Need Play Ideas/Activities for my Deck Area

[SunshineMama]

I have a nice enclosed deck, and am looking for some fun play activities for the kids.

I was doing a rice sensory box, but the kids just kept making a huge mess, despite my best efforts. I am still cleaning up sprouted beans from the cracks in my deck.

Most of the kids are 3+, with a few 1 year olds too.

Ideally, I am seeking a fun activity that does not require a ton of clean up, and that I do not have to "referee" the kids all the time.

Please share what works for you

[MizzCheryl]

Those beans will start to stink!!!
I had some on my deck and the kids made a mess. A rainy few days and OMG It smelled like well like what beans do to you.

[wdmmom]

What ages are your kids?

[SunshineMama]

What ages are your kids?

1,1,3,3,4 and 4

[SunshineMama]

Those beans will start to stink!!!
I had some on my deck and the kids made a mess. A rainy few days and OMG It smelled like well like what beans do to you.

They stink and sprout! I had to take a knife to pry them out of the cracks and I have a ton left so we can seal the deck. Such a pain!

Of course, I should have swept them all off before it rained, but I was being tired and lazy .

[MizzCheryl]

They stink and sprout! I had to take a knife to pry them out of the cracks and I have a ton left so we can seal the deck. Such a pain!

Of course, I should have swept them all off before it rained, but I was being tired and lazy .

Yep::
I had beans growing everywhere. We got a little science project out of the bean table.

[MarinaVanessa]

Can you do an outdoor Imagination Station?

I keep a playkitchen, a small wicker side table, a kids table with four chairs and a few plastic drawer towers (from Target). We keep plastic play food, play dishes, baby dolls and accesories, play clothes etc. in the plastic drawers and the kids turn that area into at least 3 different things daily. Yesterday it was a restaurant, a post office and a house. Right now it's a coffee shop .

As we go we make props that we add to the drawers. For the post office I "addressed" some small envelopes and laminated them along with some small pieces of junk mail. They used a satchel-like purse as the mail bag and I even had a couple of USPS boxes that they would put stuff in and deliver them to "China". None of the stuff is really small so I doubt it could get trapped in the cracks.