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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>What to Play On My Big 'Ole Concrete Slab?
permanentvacation 10:27 AM 03-13-2016
I am finally starting to use my back yard for daycare. It is all concrete and is 13' X 23'. I don't have much money to spend right now, but I will be able to spend a little money for small purchases here and there or save for a bigger purchase over a couple of months.

I'd like to incorporate natural play but nothing that I have to grow and keep alive! Plants, veges, etc. seem to die in my care and I already have enough pets to tend to.

What I have outside right now are little plastic toys such a basketball hoop and balls, hula hoops, water table which we often use with no water in it just as a play toy for the little people, boats, etc., and riding toys (Which are a bit of a problem because the kids always back into each other and I'm constantly telling them to look where they're going.)

Everything I have is all plastic. I'd like some more natural items. Everything that I think of for natural items would require the kids sitting or crawling on the ground. But I can't have the kids crawling around on their knees on concrete. They'd ruin their pants and scrape their knees up.

So I guess I'm asking for natural things that the kids can stand up and play with or things that we could do while sitting at a picnic table. And any other ideas for play items whether plastic or otherwise that are not too costly or too messy (chalk messes up kids' clothes too much) that I could use on my concrete slab.
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Thriftylady 10:34 AM 03-13-2016
A sand box! It is a favorite here. Just be sure it has a lid of some sort to keep the cats out. I got mine cheap at the thrift store, so check those out.
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permanentvacation 10:41 AM 03-13-2016
Thank you for the suggestion of a sand box. But I have to keep it clean. Sand would get all in the kids' hair and their parents would be upset.
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Thriftylady 10:46 AM 03-13-2016
Originally Posted by permanentvacation:
Thank you for the suggestion of a sand box. But I have to keep it clean. Sand would get all in the kids' hair and their parents would be upset.
See I never promise to keep kids clean. I tell parents at interview that sometimes fun is dirty, so we get dirty sometimes! It is hard to take kids outside and them not get dirty and I would tell parents it will happen.
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permanentvacation 10:54 AM 03-13-2016
It's more of an issue of it being hard to get sand and dirt out of the kids' hair. And some of my parents aren't able to afford many clothes, so they need to keep their clothes from getting stained, worn at the knees too soon, or torn.
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jenboo 10:55 AM 03-13-2016
Get some outdoor rugs!! They work great! When the weather is nice you can leave them outside. When is wet, you can bring them inside at night so they don't have to dry before the Daycare kids can play on them
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finsup 11:07 AM 03-13-2016
When I think natural, outdoors etc, nothing that comes to mind is really
"Clean" lol. Maybe buy some spare clothes (lawn sales, consignment etc) so the kids can really play and experience that type of playing/learning?
As for other ideas...my preschool (from when I was little!) Had logs with nails kids could hammer. Well supervised of course! Are they old enough where you could put stones/sticks/pinecones etc out with some play animals to encourage building/pretend play? I believe Melissa and doug makes a lemondae stand, something like that with play food/pretend money etc? Bikes? Bean bag toss?
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permanentvacation 11:28 AM 03-13-2016
I know, when I think of natural play, NOTHING about it is really clean! That's why I am having such a hard time figuring out how to incorporate natural play BUT keep it clean.

I like the idea of logs for kids to sit on as chairs and smaller ones to use as stepping stones. I have no idea where to get them, though.

Oh, no, my kids are not able to work with real nails. They're too young for that.

I like the idea of stones, pine cones, sticks, and play animals. The kids could create their own 'farm'.
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snbauser 11:35 AM 03-13-2016
What about a sand table instead of a sandbox? I don't to the sandbox because kids end up with sand up their underwear, stepping on each other, etc. With a sand table the only issue is sand ending up on the ground but with a concrete patio I just sweep it up and dump it back into the table.

