Building A Children's Patio

It's important for kids to have a place to play outdoors.  My kids are outside with me all the time but they don't always want to garden so to help them have a safe place to play and explore I put together this children's patio and mini-garden for Lowe's Creative Ideas.  It's a simple project that can easily be accomplished in one afternoon.

Here's what I used to make the Children's Patio: 

• 4x4's - 3 8 ft. long and 2 10 ft. long
• 6 brackets to hold the 4x4's together
• Sand - the amount will vary according to how high you want the patio to be and what kind of soil grade you are trying to level.
• Landscape fabric
• Deck screws (I used 1 5/8")
• Rubber patio tiles made from recycled material.

The design is very simple.  I attached the 4 sides together using the brackets and made a large 8'x10' rectangle from the 4x4's.  Then I leveled the turf underneath and cleared out the grass and weeds.  Next I layered landscape fabric underneath the 4x4's. The fabric is necessary to keep the sand from depleting too quickly into the soil below.  I used 3 pieces a little over 8' long and overlapped in the middle.  Then came the sand to level the patio area.

After the sand was leveled I set the rubber patio paving stones.  They were lightweight and easy to set.  I started from right and went left until the patio area was 5 pavers across and 6 pavers wide.  Then I set the last 4x4 with a bracket to separate the garden area.

The garden area was planted with two types of plants mint and tomato.  I planted a cherry tomato in the middle since I know my kids love eating them fresh from the garden.  The mint is there because the kids love to play with their leaves.  Mint is a safe plant around people and actually has some pest deterrent properties. It will spread so if you plant it and don't want an acre of it plant it in pots before putting in the garden.

Now the kids have their own patio to play on next to the swingset.  It is also good for me since I won't have to move their sandbox and table for mowing!

Time to play!