Now that it has warmed up, I’m thinking of my garden again. My husband keeps reminding me that it desperately needs weeding. My old neighbor taught me this trick of sliding an old paring knife to the taproot. It works better than the weeding tool I used to use.
Still, I’d rather think about fantasy garden play spaces for kids and adults than about all those weeds!
My fantasy started when I saw this sideshow from Dwell that made me drool about garden play spaces for kids. They suggest adding hills, stumps, boulders, dens, gates to nowhere, and loose extra materials to make the most awesome garden for kid-sized adventures.
We are going to get rid of a tree to get more sunlight into our dark backyard. I’ll have to remember to get someone to slice disks for playing with. An old stump as a holder would be amazing too!
At Home with Ali used Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Secret Garden as inspiration to create a little oasis. She’s right. You only need a small carved out space for a secret hideaway!
Living dens or tepees are part of my fantasy! Patti’s Nursery School combines pole beans that need trellising with a hidden play area. Now that is practical and fun!
I’d include garden and patio furniture to create a distinct garden room. It would be a nice place to relax while watching the kids play.
Image from Traditional Home
Image from Traditional Home
Image from Pam Penick’s actual garden
Is my fantasy inspiring you to rethink your garden space or remind you of your weeds? I hope it’s a garden room or play space! As for me, I’m off to weed! And dream!
p.s. Here’s the perfect picture book to inspire a hideaway in a garden!
Hideaway by Melania Longo, illustrated by Alessandro Sanna
A hideaway woven out of branches in a garden or a fort made of blankets? Are these not the perfect retreats for children or adults? In this charming picture book, an older sister and her little brother create a magical retreat for year-round adventures. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
p.p.s. Related posts:
A Year in The Secret Garden Interview
Plant a Garden with Your Kids to Teach #PlantPower
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum
Get Kids Gardening with Miracle-Gro® Gro-ables!
Yoga for Kids: Rachel’s Day in the Garden
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Just for a moment I thought about weeding but the moment I looked at the photos every little idea about my garden space sprung up. Great Ideas you have here.
Hi Viren,
I am reminded of my weeds too! I’d love to add a special kids space too though.
Weeding is not one of my favorite things! That is why my garden consists mostly of perennials that more or less take care of themselves. I love the idea of tree stumps used as steppingstones.
Hi Barbara,
I’m not fond of weeding either. I love the versatility of stumps too! Usually, they get ground out when a tree comes out and it costs a lot of extra money to get rid of the stump. It’s nice to be able to incorporate it as a design feature. I guess you need a path of trees to remove though.
I don’t like weeding either! We are very lucky to have beautiful trees in our yard that really set the scene for imaginative play!
Hi MaryAnne,
Your organic garden looks great too! How is that going? Looks like the black pepper is working. It’s nice to have old trees in the yard! Like a gift from previous owners!
The black pepper still seems to be working! With any luck, we’ll be eating our own produce soon!
Hi MaryAnne,
Can’t wait to see photos of your bountiful harvest!! I’m sure your kids are loving their garden!
Drooling is right. I especially love the little secret areas- and it seems like it really wouldn’t be all that hard to fashion a couple around the yard from different things. Thanks for the inspiration. I need to get to weeding as well. Ew.
Hi Artchoo,
Sorry if everyone who has read this post is reminded to weed. Ugh, I need to weed too.
thanks for the truly dreamy post. Oh these pictures and ideas are just wonderful. One day (hopefully soon) when we are grand parents, I hope to use a few of these ideas in our yard. Also thinking how we could integrate garden play onto our preschool play ground. thanks!
Hi Melissa,
Oh, what a wonderful idea. A garden planned for the grandkids! That would be fun! And a preschool would definitely get a lot of use out of any of the features. What a great idea! I wish our preschools had more natural elements built in.
Oh weeding is easy here. My husband just takes the lawn mower and mows it all down. Now if only if he would finish all that weeding already…they’ve gotten real high and refuses to hire someone to do the “weeding”. Keeps saying he’s going to finish it up. In the meantime we can make our own play spaces between the weeds.
By the way when you have them cut down your tree just ask them to cut the stumps for you around a certain height and to leave them for you, they will be happy to not have to drag them away. (we’ve done that)
Hi Falgie,
I like your weeding strategy! And I’ll remember to save the stumps too! Thanks!
Great timing – I’m reading (and about to review) a lovely book on gardening by Fran Sorin http://www.fransorin.com and am getting inspiration and actually making a plan instead of just throwing stuff into the ground!
Hi Nancy B.,
What are you planning to do with your garden this year? I love spring as inspiration to redo the yard! I need to do something interesting in my backyard.
Ooh, I’m feeling inspired. I really like the idea of the pole bean tepee – then the kids can snack on beans while they have a pow-wow! It’s brilliant! Thanks for sharing these pictures – so many great ideas.
Hi Renee C.,
I am hoping that if I did the pole bean tepee, beans would be more popular at dinner too! It would be a fun feature in a garden too! I don’t have the right space for it yet, but I’m going to file it away for the future.
Aww, so cute! I LOVE the briars (I think that’s what they are). I would have been in absolute heaven inside a little space like that as a kid.
Hi Chris,
Thanks so much! It’s nice that the spaces don’t have to be large. In fact, it seems that a tiny one is more magical. I would have loved a space like that too as a kid!
Great inspiration! A secret hide-away…I used to have many of them as a kid, we lived in a big, old house of my nana’s and the garden was just incredible. Now, when we are in PL, we spend a lot of time in my parents’ house, which is in a forest so the kids can enjoy a little different type of nature as I did, but they still seem to love it! 🙂
Hi Alexandra,
How wonderful to have grown up with a secret garden hideaway. Where is PL? How wonderful your kids have a forest to play in at their grandparents’ house. I take my kids to play in the forest at the dog trail with is around a reservoir. Nature is a wonderful laboratory for curiosity and play!
These spaces look amazing. I’d love to play in them myself!
Hi Erica,
I think I am a kid at heart because I want to play in them myself too! 🙂
I meant PL as in Poland 😀
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Love all these ideas! I especially love the woven hide away and the trunk slices. I have an area I would like to create something fun with : )
Hi Ann,
I’m looking forward to seeing your garden after you add in a kids’ space. Me too! I want to add in a kids space but I don’t have room in my back yard so I will have to get creative.
Love all these ideas! I especially love the woven hide-away and the trunk slices. I want to play in them myself too! I own an online assignment writing services for colleges & universities UK students with their academic works.
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