I also have easels, musical instruments, chalk, science things (magnifying glasses, binoculars, etc), stepping logs and stepping stones (they are plastic and connected by a rope), a playhouse, balls, ribbon sticks, bikes, cars, etc. Pretty much anything that is inside, you can have outside.
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snbauser 11:36 AM 03-13-2016
Oh and we have a play kitchen next to the sand table and the kids love to "cook" with the sand.
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Thriftylady 11:52 AM 03-13-2016
Originally Posted by permanentvacation:
It's more of an issue of it being hard to get sand and dirt out of the kids' hair. And some of my parents aren't able to afford many clothes, so they need to keep their clothes from getting stained, worn at the knees too soon, or torn.
I tell all my parents to go to the thrift store and buy some cheap play clothes. Usually you can get several outfits for a few bucks. If they refuse, I let them get their "good clothes" dirty. I hate to say it, but it sounds to me like your parents are micromanaging you.
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Josiegirl 01:10 PM 03-13-2016
Pails of water and cheapo paint brushes. Chalk is so easy just to brush off. I love the idea of collecting a bunch of nature items, maybe find some old pans/pots/dishes and let them go at it. I wonder if you could incorporate the help of your dcps? If they have any different types of seed pods in their own neighborhoods? My yard is always filled with maple seeds and pine cones(just the little ones but kids do all kinds of stuff with them). Bring out your plastic animals or if you have dinosaurs(my group loves ours right now!), the rocks and sticks, fake flowers from the dollar store, and they'll become little caveman architects or farmers. You could also throw in some paper towel tubes, any other empty containers you might have stashed. Do you save the netted bags from oranges? Or even 1' square pieces of fabric, anything they could create with. I'll bet if you search your home you'll come up with tons of stuff.
Things I bought at the $ store lately have been bags of moss, different colors of small stones, shells, bigger stones, fake flowers. I haven't let the dcks play with them yet because I'm looking for some cheapie containers for each to make their own fairy garden. My sister gave me this succulent plant and it grows babies on it's leaves. My tiny pot is inundated with the babies so I figured they could use them too. Would be a good spring vacation thing for them to all do.
Are your dcps fussy about the kids getting messy at all? I would do as suggested and get some thrift store clothes, or yard sales will be starting soon. IMO Kids have to get dirty.
Bubbles, the best bubbles I get are also at the $ store.
Do you have duct tape, or something you could make roads out of to bring play cars outside? Any tubes for taping together and rolling balls/cars, etc. down?

I'd make a list of different ideas and materials needed(pinterest) and post it on a bulletin board or send a note home to dcps, see if they can be of any help.
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Josiegirl 01:15 PM 03-13-2016
I know lots of my ideas didn't center around nature play but kids will still have fun and it'll keep them busy and happy outside.

I have no idea where to get the stumps and logs either. Those are things I've been wanting. A very kind dcd brought us a bunch of tree cookies a couple years ago. We had great fun with them but I've only got about 6 left. All the others cracked and broke.
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Josiegirl 01:20 PM 03-13-2016
Another thing we've done in the past which was fun, we took old nylons, cut them down, tied off one end, put in a mixture of potting soil and grass seed, tied off the other end, kept watering them and within a couple weeks we had some very hairy caterpillars. You could use the cheaper easy to grow annual grass seed. In fact, if you have things to use for planting, old pots or whatever, the kids could plant the grass seed in those and add greenery to your concrete yard. They could also use the grass to play dinosaurs in. Or make fairy houses.
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Unregistered 01:38 PM 03-13-2016
I have a sand table and the sand I buy is not dirty in the least. The kids really never end up with in their hair. I also have a "sand" kitchen instead of a mud kitchen. The sand we use is very clean.

What about pots of really easy to grow flowers like Marigolds. Really hard to kill those. My experience with potted flowers and have lots is that they need to be watered almost every day. Then they grow fine.

I myself would try to grow vine flowers like Morning Glories. They could cover part of your fence and make it more natural.

