Outdoor play ideas for 1 year old?

[newmamalizzy]

I love playing outside with DD (14 months), but we don't have a lot in the way of outdoor toys.  Unfortunately, our neighbors on both sides have a LOT of very visible, flashy, fun-looking toys, and it's really hard to keep DD in our yard with all that fun stuff right next door.  I'd like to avoid getting a bunch of Little Tikes stuff, even if I can find it used.  What other things could I get, or preferably make/repurpose, to keep DD happy in our own yard?  (BTW:  We have a few balls, some push-type things that she doesn't like to push, a ride-on toy that she's not a big fan of, and some shovels, pails, etc. that I can get her to play with if I really engage her the whole time). 

[mommy212]

If you can, make a big, loose pile of dirt and give her some spoons, buckets, etc and let her go nuts! This is so much fun for my LO but, of course, very messy. He usually does it naked or in a diaper. Using flour works well too if you don't want to dig. boxes are always fun too.

[katelove]

My 13m.o. likes moving the pegs from the peg bucket to the washing basket to the lawn while I'm hanging out the washing.

Or what about a little sandpit +/- paddling pool. http://shop.ebay.com.au/items/_W0QQ_sopZ12?_nkw=clam%20shell%20sand%20pit&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270.l1313

At my local hardware you can buy one half for $18 but if you buy both halves then you can use one to cover the sand-filled half to keep cats etc out.

[redpajama]

Do you know your neighbors?  If I had a swingset/sandbox whatever in my yard, I would be thrilled to see other kids from the neighborhood enjoying them.  Maybe you should suggest that you put a sandbox in your yard (which would be my recommendation anyway--my little ones generally liked sandboxes) for the neighbors to use, and see if they'd like to offer use of their "flashy fun-looking toys."  I always find it half-amusing, half-irritating when I see multiple houses in a row with things like swingsets in them--why not share that stuff?  I used to nanny in this big, affluent neighborhood, and the houses sort of backed up to each other, yard-to-yard.  And people would have these big, expensive, wooden swingsets at the back of their lots--literally just 20 feet or so (there were no fences) from someone *else's* huge wooden swingset.  Totally mind-boggling.
 

Originally Posted by newmamalizzy 

I love playing outside with DD (14 months), but we don't have a lot in the way of outdoor toys.  Unfortunately, our neighbors on both sides have a LOT of very visible, flashy, fun-looking toys, and it's really hard to keep DD in our yard with all that fun stuff right next door.  I'd like to avoid getting a bunch of Little Tikes stuff, even if I can find it used.  What other things could I get, or preferably make/repurpose, to keep DD happy in our own yard?  (BTW:  We have a few balls, some push-type things that she doesn't like to push, a ride-on toy that she's not a big fan of, and some shovels, pails, etc. that I can get her to play with if I really engage her the whole time). 

[MJB]

What sort of flashy toys do the neighbors have in their yard?

We have a toddler slide and a sandbox in our yard for my 11 month old. Even my 8.5 yr. old loves the sandbox!

[NZJMama]

A sandbox is a great idea and all three of my kids love ours. I only wish that it was bigger (it's 5x5, but a tight fit for 3 kids). We have also got a lot of use out of our water table. I fill it with water and give them scoops and bowls and even my 6yo is entertained for awhile. How about sidewalk chalk? A neighbor gave us a cozy couple (little car) and I kid you not that every kid that ever comes to our house plays with that thing. I never would have purchased one, but it has been one of our most popular toys. Do you have a tree that could be used for a swing?

We have a nice swing set and my kids use it, but not nearly as much as they use the toys I mentioned above.

[caenach]

We don't have much in the way of formal toys in the backyard. DD has a few buckets that she loves to fill with water and play with (with various other bowls, siphons, ets). She and I are building a container water garden in a large plastic flowerpot. She's added dirt and rocks, we have some submerged and floating plants, and we'll put some fish/snails in as well. I'm not sure how long they'll survive her attentions, but she likes the idea a lot. She also has a section/flower-bed of her own, where she's picked out the flowers and planted them. She has a wagon to pull, which she can load up with toys or blocks or whatever. That's pretty much all we have in our small backyard and she spends a LOT of time out there.

[tracysroberts]

all young children need is sand and water.  You can put this in a simple storage bin  with some sorting containers like old yogurt containers, kitchen dishes like funnels, etc....

You can switch out sand for beans, rice, colored water, cornstarch (better than flour and water, because that is a nightmare to clean up whereas cornstarch just washes away), baking soda and vinegar, as she gets a little older shaving cream and spray bottles of colored water.  I could go on, but I guarantee you no flashy toys compare to these things.

[SunRise]

We have a large but shallow bucket (smaller then a baby pool, but round enough for her to sit in it...but she just puts other things in it and splashes) that I fill with water.  Lots of different sized balls (I have an 8 year old too). Some gardening tools and dirt. She is 15mths ... anything she can walk to and pick up and find a use for is interesting for her.

