We have a lot of fun outdoors…it's our favourite place to be and we have been enjoying landscaping and gardening with our toddlers but i do wish our grass would hurry up and grow back.
At the moment in the backyard we only have one little area that I call our grass oasis in all of the red mud. When we originally laid turf there I was so excited…and to be honest I still am. It is the place I take the girls to enjoy many fun activities…not that we don't have fun with our new Rocky Sandpit, Rock & Sand Quarry and Pallet Sand Kitchen …but a grassed area is different…. it's soft, it's cool, it's a fantastic space to explore and play. I can't wait for the day when green grass replaces the dirt.
The toddler twosome have enjoyed a lot of fun experiences on our grass….I'd love to share some of them with you……
Sarah is a member of Turf Australia which is the face of Turf Producers Australia (TPA). Turf Australia is working to highlight the benefits of turf to the community.
I was able to see and touch samples of the turf varieties that Sarah recommended while her Father measured up our space out the back (don't you just love family businesses?)
I really appreciated her thoughts on the best turf for our particular area and finding out that some varieties of turf have grass seeds that often cause allergies for children was a real eye opener for me. It's important that I choose a child friendly grass for a family day care area and the grass Sarah recommended ticked so many boxes for me and also emphasised the importance of getting professional advice before choosing and laying turf.
I also loved that Sarah based her recommendations on my tight budget ! You don't get that sort of advice at your local landscape supply centre!
During the consultation I also gleaned quite a few ideas for taking care of our turf during the Winter months (ahem….other than mowing sporadically that is!) The tips below are easy enough for us all to implement and we will be rewarded with a healthy grass that will provide many opportunities for fun, relaxation and play!
My top 5 included…
1. Fertilise your lawn in Autumn.
2. Raise your cutting height slightly.
3.Use a spray on frost protection in very cold areas.
4. Keep an eye on the lawn colour…white grass can mean it is lacking in moisture and/or nutrients.
5. Keep an eye on weeds as lawn growth slows.
I love the possibilities that grass provides and I can't wait for the day when we have some green nestled against our rocks again. If you are considering a lawn replacement or makeover in your backyard I encourage you to get a professional consultation so you can consider factors such as climate, usage and budget.
I really did find it a worthwhile experience and I learnt a lot which will ultimately save us time and money!
In the meantime we will continue to have fun and work on our Natural Playspace …and the toddler twosome will continue to explore wherever there is patch of grass!
Thanks to Turf Australia I have a $150 gift voucher from Bunnings to giveaway to one lucky Australian reader….just answer the following question in the comments below!
When did your kids last play on grass and what were they doing?
We tend to visit our local Bunnings nearly every weekend for something to use in the backyard so I know those of you who also love the outdoors will relish the thought of winning a voucher to spend there!
The competition ends and comments close at 6pm (AEST) on the 8th July 2013. The winner will be notified by email so please make sure to leave your address when commenting! I will update this post with the winning comments after the competition has closed and also share on Facebook. GOOD LUCK
Please note you must be an Australian resident to enter this competition.
THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED BY EMAIL. CONGRATULATIONS TO KATEPICKLE WITH HER STORY OF DINOSAUR LANDS AND SCISSORS. THANKYOU TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO ENTER, I WISH I COULD CHOSE YOU ALL…SUCH WONDERFUL TIMES OUTSIDE WERE SHARED!
This is not a paid post but I did receive a free professional consultation with Coastal Turf . You can rest๏ปฟ assured that all opinions expressed are 100% my own and you can trust my recommendations and the opinions shared with you!
Warm Wishes
School holidays are here, which equals fun
And luckily yesterday, there was a bit of sun
So my three girls went outside to play
Whilst waiting for friends who were on their way
The girls picked flowers, and chatted to the gnomes
They explored and detected like Sherlock Holmes!
Then when friends arrived we went to the park
For more antics amongst the grass and bark!
It was about two weeks ago, they were walking through it, enjoying the sensory aspect of wet grass and mud under foot. Mr 7 was quite tentative about it, especially after he stood on a half buried long lost matchbox car. Miss 4 on the other hand loved the experience and enjoyed getting muddy. I am so glad I introduced the experience into their play when I did because two days later, our sewerage pipe burst and the whole back yard had to be dug up and they can’t play in there for a month. Luckily we have some amazing parks nearby!
We don’t have lovely grass in our backyard so the last time my son played in the grass was last Friday when we took the dogs for a walk at a local park. He had a great time rolling around in the grass and running around. Thanks for the giveaway!!!
