2.5cm apart.

Also drill on the underside, holes around the side of the bucket with the same spacing.

Next line the inside of the bucket with the fine mesh.

This prevents small gravel or soil from falling through the holes.

Add a few centimetres of gravel onto the wire mesh and then cover in 10-15cm of potting soil.

At this point, compost or fertiliser can be added to help boost your child’s potato plants.

Each bucket only requires one or two seed potatoes, so your child might want you to make more buckets.

A few centimetres of soil should be lightly packed over the top of your seed potatoes, and then the soil should be lightly watered.

Stand on bricks to aid drainage.

As the shoots push through the top layer of soil, another few centimetres of soil should be added.

This is repeated until the bucket is full.

When the plants bloom, your kids can empty the bucket and search for the hidden treasures of their potatoes.

Although it can be handy having some birds in your garden as your veggies grow, there are other times when they can be a real pain.

A scarecrow can be the ideal thing to keep watch – and can be a fun thing to get the children helping with.

Here’s what you’ll need to make it happen:

• 1 x bamboo cane or stick around 2m in length

• 1 x bamboo cane or stick about 1m in length

• 1 x bamboo cane or stick about 30cm in length

• Very old clothes – pants, jumper or shirt, hat

• An old pair of tights

• Old string

First, tie the 1m pole about 15cm from the end of the longer 2m bamboo pole.

The shorter 30cm one should then be tied halfway down.

This is the basic frame of your scarecrow.

Cut one leg from the tights and fill with straw or dried leaves.

This should be formed into a round head shape.

A piece of string should be tied to keep the filling inside.

Now get your kids to paint the face of the scarecrow.

Once dry, fasten to the top of the frame.

The shirt or sweater should be fastened over the top cross pole and the ends of the sleeves tied.

This can now be filled with straw or dried leaves.

The pants should now be fastened to the lower cross and the bottoms of the legs tied to prevent any stuffing from falling out.

Your kids can choose any character they wish for the scarecrow.

An old hat or tie can be added as required to finish off the scarecrow and keep those pesky birds away.

For more fun ideas for your garden, check out www.yardandgardenguru.com