How to Make an Outdoor Play Area for Kids (for cheap!)

We created an outdoor play area for the kids in one afternoon for about $50. It felt like a big win! We want to share how you can make an outdoor play area for your kids for cheap, too!

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Why we created a DIY outdoor play area

We wanted to make an area that would hold the kids’ play set and sandbox and be easy to mow around. We also wanted something that would make the yard look a little more orderly.

However, most outdoor play space designs take a lot of time and money, and we didn’t want to spend a lot of either to hold our swing set that we got for free! Wood border beams are costly (and continuing to go up), and a lot of the other methods we found just took a ton of time.

Fortunately, with this method, we were able to finish the play area in less than a day and keep it very close to $50. The kids love it, and it makes mowing the back yard so much easier!

Here’s a before and after of the play space.

Before

After

Update: It was a good idea to make the space a little larger than we needed for the playground equipment. We’ve since added a small picnic table and sometimes store other toys near the playground, especially when we’re mowing. Consider leaving a little more room than you think you need for adding any additions.

How can you save money on an outdoor play space for kids?

Here are some ways we saved money on our outdoor play space:

• Do the work yourself
• Dig a landscape trench instead of purchasing border beams
• Search Facebook Marketplace for play equipment
• See if your city (or a city nearby) sells mulch for cheap

Our city sells bucketloads of mulch for $2 each. We can fill up the back of our pickup for $4. The mulch is actually chips from projects that the guys do around the city, so it’s not pristine mulch like you would buy from a landscaping company. However, the price is right, and it actually works really well for this project (and looks pretty good, too!). 

We’ve heard that many other cities do this to make a couple bucks on their extra materials (and clear out their space). It doesn’t hurt to call your city’s department of public works and ask!

If this is not an option in your city (or a nearby city), you might also be able to connect with a local landscaping company and ask if they need a place to dump a load of wood chips. We’ve done this with local landscaping connections for dumping both leaves (which we compost and use for the garden) as well as mulch. In some cases, this can be a benefit to both parties, since they might otherwise have to pay for a place to dump.

A third option is to check with road commission trucks if you see them working in your area. We know people who have been able to have one of these trucks dump wood chips for free when they’re out mulching. (It saves the road commission time if they’re already working nearby.) (and clear out their space). It doesn’t hurt to call your city’s department of public works and ask!

What materials do you need for an outdoor play area?

Here’s what we used to build our $50 play area.

• Weed barrier landscape fabric
• Landscape staples
• Mulch
• A shovel
• A tape measure

What does it cost to build an outdoor play area for kids?

Here’s the price breakdown for our 11′ x 19′ kids’ play area:

• Landscape fabric – $40
• Landscape staples – $9
• Mulch – $4

Total = $53

How to make an outdoor play area for kids for cheap

It took us about half a day to make this DIY playground area. Here’s how we did it.

1. First, mow the grass in your area as short as you can.
2. Measure out your play area, marking the corners with spray paint. Make it as big or small as you like. You can use the 3-4-5 method to make sure your corners are square.
3. The next step is to lay out a string line or a hose from corner to corner in order to get a straight line as you dig.
4. Cut the edge around all four sides like you would for a mulch bed. We cut ours about 4″-6″ deep, straight down, so that the chips can slope into it. This makes it super easy to mow around. (Here’s how the cut edges look.)
   
5. Once the edges are cut, lay landscape fabric across the area, securing it with landscape staples.
   
6. Lastly, dump your mulch on the area, spreading it about 3″ deep throughout.
   

That’s all there is to it! The last step is to move your play equipment onto your new outdoor play area, and enjoy your kids!

Benefits of having a playground area in your own backyard

Whether you have younger children or older kids, having your own backyard play area is a great way to encourage physical activity and getting outside without having to take a trip to the park. And although it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to climb up a jungle gym, spending time outside not only has a ton of physical benefits, but is also great for boosting imaginative play (at least in our experience!).

Here are some alarming statistics about outdoor play.

• Only 30% of children play outside every day, 
• “On average, American children spend less than 10 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play compared to seven hours in front of a screen”, says a recent study from Sanford Health News. (Yikes.)
• This screen time is linked to long-term consequences including obesity, behavioral consequences, irregular sleep, and even violence.
• 88% of teachers believe that kids are happier after playing outside.

From a personal standpoint, we’ve seen our kids’ creativity and contentment skyrocket the more time they spend outside. We put our play structures (we now have a larger wood playset for the older children, too) right outside the back door, so they can easily go in and out and burn off excess energy all day long! (Made possible by this magnetic screen that lets them easily go in and out – one of our absolute all-time best purchases!).

We also set ours up right in front of a large tree. I keep a chair out there so it’s the perfect place to read, nurse the baby.. whatever –  while they play! SO much easier than loading everyone up in the van for a park trip every time they want to swing! 

Here are a few more benefits of playing outside – on and around the play set – that we’ve noticed:

• Easy way to get physical exercise.
• Improves their coordination and physical skill. (We’ve found that letting our kids do physically difficult things is actually one of the best ways to keep them safe. They know their limits and have excellent coordination! Tip: A rule of ours is that you need to be able to do it by yourself! We don’t hoist our kids 10′ into a tree. But if they can climb up, they can climb down!)
• Improves sleep. They nap and sleep way better if they’ve had time outside! 
• Improves overall health. Vitamin D, fresh air, physical exercise, and some dirt under their nails are all excellent benefits! Their immune systems are wonderful!
• Helps them get along better! While our kids will play together anywhere, we find that they get along even better outside where there’s plenty of space and lots to explore.

More backyard play area ideas

Our DIY play area fit our needs at the time with young toddlers (we’ve since upgraded to a larger play area), but there are so many creative ways you can make a fun play space in your backyard! 

Here are some more creative backyard playground ideas to consider adding to your setup:

• DIY climbing wall/rock wall
• Water table
• Kiddie pool (We like keeping ours filled up close to the play set on hot days. And these small ones are so easy to refill when they get dirty!)
• Tree stumps (Honestly better than a play set sometimes.)
• Sensory bins (Our favorite thing is just to get out some dried beans and pasta with muffin tins and measuring cups!)
• Obstacle course (Here are some fun and easy obstacle course ideas!)

FAQs

What type of mulch is best for a DIY backyard playground area?

We chose regular wood mulch as a ground cover for our playground area. Wood chips are inexpensive, safe, effective at blocking weeds, and of course, are made of natural elements (no harmful substances like rubber mulch). 

Read more here: Why We Chose Wood Chips for Our Backyard Playground

Do play areas with mulch require regular maintenance?

If you lay enough mulch (we recommend at least 3″ deep), your area likely won’t need a lot of maintenance. However, you will want to add some more mulch every year or two to keep it thick enough.

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