Also, what about smooth, landscaping stones. Kids love to fool around with rocks! The ones I'm thinking about are about 3-4" inches across. Buckets of them would be fun!

What about starting a fairly garden? They can be done quite cheaply and are great fun.

Wooden blocks would be nice outside on a cement area as well a wooden houses to line up. I've seen wooden "county decor" items at rummage sales/thrift stores like wooden houses that people used for decor. They would be cute with the blocks in in the fairy garden.

What about growing a few long bins of grass? That would green up the area. Grass must be easy to grow! Little animals and people could be used in that area!

wooden stumps (keep them low if you don't want kids to stand on them and fall on the cement), pines cones, landscaping bricks, branches cut into circular stackers, etc. can make interesting play areas for plastic animals.
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Unregistered 02:38 PM 03-13-2016
Morning glories are poisonous and may violate your licensing statutes.
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Unregistered 02:44 PM 03-13-2016
Potted flowers that are non-toxic would be a great idea though, and little watering cans so kids can care for them. There are probably tons of varieties, I use impatiens in shade and petunias in sun. Both come in lots of colors. I plant mine in raised beds, but pots work too, or even window boxes on the ground next to a fence or house depending on your setup.
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Unregistered 02:52 PM 03-13-2016
I would make a track around the perimeter of your space as a road for riding toys. Paint it on or use colorful duct tape. Either probably works for a while and has to be redone but it would be fun.
I would use a sand table and put various items in it periodically like sea shells, pretty rocks, aquarium gravel, small circles of wood, cuttings from pine trees or willows, maples or evergreen shrubs. Small cars & trucks, turtles, fish, dinos, forest animals, construction vehicles add play value.
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Unregistered 02:54 PM 03-13-2016
And remember to add sifters to use as a tool to make softer finer sand or to sift out shells and rocks. I have flat circular ones and smaller ones with long handles.
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Josiegirl 03:28 PM 03-13-2016
https://www.pinterest.com/mamabare42...se-parts-play/

I love stuff like this! Just search for loose parts on pinterest and there will be an endless amount of ideas.

Cannot wait for yard sales, going to search for fairy house makings.
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Ariana 05:27 PM 03-13-2016
Why would kids get sand in their hair?! and if they did why is that a big deal?! I am literally confused here. The kids can't get dirty? this makes very little sense since they are children (sorry don't mean to be rude!).

Anyway...I have giant logs and tree stumps in my yard that the kids play with. I also have lots of twigs and branches that they use for open ended play. You can also make a teepee using branches and some cloth. Or you can make a bean teepee. Beans are literally the easiest things to care for and grow. Cardboard boxes are fun. Paint brushes with water....
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Laurel 05:28 PM 03-13-2016
When you have a little money, I'd use it to buy some thrift store/garage sale play clothes for the kiddies if the parents can't afford them. Something stretchy like sweat pants so they fit longer.

Chalk isn't really messy. It just brushes right off of clothes and mine have sat on a sidewalk chalk creation with black pants. It just brushes right off. I experimented with sand and finally used a sand/water table for it. The turtle sandbox where they sit in it was too messy for me. At some point, I got rid of sand altogether.

P.S. One trick with sand flying around (if you have it in a sand table) is to 'lightly' spritz it with water. Don't soak it unless you want it that way for a messy activity. Just lightly wetting it keeps the sand 'dust' from flying into someone's face. You know when they raise the shovel up and let it fall into a bucket or whatever. As an aside, have some cotton balls handy and some water. If someone does get sand in their eye, take the wet cotton ball and blot it on the sand in the eye, NEVER rub it as it will scratch the eye. Just touch the cotton ball on the sand and it will stick and come right out.
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Laurel 05:39 PM 03-13-2016
I haven't read all the posts but I can't keep plants alive either. What you can do though is fill styrofoam cups with potting soil and plant grass seed. It grows fast and you can draw a face on the cup and it looks like hair. When it gets long enough, you can give your little heads haircuts.

