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Fun for Your Kids In Your Own Backyard

By: Bill Weaver

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Just outside our back door is a vacation spot that our youngsters claim is tops for sheer fun. It is our own backyard recreation center that we created to solve the problem of idle vacation hours for our active sons and their friends. In the past our boys, like the others in the neighborhood, always greeted the summer vacation with unrestrained joy, but soon came the complaint heard all too often, "What can we do now, Mother?" We no longer hear this since we made our home playground.

Our backyard is typical of the ordinary city backyard; forty by fifty feet. Gone are the once gorgeous perennials, the rock garden and the beautiful fish pool. In their places are a number of attractions that delight the heart of any boy, and incidentally keep him very busy. We decided to devote one side of the yard to permanent play equipment, while we kept the other side free for games.

First we discovered that such a playground must be enclosed to keep all activities within our own yard-an arrangement any neighbor appreciates. Fences are expensive, and we wanted our budget to provide as much play equipment as possible. After giving the matter some thought we decided upon a four-foot-high snow fence. It's inexpensive, easily erected, and is not unsightly. It comes stained red but can be easily whitewashed or painted. It not only keeps the youngsters in but also acts as a backstop for balls.

When the fence was properly in place we had to choose equipment. By popular vote a "gym" was first. There are various types available on the market. The type with double apparatus repays you in satisfaction. There is something in children that makes them want the swing or trapeze at the same moment someone else does; hence the advantage of the twin feature.

A source of lasting pleasure to youngsters is our teeter totter. This was easily made with a sawhorse and a heavy plank. Cleats nailed across the underside of the plank near the center prevent it from slipping.

The sandbox is a tradition in American childhood. A plain box filled with sand can be glorified by the addition of four legs, benches attached along the sides, and a top of boards or canvas. The benches not only afford comfortable positions for the children while playing in the sand but do away with the problem of sand being carried into the house on small shoes-a fact appreciated by busy mothers.

In the far corner of the yard we have built a brick fireplace. This fireplace can be as simple or as elaborate as one wishes. Ours is a small one, sturdily built, using only three dozen bricks, but it draws well. It never loses interest for the youngsters, to say nothing of the oldsters. The boys love to do outdoor cooking. Wieners and buns, potatoes and husk-wrapped ears of sweet corn baked in hot coals, and dessert of toasted marshmallows is a favorite. The boys are very proud when their parents are guests at such a meal.

Perhaps you are thinking that the mosquitoes are also guests at such a meal. That problem was solved for us by building a screen house, also a family project. We had no blueprints. Its size was regulated to our needs. It was high enough to admit without stooping our six-foot Daddy. We covered the frame, which was made of crating lumber, with fine wire screen and purchased a ready-made screen door. The roof is of heavy, water-proof awning cloth. A picnic table and benches for five people makes for comfort, not only for eating but for handwork and games.

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