Play area or sandbox ?

You may have to level off the area to put a sandbox in, but you could put in some ties to bring it up. You may also have to remove some soil to allow for enough sand for good play. I would put in something like pavers or mulch to make the rest of the area for play, or put down sod if you want. While you are at it, you could bring up the level of the garden around the tree to bring the one side up level. You can bring it level with the higher side, just don't bring the soil level at the tree higher than what it is at to not cause problems with the health of the tree.

I would do a play area and maybe a small sand box you can cover and bring in. If left out critters use this as a litter box or bugs like ants will get in it.

Depending on the age of the kids maybe a raised table with a sand container, water etc on it.

Or a road painted on the table for trucks and cars.

How about a small picnic table?

So many ideas!

I hope to se your finished project.

Sarah, when I was growing up, we moved about every 5 years. But the first thing Mama did when we got to the new house was have a dump truck come bring a load of clean sand and dump it under the biggest tree in our back yard! My four brothers and I played there all summer long! We made frog houses (pack damp sand over your bare foot, then carefully slide it out), played with Army men (do kids still do that?!) and plastic bugs, and built many sand castles.

Nothing is growing there anyway, but being in the front, you may want to enclose it with some boards and go across the corners with "seat" boards. Just make it big!

Hi Sarah,

Nice looking front yard area and I can understand your situation with giving the kids an area to play in the sand, they love that! For me personally, I would hesitate to put a sand box so close to the street and driveways. Kids do get carried away and can get into a sand throwing event also get over excited and loose track of space and distance, moving more quickly than you can from the porch to the street. Although it looks like a peaceful neighborhood, bigger kids behind the wheel get full of themselves and speed because the street looks wide open and the opportunity presents itself. So for safety's sake, find another location for the sand box.

Best to you.

What are the age of the children? One of the worst things for young children is exposure to parasites (ug, gross, I know). But as a veterinary technician, part of my training involved zoonotic parasites - those that can go from animals to people. A sandbox or plain dirt is one of the most easy access ways for this to happen. If you choose to put in a sandbox, make sure it is sealable. There should be a liner of some type and a solid top to keep critters out when the kids are not using it.

Another option, and one that would be easier to keep clean, would be to use rubber mulch. Get some edger stones and set them around the perimeter of your area. Line the base with a good quality weedblock and then add the rubber mulch - for kid play at least 3 inches deep. When you need to clean it, put about a tablespoon of dish soap in a hose end sprayer and add (I'm not kidding) about a half cup of ammonia or mouthwash. Spray until it bubbles really well, wait about 15 minutes and then rinse. Unfortunately, this cleaning method doesn't work well for sand.