With the unprecedented increase of childhood obesity, it has never been more essential to make sure your youngsters are living enjoyable, energetic and wholesome lives. Prior to the creation of dedicated kid's TV stations, video games and computers children would naturally want to play outside with friends participating in a wide range of energetic group activities. Sadly these days encouraging a child to play outside is be a serious struggle and a battle that is sometimes left too late. By encouraging a child to play outside at an early age they will rapidly realise the amount of fun they can have and develop good habits the child can carry through childhood. With the closing of many council run parks and play areas and rising about trouble on Britain's streets many parents are unwilling to allow children play away from the home. The ideal solution in this event is to have outdoor toys and play equipment they can use in their own back garden with other children and family.

The days of going outside with a skipping rope are largely over with TV aware children yearning for something that can contend with a Xbox game. Thankfully the modern outdoor toy market is enormous with a toy for everyone and prices for all purses. Encouraging your children to play outdoors needn't be expensive though. By showing them simple games from your own childhood such as What Time Is It Mr Wolf, British Bulldogs or even Hide And Seek you can get the kids playing actively for peanuts!

If you are looking to purchase a fewtoys to engage your child in outdoor play then there are some superb toys on the market to stimulate your kid's imagination. For very small children sandpits are a fantastic purchase to make. Once a child can sit they can take pleasure in the fun of playing with sand, building sand castles, running it through their fingers and toys and building essential motor skills at the same time. Obviously very small kids do tend to want to shove things in their mouths so a watchful eye is essential in the baby years. The range and quality of sandboxes has changed dramatically since the early 1980'swhen the ugly 'shell' shape was all you could find. Nowadays you can find quality timber sandboxes, garden benches that house sandboxes under the table surface and even transportable smaller sandpits that can be kept in the shed or garage and carried out whenever required. When buying sand for your sandbox make sure you always select a designated 'playsand' that has been treated to remove clay that can stain clothing and skin and has had big particles stripped out to guarantee it's gentle on a youngsters skin. The additional benefit of purchasing a wood sandbox is that once the kids have outgrown it you can simply fill it with potting compost and a few bedding plants for a delightful flower bed!

Another new entrant to the UK has been cedar climbing frames or 'Swingsets' from Northern America These fantastic structures are traditionally constructed from redwood or cedar lumber and range from straightforward swings and slides to multiple level play centres costing thousands of pounds. There are two distinct types of cedar swingset available; modular or boxed. Pre-Boxed swingsets from manufacturers including Adventure Playsets sell a single climbing frame that will have everything you require to construct it in the box and lets anybody with basic DIY skills to build a amazing wood swingset. Modular swingsets such as those from Backyard Adventures and Rainbow Play Systems allow the customer to pick modules that combine together to make their exclusive custom set up. The difference between the two is quality, (with the modular sets usually being made from somewhat improved timbers) and cost with boxed playcentres costing from two hundred to a couple of thousand pounds and modular swinsets costing from a couple of thousand to over twenty thousand pounds. The other main difference is that boxed climbing frames are designed to be installed by the buyer whereas modular sets are traditionally installed by trained construction teams provided by the retailer. With 10 or 15 year warranties you can be sure that whatever option you choose your playcentre will easily last beyond your children's childhood years.

If your finances are much tighter than that of a playset then don't worry there are outdoor activities that will have kids playing actively that cost less than a fiver. In the summer water pistols are a amazing toy and will have kids racing about after each other for the whole day using up calories and gaining agile and powerful muscles whilst they play

This is merely a brief selection of ideas with a multitude of other games to drive your kids to play actively outside that I don't have time to write about. I hope this article has however, helped to galvanise you into driving your children to learn healthy habits that will have implications years after they grow out of their garden toys.