Someone here had a great suggestion I used. I got cheap pots and used some small sand buckets too. Let the kids have those with some potting soil or dirt and 'plant' artificial flowers from the dollar store. They LOVED this. Nowadays a lot of the potting soil you buy has added ingredients. I looked around till I found some without extra chemicals just in case they got some in their mouths by accident.
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permanentvacation 06:29 PM 03-13-2016
I don't want to start anything about race, but the reason there's an issue with getting sand/dirt in their hair is because I have mainly little black girls with braided hair. It's hard to get the sand/dirt out of their hair. Some of my kids have (I don't know exactly what it's called) hair extensions whether they are technically track or weave, I don't know, but I know that in order to truly get the sand out of the extensions, you have to literally take the extensions out. Overall, whether it's their natural hair or extensions, it's a lot of mess to go through to get the sand/dirt out of their hair, so I do my best not to have sand/dirt play.

With that said, I do have a sand/water table that I do put sand in occasionally, but then I stand watch to make sure they don't get sand in their hair. Since it's so hard to get sand out of most of my daycare kids' hair, I only do sand play a couple of times per year.
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permanentvacation 07:36 PM 03-13-2016
You guys have given me a lot of great ideas! Thank you!

I really like the idea of outdoor carpet and I already went to Home Depot today and got prices on it. It's only about $20 for a pre-cut 6'X8' carpet or 35 cents per square foot for them to cut the carpet to whatever size you want. I'm going to figure out what size I want while the kids are outside playing next week.

I can't do flowers because my daughter is highly allergic to bee stings. But I could have potted plants or one bigger pot with the 'fairy garden' concept.

I like the idea of planting grass in a container so the kids can play 'jungle' or whatever they want with the plastic animals and little people.

Making 'hairy caterpillars' sounds like fun!

I already have shells that I can add to the sticks and pine cones.

I have, a few times in the past, given daycare kids boxes to paint. They always love that!

Another fun painting activity is to paint a picnic. You are supposed to use newspaper, but the print gets on you too much, so I use either computer paper or brown bags. You crunch up the paper in the shape of different foods that you would eat at a picnic. For example, crunch up paper in the shape of corn on the cob and a hamburger. Then paint the crunched up shapes whatever color that food would be to make it look like that food. When the 'food' is dry, lay out a picnic blanket, put the food in a picnic basket, and play 'Picnic'.


The Pintrest link you posted has a lot of ideas!

If I remember, I might call some landscape companies tomorrow and ask about getting tree cookies and stumps cut into seats. I don't know if they will do it, but I can ask around.

I like the idea of painting a 'road' for the bikes. I don't know if it will leave enough space for other play, but I will look into it.

I have sifters in my sand/water table. But instead of sand, I typically use cotton balls, cut up pieces of yarn, cut up pieces of felt, cut up pieces of sand paper, rice, dried beans, etc. And I do add play items such as cars, animals, and little people.

I have wooden blocks that I could take outside. I was planning on taking my bigger 'baby' Legos outside. Even though they are plastic, it gives them manipulatives for outside.

The educational bookstore I go to has plastic magnifying glasses that I could buy to check out bugs that we see outside.

I already planned to get some rocks for outside, but I want to make sure they are big enough that the kids can't choke on them.