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by redpajama 

Do you know your neighbors?  If I had a swingset/sandbox whatever in my yard, I would be thrilled to see other kids from the neighborhood enjoying them.  Maybe you should suggest that you put a sandbox in your yard (which would be my recommendation anyway--my little ones generally liked sandboxes) for the neighbors to use, and see if they'd like to offer use of their "flashy fun-looking toys."  I always find it half-amusing, half-irritating when I see multiple houses in a row with things like swingsets in them--why not share that stuff?  I used to nanny in this big, affluent neighborhood, and the houses sort of backed up to each other, yard-to-yard.  And people would have these big, expensive, wooden swingsets at the back of their lots--literally just 20 feet or so (there were no fences) from someone *else's* huge wooden swingset.  Totally mind-boggling.
 

All the neighborhood kids come to my house. We have the swingset (given to us by an older couple), trampoline (3-way present from Santa a few years ago), and we have the livestock, lol. They love to come help feed/water/hay/brush the livestock ('cept the bees, lol). I like your post. ITA.

[newmamalizzy]

I'd like to do a sandbox, but DP is concerned about what to do with the sand when we leave this house next year (rented).  I think we'll probably go ahead and do one anyway.  I'm sure DD will love it, and perhaps we can do a water table as well. 

The neighbors on the one side are our landlords.  They're great, and have cared for all 9 of their grandchildren (two 3yo boys and a 10 month old at the moment).  They have an open garage with 18 years worth of collected toys, AND they have 4 power wheels that the boys ride around on constantly.  We play there at least once a day, and we're allowed free access to their swingset, but this is actually what causes the problem.  Bea wants to go over there ALL the time, but it's just not always appropriate.  The swingset keeps her occupied for a few minutes, but she really wants to go raid the garage and climb around on the toys in the front yard/driveway, which I'm only okay with if the kids are out playing, and even then, there are times when I'm just not feeling social and would rather play at home, ya know?  But, man...those power wheels things are like toddler magnets.  I used to have better luck keeping her distracted in the backyard until our OTHER neighbors, with whom we're not on good terms, set up several gaudy inflatable pools with flamingoes and palm trees and stuff.  She takes one look at those and starts toddling right on over there.  I distract her, get her back in the yard for two seconds and....repeat.  Will sandbox trump power wheels and swimming pools?

[LeaPea]

We just bought a water table for my one year old daughter, and she loves it! She is out there all morning long playing with that thing.

[meetoo]

We have an older version of this toy and my kids LOVE it! http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1304 We have had ours for 5 years and it still get played with daily. I know you said you don't want a lot of big plastic stuff but as a renter myself that table has been awesome! It sounds like your problem is 1/2 a discipline problem and 1/2 a keeping her busy problem.  We are blessed here with a large yard with a lot of natural boundaries. My toddler still runs off sometimes. She is two though so if she runs off she goes right in the house. Last year I gave her several chances but if she still kept running off we went in.  I recently set up and outdoor toy shelf and just having our outdoor toys set up in an easier to reach manner has made them more attractive. Bringing inside toys out can help. Little pools are tons of fun why not get one for your yard? 

Edited by meetoo - 6/21/11 at 8:22am

[callahansmama]

What about going to the park or indoor playground some days? I have a tricky situation too because we live in an extremely rural area where bears are a real concern so while I have a little play yard with a few toys in the yard, I tend to stay on my deck (we have a gate at the top of the stairs) when DH is not at home. Our deck is L shaped and goes around two sides of our house. My son throws balls for the dog and likes to run back and forth. I recently put a baby bathtub out there and usually put some cool water in it each day for him to play with/in. Since my yard is also a challenge I try to get to playgroup twice a week and go to the park or for a walk with other moms on mat leave the other days. Today we went to the local airport (very small) and he walked around there and climbed the stairs a few times lol.

[greenemami]

I agree with the sandbox-my 1-year-old loves the sandbox!  Also, you can get a little baby pool for 5-10 dollars around here, ds also loves splashing in the pool and pouring with buckets, etc..

That sounds like a really tough situation.  We have plenty of fun stuff in our fairly large yard, but there are also some things/areas we don't want the kids to go and that is inevitably where ds heads as soon as we are out there, so I know how frustrating it is to have to keep pulling them back to one spot.  Good luck!

[newmamalizzy]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.  We ended up getting a used turtle sandbox and little tikes climber with a slide from CL, plus a few extra balls, and things are going MUCH better.  Much as I didn't want a big plastic climber thing, it totally catches DD's eye and keeps her attention focused in our yard.  I added a little white wire fence and created a nice visual boundary to Bea's playspace, which seems to have helped, too.  It's funny, the fence is only on two sides, but ever since I put it there DD seems to understand that this is her zone.  I think the bulk of the problem was just not having enough different activities, since DD definitely is in the "flitting" stage of play.  We had nothing out there for her to flit to, you know?