Outdoor Toys

[tenderhearts]

I want to redo my outdoor toys I feel like the kids get "bored" with the typical toys I have. Here is what I have a playhouse that the kids love, different bikes/cars, sidewalk chalk, a variety of water play (different tables), rock climbing wall(little tikes) slide, bubbles, bubble mower. They just seem to get bored after awhile. I really want to get some new different stuff.
I was thinking of some sort of car track built out of something, like on wood, I think the kids would love that.
What else do you have? Oh my age group is mostly 2-5 but I also have a 8 yr old in summer.

[storybookending]

My current daycare kids are entertained by rocks and sticks but our biggest hit last summer was an adventures kit. It has little cups, magnifying glasses, tweezers, binoculars etc. It was a classroom kit so there’s like 6 of each item. They love going around the yard and filling their cups with dirt/sand/grass/moss/bugs/you name it.

[Homebody]

My kids always fight over the cozy coupe cars, even my school agers who can barely fit in them (their arms and legs sticking out the openings, its quite comical to see them). We ended up getting 3 different ones, and they still will fight over them (there will be a different favorite one each day).
We have a hill that they like to ride them down in the grass.

[Homebody]

My current daycare kids are entertained by rocks and sticks but our biggest hit last summer was an adventures kit. It has little cups, magnifying glasses, tweezers, binoculars etc. It was a classroom kit so there’s like 6 of each item. They love going around the yard and filling their cups with dirt/sand/grass/moss/bugs/you name it.

That sounds like fun!

[Miss A]

A second water table and a couple more Cozy Coupes are on my outdoor purchases list for this year.

Balls, buckets for them to collect things in, rakes for the lawn, sidewalk chalk, and a completely enclosed with zipper opening toddler trampoline are some of our favorites here too.

[Country Kids]

I have a nature house, teetor toters (an helicopter, airplane and one that spins), a big castle slide, a small little tykes play house, another big climbing, slide type thing. A swing set (use to have two) a little tykes castle, and a Costco Giant Playhouse, it is the cottage style. I also built a water wall, then the regular riding toys, hula hoops, etc.

[Blackcat31]

I am moving in the opposite direction and eliminating the number of toys outside.
I used to have 4 different Little Tike buildings, 2 different climbers, 6 or 7 cozy coupe cars and several toddler ride on toys, as well as a swing set, a sandbox, slides, a wagon, balls, hula hoops, jump ropes etc and so many other toys that the yard looked like an advertisement for Little Tikes.

The kids were bored.

Now I have one swing set (2 swings for kids 3+ only), a strider bike, two toddler ride-on toys, 1 cozy coupe (that is actually a mini-van) and 1 cozy coupe that is a pick up truck and the sand box.

The kiddos seem to do much better with less stuff.

They used to just run from thing to thing trying to get in 30 seconds of use but never really doing any playing. Now depending on who is here they will usually go to the sandbox and play for a long time.

I try to rotate stuff too... such as what items are in the sandbox and which ride on toys are out and available.

I still have a Little Tikes castle but it's in the front yard and isn't used often as we don't spend our time in the front yard but there are times in which a small group of kids will be allowed to play there.

Seems limiting things, reducing the number of options and rotating items all help stop the boredom.

My kids always fight over the cozy coupe cars, even my school agers who can barely fit in them (their arms and legs sticking out the openings, its quite comical to see them). We ended up getting 3 different ones, and they still will fight over them (there will be a different favorite one each day).
We have a hill that they like to ride them down in the grass.

I got so tired of the bigger kids wrecking the cozy coupes that I stopped allowing anyone over the age of 5 to use them. Most kids are too big for them the year before kindergarten now days and the age range for them is suppose to be up to 7 yrs. Kids are big now days.

[Country Kids]

I am moving in the opposite direction and eliminating the number of toys outside.
I used to have 4 different Little Tike buildings, 2 different climbers, 6 or 7 cozy coupe cars and several toddler ride on toys, as well as a swing set, a sandbox, slides, a wagon, balls, hula hoops, jump ropes etc and so many other toys that the yard looked like an advertisement for Little Tikes.

The kids were bored.

Now I have one swing set (2 swings for kids 3+ only), a strider bike, two toddler ride-on toys, 1 cozy coupe (that is actually a mini-van) and 1 cozy coupe that is a pick up truck and the sand box.

The kiddos seem to do much better with less stuff.

They used to just run from thing to thing trying to get in 30 seconds of use but never really doing any playing. Now depending on who is here they will usually go to the sandbox and play for a long time.

I try to rotate stuff too... such as what items are in the sandbox and which ride on toys are out and available.

I still have a Little Tikes castle but it's in the front yard and isn't used often as we don't spend our time in the front yard but there are times in which a small group of kids will be allowed to play there.

Seems limiting things, reducing the number of options and rotating items all help stop the boredom.







I got so tired of the bigger kids wrecking the cozy coupes that I stopped allowing anyone over the age of 5 to use them. Most kids are too big for them the year before kindergarten now days and the age range for them is suppose to be up to 7 yrs. Kids are big now days.