Yeah, you guys have given me a lot of good ideas that don't cost too much! I will start working on my back yard and let you guys know what I put together soon. Thank you!
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MunchkinWrangler 07:41 PM 03-13-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
I tell all my parents to go to the thrift store and buy some cheap play clothes. Usually you can get several outfits for a few bucks. If they refuse, I let them get their "good clothes" dirty. I hate to say it, but it sounds to me like your parents are micromanaging you.
This! If they don't have money to 'replace' clothes, I'm expecting those clothes to not be expensive in the first place. It is so cheap to pick up some clothes from the thrift store. And, to be honest, kids love sandboxes and they don't get that dirty. Not trying to sound like an a** but most of my parents expect their kids to be a little unkempt at pickup and when they're not they know we didn't get outside or we had and 'easier' day.
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Unregistered 10:45 PM 03-13-2016
You mention the newspaper idea: just FYI, I get free giant rolls of unused paper from our local newspaper. They use these giant printers and the rolls get switched out before they are all used up. So they would just throw those rolls in the recycling. You could call around and ask any local papers you have there if you could have, for free, the left over ends of their paper rolls. They last forever. Very big. The paper is super thin so it is only useful in certain ways. But I find plenty to do with it.
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Josiegirl 02:34 AM 03-14-2016
PV I have 2 little girls with hair like that. My dcms are pretty understanding about what they get into(Thankfully!)but yeh, I completely get what you're saying. My dcm told me once it took her 45 minutes to wash the sand out of her hair one night. I also had the cutest little blondie with curly curly hair. First day she came her hair was all filled with mulch. I picked it out for 15 minutes but clearly there was tons more. Can your dcgs bring hats to help cover their hair? Again, just cheapie lil baseball caps or something.
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permanentvacation 05:00 AM 03-14-2016
I never thought about asking a newspaper company for left over unused paper. Thanks for the idea.
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permanentvacation 05:02 AM 03-14-2016
I just found it better to not have sand play much. The kids play with other things such as rice, beans, etc. It's just not worth the hassle/worry/fuss to use sand too often.
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Second Home 05:19 AM 03-14-2016
I have seen corn kernels used in a sand table . My kids love it , too big to get into hair and you don't get dirty from it but they still get the fun of pouring it out and running their hands into it. You can get 50 # bags of deer corn for under $10 at tractor supply .

Also sign up for local on line yard sale sites on facebook. I have gotten lots of good condition used kids toys , some were even free . I have even seen clothes for free if you want to have extras on hand just in case.
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permanentvacation 06:11 AM 03-14-2016
I never thought of deer corn. We have a local animal feed supply store. I just might check that out.
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BabyMonkeys 07:34 AM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by Second Home:
I have seen corn kernels used in a sand table . My kids love it , too big to get into hair and you don't get dirty from it but they still get the fun of pouring it out and running their hands into it. You can get 50 # bags of deer corn for under $10 at tractor supply .
I detest sand. I live in Florida and I haven't been to the beach in 5 years. I bought a 50 pound bag of dry rice at Costco that I use as a sandbox, but they are getting rice in their diapers, and it isn't fun trying to remove the rice from the diaper of an uncircumcised toddler. I was thinking about trying corn, but it is crazy expensive to buy that much. I hadn't thought of deer corn! Cool idea
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Second Home 08:25 AM 03-14-2016
At my local tractor supply I saw deer corn for $8 . And that was a 50 pound bag .
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Annalee 09:05 AM 03-14-2016
I use birdseed inside and outside.
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Unregistered 09:10 AM 03-14-2016
How about disposable shower caps when they are playing with sand. Keeps the sand out!
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Thriftylady 09:14 AM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
How about disposable shower caps when they are playing with sand. Keeps the sand out!
This is what I was going to suggest. They are cheap at the dollar store, and could be used over and over, just write names on them. You can get plasic ones but they may be hot, perhaps you could find some fabric ones. Or just use bandannas or do rags!
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Silly Songs 09:47 AM 03-14-2016
Don't forget bubbles !
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MunchkinWrangler 10:28 AM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by Silly Songs:
Don't forget bubbles !
Yes!!! You could get a bubble machine, they're relatively cheap, and get bubble wands and trays in all shapes and sizes. Hours of fun!
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permanentvacation 11:17 AM 03-14-2016
Of course, bubbles are a given! Kids LOVE bubbles! I used to have a bubble machine. But now that you have me thinking about it, I have no idea what happened to it. I guess I got rid of it when I moved or something.
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Unregistered 03:03 PM 03-14-2016
OH! I didn't know Morning Glories were toxic! Thanks!

