With the meteoric increase in childhood obesity, it has never been more important to make sure your youngsters are leading happy, energetic and healthy lives. In the past motivating kids was never a difficult task, with fixed hours of kid's T.V, no electronic based entertainment and a range of council run parks and playgrounds children would naturally meet with other children and participate in active and energetic games. Unfortunately nowadays motivating a child to play outdoors can be a serious uphill battle and one that is all to often left too late. By motivating a child to play outdoors at an early age they will quickly realise the amount of fun they can have and start healthy habits the child can take through childhood. It is sad that in today's society a great many parents are concerned about children playing outdoors away from the house and that a great many council recreation parks and playgrounds have been shut in recent years. The ideal solution in this case is to have outdoor games and play equipment they can use in their own garden with other children and family.

In the past outdoor games consisted of a football or a skipping rope and plenty of imagination, happily nowadays the outdoor toy market is huge and the choice of toys available makes sure there is something for everyone. Encouraging your kids to play outdoors needn't be costly though. By showing them basic games from the past such as Dodge Ball, British Bulldogs or even Hide And Seek you can get the kids playing actively for peanuts!

If you are think about purchasing a selection of outdoor toys to help stimulate your kids outdoor then there are a fantastic selection of toys to assist you. Sandpits are a perfect purchase for toddlers children. Once a youngster can sit unassisted they can enjoy the joy of playing with sand, building sand castles, running it through their hands and toys and building essential motor skills at the same time. Very young children have a desire to shove anything they grasp in their mouths so good lookout will be required until they getout of this habit. Sandboxes have also changed over the years from the horrible cheap plastic 'shell' shape popular in the eighties and you find a range of alternatives including quality wooden sandboxes, sandpit desks where children can sit on a bench to have fun in the sand, and even portable sandpits that can be stored in the shed or garage when not in use. When purchasing sand for your sandbox make sure you always purchase a designated 'playsand' that has been treated to strip out clay that can stain clothes and skin and has had large particles removed to guarantee it's non abrasive on a youngsters skin. One additional benefit of selecting a wood sand pit is that once the children have outgrown it you can utilise it as a delightful raised flowerbed and recover your garden!

Another introduction to the UK has been timber climbing frames or 'Swingsets' from the US and Canada These amazing structures are usually constructed from cedar or redwood wood and range from straightforward slides and swings to multiple level adventure centres that cost thousands of pounds. There are two distinct category of cedar climbing frame available; boxed or modular. The boxed climbing frames from manufacturers such as Adventure Playsets come with all the components you need to construct a superb freestanding wooden swingset by yourself in your own back garden. The modular option from manufacturers such as Rainbow and Backyard Adventures facilitate the customer to pick component 'modules' that fix together to create a brilliant and unique playcentreset up. The key differences are quality and price. The boxed playcentres cost from £300 to £3000 whereas the modular sets are two thousand pounds to twenty five thousand pounds or more. The modular sets do tend to be of a better quality and come with better guarantees. The other main thing is that boxed sets are produced to be built by the parent whereas modular sets are usually built by professional erection teams trained by the company. With 10 or 15 year guarantees you can be assured that whatever option you select your climbing frame will easily last beyond your child's childhood years.

You don't have to pay out thousands though to encourage your children playing in the garden, there are a wide range of games and toys that can do just that for a couple of quid. If the sun starts to shine a simple waterpistol can be all you need to encourage the children chasing about the back garden after each other burning up calories and creating healthy bodies.

There are obviously a great many additional games to engage your youngsters and encourage a healthy lifestyle that I simply don't have time to discuss. Hopefully though this feature will assist to develop your interest in getting the children off the Playstation and into the back garden and help make your child's future much healthier and happier