Unfortunately it has been raining for a few days here in Bris so when we went to a friends yesterday her backyard looked like a swimming pool. My 2 energiser bunnies decided to jump, stomp and run through the water and grass!! It entertained everyone at lunch and they were having a ball. Of course they were wet from head to toe and both went home in nappies. Would love to build some fun in our backyard for them!!
yesterday! when mummy hangs out the clothes my son and his dog play in the fresh morning grass with his wellingtons on, he has a ball! the smell of the grass the sensation and let’s face it nothing beats ripping grass and throwing it in the air!
We live in a cold area, and have had lots of rain recently so our grass is worse for wear at the moment, so playing on grass was most likely in March. It would have been with a water play table. I love when we use the water play table as I can sit on the grass in the shade of a tree and watch Miss 3, play with the water. We have the water play table on the grass so all the spills (and you know there are lots) help water the grass, so it gets moved all the time.
Miss 3 also insists on moving the water from the table to various place, the veggie garden or the sand pit are the favourites, although she has tried to water the dog before but he got away ๐
Yesterday we were searching for bugs and stomping in puddles. ๐
I have such a thing about having a little grass in your back yard… and now we live on 10 acres of grass! Well actually it’s mostly weeds so we have plans to try and put down some decent, kid friendly, grass in our back yard area once we are done building.
But the kids don’t seem to mind that our current grass is clumpy and full of weeds… they love cutting it with scissors and putting it in potions and using it to hide dinosaurs… in fact they are outside building Dinosaur world right now!
Yesterday – Ginger was busy distributing the contents of her rice box over the garden – apparently she was “watering”. The rice was indeed in her watering can, but I think they plants she watered have been smothered rather than having a good drink.
Every single day. We’ve just come inside from playing. Lots of running and exploring and jumping and Jack’s favourite; dancing. That boy loves to dance outside ๐
My daughter loves to pretend that she is a fairy and last time she was playing on the lawn that is exactly what she was doing ๐
In the starting of school holidays,there was no sun,
but today it was different,there was a big round one.
so kids were taking a break from screen time whole day,
and enjoying their time in our backyard on the grass.
playing with their trucks and other water toys,
trying to look for bugs with their detective glass.
One was mowing the grass with his toy lawn mower,
and the other one was watering the leftover grass.
Our grass is yellowing just a bit at the moment, all this rain washes the nutrients away. Thanks for the reminder to fertilise. Now I’ve pruned the roses, it’s another job to get onto. My kids played on our lawn today, making mud cakes in their little wheelbarrow, it looks like your kids might have to as well, dodging the chook poo!
My kids last played on grass at our old home and they were made animal tracks in the dewy grass. Our new home however, will get grass… eventually. I just can’t wait actually and I now know where to research the best lawn for our yard, thanks to you!
Living in Bendigo in regional Victoria, the grass in our backyard has been pretty dismal over the Summer months. However, come Autumn and now Winter my little munchkin and her cousins enjoy the dewy greenness of our lawn and play games like chasey, throwing, catching and kicking balls and beanbags, etc, long leisurely picnics & grabbing handfuls of grass to decorate mudpies and sandcakes. What they love most about being outside though are afternoons of rolling around getting tickled by the grass in the winter sunshine! Ah the simple pleasures!
We were outside playing about 5 minutes ago. My little girl loves to find rocks and places them in various places all over the lawn. Now so great when it comes to daddy needing to mow the lawn but it’s a little project that she loves to do. ๐
Today they had fun running, kicking the ball, then sitting down in the winter sun exhausted ๐
My boys last sat on the grass today, they visit it every day. today it was to sit and build a mud castle.unlike your beautiful area my boys only get farm yard grass to play in and doenst look as cosy as yours, any way they so still enjoy it:)
Although it has been wonderful having some rain around here, it is sad to say we were last on our grass on Monday (it’s now Friday) to create an ‘octonaut’, which I believe translates to obstacle course. As always Jode, love seeing your girls out there getting messy!
My kids last played on the grass this morning at their cousins place… 500km away from home!
We are back home now but they had an absolutely fabulous time.. mostly spent jumping in grass, riding on grass, dancing, spinning, jumping, wheeling etc!! You can check out a fabulous video of our week at Paint On The Ceiling!! xx
Thanks for the cool give away! We were outside today, with my boys playing on their scooters. They were pretending to be freight trains, and were carrying grass and sticks around as their “freight”. ๐
Where we are in picturesque Cornwall it is full of lush green grass right on our doorstep! Good luck with your oasis and I look forward to seeing how things develop, thanks for sharing on Country Kids.
I can’t wait to have some nice grass myself. We have bits of gravel, mud and weeds – our garden was so neglected. Great ways to play – thanks for sharing.
We’re hoping to move to Perth soon so it’s fab to see that you can still create beautiful gardens in such a confined space. I’ve signed up to your blog now to get some ideas for our big move! (Just discovered you via #CountryKids)
playing in the grass is one of the happiest things in our life, whenever we playing in a grass we go with of our childhood days.