[mamanOiseau]

hi everybody !<br><br>
my kids aren't preteens/teens yet... However, thinking ahead, I was kind of wondering what kind of outdoors activity they will enjoy, in our garden, with friends, when they will have reached that age.<br><br>
I have only had two ideas for now :<br>
- a very large trampoline (the kind that has a net around it)<br>
- a pool (the kind that is simply put on top of the soil)<br><br>
I would just love it if you guys could tell me if your preteens would enjoy these, or what else they enjoy doing in a garden...<br><br>
thanks a lot !

 

[MillingNome]

A swing set (you'd be surprised)<br>
fire pit<br>
Comfy areas to sit and lounge with friends<br>
just space to be that they can call their own

 

[HerHeroIsGone]

My girls love going to people's houses with trampolines. Also just a place to hang out and chat.

 

[antannie]

my 13 year old dd's favourites are the trampoline, her climbing tree, her bike, her tree fort and the paths in the woods down to the creek (well that is not really the backyard but on our land)s<br><br>
She loves to ride her bike around and around the house and puts jumps and bumps in her path to make it more fun. Also she loves to take one our dogs through obstacle courses she makes out of boards and sticks and buckets and other stuff she finds. We also let her dig up part of the yard and she has made a village for her toy horses with a stick fence around it and little paddocks and shelters and has landscaped it with grasses, weeds and moss.<br><br>
She also has a rabbit which she takes out of it;s hutch to play in a little yard she made for it.

 

[BedHead]

My kids all love to plant things and watch them grow all summer. I give them each a row in the veggie garden to plant whatever they want.<br><br>
They also like the firepit. When they were younger it was all about the swings and sandbox. Even now my 15 year old son likes to dig in the dirt and make army man setups.

 

[AnnaLC]

I don't have any kids of my own but I worked at a "farm camp" for the last two summers and these were the favorits:<br><br>
The swing- yes, even the 13 year olds loved it.<br><br>
slip and slides and pools- slip and slides are easy to make, all you need is a hill, a hose, a long sheet of plastic and some soap.<br><br>
As far as gardening, they really liked to dig potatoes and collect squash bugs to feed to the chickens (small organic farm <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> ) They also liked any construction projects we did, such as building a bean house and making a coop for the chickens.<br><br>
I myself am STILL a fan of sandboxes...