Hi

We have recently bought a house and are very excited to have a smallish level grassy yard for the kids. We have enough space for a cubby or a swing set but not both.

Given our kids ages what so you think would be better to encourage outside play amd be enjoyed by all the kids for a few years ?

Or are these kind of outside toys a waste of money / space ?

thanks for your input !

I'd go an enclosed trampoline. We have a very small yard and the trampoline (Sprinfree) entertains many children for hours at a time!

I'm going to keep my eye on responses here as we are in a similar situation - boys 3 and 1. I'm afraid I might like the idea of a cubby more than the boys do!

This. My sister and I used our trampoline for years and years - until we were well into our teens.

Otherwise get a plastic cubby house that is easily moved inside, or gotten rid of once they grow out of it. I'd planned to build my DS a wooden one, but we were given a plastic one for free. That works much better - it is easy to move around (including inside his play room if we like) and easy to give to someone else or get rid of once he's grown out of it.

Thanks for your input ladies, I never thought of a plastic cubby but I can see the appeal ... One to check out eBay for ! I think the kids would loveva tramp too but they just take up such a large footprint ! Hmmm maybe something I will have to get over !

I think you can just buy a single swing, instead of buying a huge swingset.

Would you have enough room to combine the 2.

Something like this

cubby/slideIf you wanted a swing on it you could attach a single swing like the cubby in the bottom picture has http://www.cubbyhouse.net/cubbyhouses/timberwolf.htm.

Other then that put up a trampoline. My kids have one and love it. My 3 yr old ds spends ages on our tramp (enclosed sides so can't fall off) and we have both the swing set, slide and a cubby. Although having said that the cubby is not completely finished yet so they haven't had free range at that yet. It could possibly take off as being their most favourite place when it's complete and full of their toys.

Why not put in an elevated cubby house and put a swing or two underneath? Might have to be up relatively high though. You could fix one to the side, a slide on the other or something like that too.