suggestions for outdoor toys

We had a water slide thing and the kids loved it, (yours seem a little young yet). But it only lasted 2 summers before it started to leak air. We had to keep it in outside storage and the heat was no good for it. On the plus side, I feel like we got our moneys worth (I bought it on a killer sale, about $200), it was easy to blow up and great for when we had other people over for BBQ, etc., safer than having to watch the pool.

We have the wood swing set from Toys are Us, and although the instructions say to treat it every few years, I think it would be doing better if we had treated every season, or at least 2 x a year. Ours has been treated twice, it was built in 2004 and it is starting to worry us with how much it moves. We will need to revamp it in the next few months.

Good luck! I hope your kids know my kids, sounds like your house is a blast!

P.S. I think the swingset estimated an afternoon for putting it together. I think it took us 3 days!

Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.

I love the inflatables (bounce houses, etc), but we have neighborhood cats who visit our yard, and inevitably puncture anything like that, so we've had to give up.

We have a standard "metal" swingset in our yard, and now that our son is going on 4, we wish we would've gotten wooden one. From what I've researched, something you want to really be careful about when buying a wooden set is the age/weight limit. Some of the less expensive sets can be great for preschoolers, but not so great for 8 year olds!

We also have a trampoline that we just bought a few months ago, which our son loves. We got the trampoline and enclosure for a pretty good price at Sports Authority, and I'm hoping it holds up longer than a year! I don't know that I would've considered a trampoline a few years ago, but our son has sensory processing disorder, and the jumping really helps him (see first paragraph on why we didn't go with a bouncer!).

Have you looked at a playhouse? A lot of kids love those; may be worth the money!

Jennifer, mom to one special little boy

I've been pondering the same thing...something new for outside. Although, it seems like kids get tired of things too fast! I'm wondering if it's better to get smaller, more disposable items for now (my kids are 3 and 1 as well). Then, if they get tired of them, it won't be so hard for me to get rid of them for something new. Do you all find that your kids really get a lot of use out of their outdoor "toys"?

Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

Have you considered a play house? Our neighbors have one and each year they have a neighborhood party. It is a hit! The husband/father built the play house himself - its amazing! It's like one of those you'd see in the mall that cost $50K and he did it for all under $2k. Kids like to play 'pretend' at those ages. Something to consider.

LisaMommy is a 38 year old discussion leader for arizonamoms.com from the Paradise Valley/Scottsdale area. Her two boys are ages 9 months and 3 years old.

My sons love simple indoor/outdoor tents - you can get some real basic ones or elaborate ones that look like castles, etc. at Target and other places. It's great to see their imaginations at work and I love being able to take it down easily and store it away when I'm sick of looking at it.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

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