For QRIS we are to have outdoor toys, including riding toys for the older kids. I'm still stuck on this as we are in the back yard and they don't make riding toys for big kids!!! I guess bikes and scooters count but they don't work well on the grass and really to have a big kid riding a bike in the back yard, there's no room.

[tenderhearts]

Oh I do have a swing set and teeter totter and hippity hops, I also have the little tikes gas station.
I just think it would be really fun to have something for cars.I eliminated scooters 2 summers ago. My patio is fairly good size but not that big to have older kids riding scooter and little kids using sidewalk chalk someone was bound to get his with a scooter, plus it was only my older kids that could use them and they are only here in summer so I decided to get rid of them. I tried the little tikes bat thing but the little guys don't know to be careful someone isn't behind them and I've had kids get banged in the head with the bat so that's gone.
The swing set is the biggest hit with the playhouse being next. For the last probably 5 years they love playing family.
One thing that I'm really starting to hate is not having much patio space for my family to enjoy our evenings outside. With bikes and such on the patio we are so limited to keeping it to one side but I know that comes with the territory of daycare.

[Homebody]

I got so tired of the bigger kids wrecking the cozy coupes that I stopped allowing anyone over the age of 5 to use them. Most kids are too big for them the year before kindergarten now days and the age range for them is suppose to be up to 7 yrs. Kids are big now days.

I'm down to just one SA now. His brother started riding the bus home last week, as he's old enough now. After the younger brother is gone I don't think I will be taking anymore SA's. They are definitely harder on the toys and they get bored so easily. Last time he tried to squeezed into the cozy coupe he had a hard time getting back out. So, I don't think he will be trying it anymore.

[Blackcat31]

For QRIS we are to have outdoor toys, including riding toys for the older kids. I'm still stuck on this as we are in the back yard and they don't make riding toys for big kids!!! I guess bikes and scooters count but they don't work well on the grass and really to have a big kid riding a bike in the back yard, there's no room.

Luckily I don't take older kids.

My group is between 1 and 5.
My playground is separated into two sides.
One for the 3+ and over group and the other for the under 3 crowd.

Thankfully, our QRIS simply promote outdoor play and doesn't dictate specifically which items we are to have/not have. Same with licensing.

The wording in our QRIS requirments just say "must provide both developmentally appropriate indoor and outdoor motor activities" and licensing regulations say something similar but nothing dictates the actual number of items we must have.

Thankfully, in 2.5 decades of care, I've never had 12 kids all want to use a cozy coupe at the same time so... ::

[KSDC]

My kids favorite spot is our digging spot. I took a corner of the yard, under a big tree and dug out all the grass. I have real hand shovels as opposed to the cheapy sand toys. The shovels I found at Wal-Mart are sturdy plastic.
I rotate out tractors, dirt movers, plates and pie tins, hammers and golf tees to pound in the dirt. (My favorite part is that instead of telling kids "No! Don't dig in my yard!" I get to remind them that there is a spot that they are allowed to dig in.

For the wheels, we put in a cement slab with a loop of a sidewalk coming off of on one end of it. It makes a great track for tricycles and coupes. Plus, I have a couple of scooters for the school age kids. The slab has an adjustable basketball goal and a little tykes goal.

[Tin Blues]

I have an ez roller that the older kids can ride although I’ve had 2 year olds that can ride it, too. It goes like greased lightning so I have to occasionally remind to slow down.

[Josiegirl]

My current daycare kids are entertained by rocks and sticks but our biggest hit last summer was an adventures kit. It has little cups, magnifying glasses, tweezers, binoculars etc. It was a classroom kit so there’s like 6 of each item. They love going around the yard and filling their cups with dirt/sand/grass/moss/bugs/you name it.

I need to do something like this. I'll have 4 dcks this summer. Two of them love this sort of thing. I have big rocks in the back yard and they're forever hunting for worms and slugs and other disgusting slimy critters, putting them in buckets and watching them.

The hot spot in my yard is our sandbox. And any water we have available. Honestly, I don't have a lot of stuff. We have a garden, bench with sunflowers surrounding it, a couple climbers/slides that I took off my 8-in-1 toy. I also got a big plank and put it across 2 tires, they love that. I have an old play kitchen and playhouse that get used sometimes. Chalk, bubbles, animals/people/cars we'll bring out. Over the years I've gotten rid of all my cozy coupe type toys, big kids ruin them and my backyard terrain is not conducive to riding in them so they'd just sit there and watch. I also have a small teeter-totter that gets used a lot.

[Tin Blues]

I just purchased a Simplay3 My Buddy and Me SUV and put it together last night. It’s very similar to Little Tikes and Step2. The cool thing, though, is that 2 kids can use it at the same time. I’d been eying those rickshaw/taxi trikes for 2 for several years but they’re so expensive. So when I saw this I thought I’d give it a try. Kids have been having a lot of fun with it.