Your garden is a place to relax, but if you have kids, that can be difficult. Keeping a patio stylish but kid-friendly can be tough. When you’re in your garden, you don’t want to spend all of your time worrying about your kids injuring themselves. Therefore, you need to ensure that it’s as childproof as possible. Often, we only recognize the dangers when the children discover them, so childproofing in advance can help to prevent injury. Here are seven tips to help you childproof your patio whilst still keeping a sense of style.
Ensure Plants Are Safe
Like it or not, if you’ve got kids, you’ll need to confirm that the plants you have are non-toxic. Many plants can be hazardous to children and pets if consumed or put near the mouth or eyes. Some potentially hazardous plants include philodendron, daffodils, lily of the valley, foxgloves, and oleander. Many types of lily are also poisonous to children, so it’s best to avoid lilies altogether. If you’re unsure about the toxicity of your plants, a quick search online should give you the information you need.
Beware of Drops
Children and drops aren’t an ideal mix. If you want to put your mind at ease, avoid adding drops where possible. Sometimes, your patio may already have natural drops to your garden or to other levels of the patio. If this is the case, add fencing to stop children from falling. If you don’t want to add fencing to your patio, consider bringing padded items such as large cushions out to put at the bottom of drops when your kids are outside.
Remove or Fix Trip Hazards
Trip hazards can be nearly as bad as drops. You probably know by now that young kids rarely look where they’re going, especially when they’re excited. For this reason, you’ll need to make sure that your patio is clear of potential trip hazards. This may include badly placed plant pots, gardening accessories, or kids’ toys. You should also assess your patio to see whether there are any areas in need of repair. A misaligned tile or deck can be a potential tripping hazard for adults and kids.
Check Your Gates and Fences
You may already have gates and fences around your patio and garden, either as a safety feature or for aesthetic reasons. It’s important to check how sturdy these are if you want your kids to play freely outside. Make sure that fences and gates are firmly in the ground, and you add locks to prevent your children from opening any gates. You should also make sure that no panels are missing and that there are no substantial gaps that your children can fit through. It’s very easy for a child to escape through a fence or gate, so if you don’t want to keep your eye on them all the time, ensure these are solid.
Add Shock- Absorbing Surfaces
As well as putting cushions down near drops, consider adding other shock-absorbing surfaces. Patios are often largely made up of hard surfaces. If you want your children to avoid falling onto these when they’re playing, think about childproofing. Adding artificial grass can provide a level of cushioning, as can rubber tiles. Rubber tiles can make your patio look like a playground, but you can buy some you can easily assemble and disassemble when not in use. This type of tile is interlocking, rather than permanently affixed to the patio surface.
Include Entertainment
Adding entertainment for your children is one of the best things you can do to keep them safe on your patio. If you have a designated area where they can play that is full of exciting entertaining toys and games, then they’re less likely to go near the hazards. There are many ways to entertain kids in the garden, but you don’t have to put in too much effort if you don’t want to. Floor chalk can keep your kids entertained for hours.
Add an Outdoor Sofa
An outdoor sofa is a perfect way to keep your kids in one place. If they’ve got a comfortable place to sit, and some form of entertainment, you can relax. It’s best to find an outdoor couch that has waterproof fabric if you want to avoid it being damaged by the elements/ spillages from your children. However, if you have adequate outdoor sheltered space, an indoor sofa can work too. Find something comfortable and big enough to accommodate guests and your family. Find the best couch for you.
Enjoy a Kid-Safe Patio Space
By taking small steps, you can make your patio and garden a safe space for your kids. Keeping it stylish isn’t easy, but opting for safety options that are non-permanent can help with this. Having removable rubber tiles and cushions that you can move means that your patio doesn’t need to look like a kids’ playground all the time. Need to sort your garden out? Check out 6 Pro Tips For Garden Grooming for information about keeping your plants looking fantastic.
