Trying to make children go out and be physically active is becoming more difficult by the day. Screens are taking over their lives from an early age and making them more and more lethargic. However, you can transform their habits by making your home more sports friendly.
Having a sports-friendly backyard will help make everyone in your home more active and healthier. You don’t necessarily need to make huge modifications or spend a lot of money to make your backyard conducive to sports either. Sometimes, all you need is to make a few changes and buy the right pieces of equipment. Let’s take a look at a few simple ways that you could make your backyard more sports friendly.
Level it Out
What you should first do is try to level your backyard as much as you can. If your backyard has many holes, the best method you can use to fill those out is to use sand. Once you’ve filled the holes with sand, you can level the yard out using a leveling rake. Some of them can be used by hand, but there are also types you can attach to the back of a riding lawnmower. All you have to do next is apply sod over the surface and you’ll have a perfect area to play different sports.
Add Astro Turf
If leveling the entire backyard seems like too big of a project and you want to create an area where you and your family will be able to play, you can always create a dedicated sports area by laying out some AstroTurf. You can leave it there permanently or remove it whenever you wish. You have to make sure that the area you pick is even, however, and that it doesn’t get too much direct sunlight as it will get uncomfortable.
Buy Equipment
The next thing you should do is look at what kind of equipment you could add. One of the simplest things you could do is add a badminton net that can also be used to play volleyball. You could also go for something a bit fancier and get a batting cage if you’re into baseball.
You have to be very careful when installing a batting cage in your backyard, however, as balls can escape the enclosure and cause damage to your home or your neighbors’ property. This is why you will need to look at things like L screens for extra protection. You could also add a basketball net, but you’d have to create a paved area for it. This can be done with pavers or by having concrete poured.
If you have a pool, know that you can use it to play sports too. You could get some water polo balls and nets and play whenever you like. You can also play other sports like water volleyball or basketball. Some nets are made specifically for these sports, and you can find them for cheap on sites like Amazon. You should brainstorm ideas with your family and ask what type of watersports they like the most.
Upgrade Your Fencing
You also have to think about the noise you’ll be making, and you probably don’t want to have people snooping on you 24/7. So, think about adding privacy fences. You could also add trees to reduce noise even more. This will make the backyard instantly look better and give it a real park feel.
These are all things you should consider doing if you want to make your backyard as sports friendly as possible. Choose the options that align with your budget and your family’s preferr