One thing I noticed when we had field corn given to us it was very dusty. I know field corn is grown with LOTS of chemicals and I was a bit worried about what kind of nasty sprays were on that stuff. I eventually threw it out. Just a thought.

There is speculation the stuff they are spraying on corn (glyphosphate sp?) is causing lots of problems. It blows apart insects stomachs. I'm afraid to let kids inhale that stuff.

But that's just me
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NightOwl 03:30 PM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by jenboo:
Get some outdoor rugs!! They work great! When the weather is nice you can leave them outside. When is wet, you can bring them inside at night so they don't have to dry before the Daycare kids can play on them
This! Or the square mats that hook together. That'll save their little knees.
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NightOwl 03:31 PM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
How about disposable shower caps when they are playing with sand. Keeps the sand out!
Excellent idea!
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NightOwl 03:37 PM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by permanentvacation:
I don't want to start anything about race, but the reason there's an issue with getting sand/dirt in their hair is because I have mainly little black girls with braided hair. It's hard to get the sand/dirt out of their hair. Some of my kids have (I don't know exactly what it's called) hair extensions whether they are technically track or weave, I don't know, but I know that in order to truly get the sand out of the extensions, you have to literally take the extensions out. Overall, whether it's their natural hair or extensions, it's a lot of mess to go through to get the sand/dirt out of their hair, so I do my best not to have sand/dirt play.

With that said, I do have a sand/water table that I do put sand in occasionally, but then I stand watch to make sure they don't get sand in their hair. Since it's so hard to get sand out of most of my daycare kids' hair, I only do sand play a couple of times per year.
That's what I was gonna say. I believe African Americans wash/re-braid about once per week and it's very time consuming. Sand is a huge problem for them. I'm loving the shower cap idea!
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NightOwl 03:43 PM 03-14-2016
Man, y'all have some fantastic ideas here! Makes me want a concrete slab. My whole backyard is grass and trees though. I love the shower cap for sand play idea, painting a track for the ride on toys, and the outdoor rugs.

Someone may have mentioned it already, but what about "painting" with water? Small buckets of water, paint brushes, and let the kids paint the concrete and the side of the house or the fence, if it's wood. The water shows up darker so they can see their work and then dries away.

It's hard to keep it natural when there's no grass, so I also love the idea of long rectangular planters with grass growing and making a little fairy village or using it to play dinosaurs. When it gets to long, just trim it with scissors.
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Sunshine74 10:46 PM 03-14-2016
Originally Posted by NightOwl:
Man, y'all have some fantastic ideas here! Makes me want a concrete slab. My whole backyard is grass and trees though. I love the shower cap for sand play idea, painting a track for the ride on toys, and the outdoor rugs.

Someone may have mentioned it already, but what about "painting" with water? Small buckets of water, paint brushes, and let the kids paint the concrete and the side of the house or the fence, if it's wood. The water shows up darker so they can see their work and then dries away.

It's hard to keep it natural when there's no grass, so I also love the idea of long rectangular planters with grass growing and making a little fairy village or using it to play dinosaurs. When it gets to long, just trim it with scissors.
This is one of our favorite things to do! Even the 2 year old's don't get that wet. My sisters and I remember doing it when we were little.
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Josiegirl 02:49 AM 03-15-2016
Gonna steal the shower cap idea. My dcps will love me.
All this planning outdoor spaces is getting inspiring.
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Lovatic24 03:23 PM 03-15-2016
Don't they make dustless chalk?
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Unregistered 05:42 PM 03-15-2016
I've had the kids paint with water for years! They love it. I buy cheapo wal-mart paint brushes.
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Tags:outdoor activities, outdoor play, outdoor surfaces, outside surfaces
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