With health organisations around the world warning of the imminent surge of child obesity there has never been a more important time to motivate your kids to live healthy, happy and energetic lives. In the past motivating children was not a difficult task, with fixed hours of children's television, no electronic based games and a range of council run parks and playgrounds kids would naturally meet with other children and participate in active and energetic games. Sadly nowadays motivating a child to play outdoors is be a serious struggle and a battle that is usually left too late. Once your youngster is able to walk they should be shown the fun that can be found through energetic outdoor pursuits and help to form healthy habits for later life. With the closure of the majority council run parks and playgrounds and rising about violence on our streets some parents are unwilling to allow kids play away from the home. The ideal solution in this case is to have outdoor toys and play equipment children can use in their own back garden with other children and family.

In the past outdoor toys consisted of a bat and ball or a skipping rope and plenty of imagination, happily nowadays the outdoor toy market is large and the selection of toys available guarantees there is something for every child. Encouraging your children to play outdoors needn't be expensive though. By teaching them simple games from the past such as Dodge Ball, Kick The Can or even Rounders you can get the kids playing actively for peanuts!

If you are considering buying a selection of outdoor toys to help stimulate your child's play then there are a fantastic range of toys to help you. For toddlers sand pits are a perfect choice to make. Practicaly any youngster can benefit from playing in a sandpit and at the same time develop essential motor skills as they scoop, construct or even just run their fingers through it. Very small kids have a propensity to put all they grasp in their mouths so supervision will be required until they getout of this practice. The range and quality of sandpits has progressed massively from the early 1980'swhen the ubiquitous 'shell' design was all parents could purchase. Today you can purchase stylish timber sandpits, picnic benches that conceal sandpits under the table surface and even transportable smaller sandpits that can be stored in the garage or shed and brought out whenever required. When selecting sand for your sandpit make sure you make sure to buy a specific 'playsand' that has been treated to remove clay that can stain clothing and skin and has had big particles removed to ensure it's gentle on a childs skin. The other benefit of buying a wooden sandbox is that once the children have outgrown it you can simply load it with potting compost and a selection of bedding plants for a raised flower bed!

A new entrant to the British outdoor toy market have been wood 'Swingsets' or climbing frames from Northern America. These swingsets are made from a range of woods with the higher quality ones being constructed from cedar and redwood and come in an amzing selection of styles, sizes and prices. There are two distinct types of timber climbing frame available; modular or boxed. Boxed play centres from manufacturers including Adventure Playsets sell a single playcentre that incorporates everything you require to build it in the box and permits anybody with basic DIY skills to make a fantastic wooden climbing frame. The modular option from manufacturers such as Backyard Adventures and Rainbow permint the customer to select component 'modules' that combine together to produce a stunning and exclusive swingset. The difference between boxed and modular is quality, (with the modular playsets traditionally being featuring slightly improved timbers) and cost with boxed sets ranging from a couple of hundred to a several thousand pounds and modular swinsets ranging from a several thousand to over 20 thousand pounds. The other key thing is that boxed swingsets are made to be installed by the home owner whereas modular sets are usually built by trained installation teams provided by the company. With ten or 15 year guarantees you can be assured that whichever type you choose your playcentre will easily outlive your children's childhood years.

You don't have to spend thousands though to encourage your kids playing outdoors, there are many toys and games that can do just that for less than a fiver. If the sun begins to shine a basic waterpistol can be all you need to encourage the children chasing about the garden after one another burning up energy and producing active muscles.

This is simply the tip of the iceberg with a multitude of alternative ways to encourage your children to play actively outside that I don't have time to write about. I hope this piece has however, assisted to galvanise you into driving your children to develop healthy lifestyles that will have implications long after they outgrow their outdoor toys.