5 Must Have Back Yard Summer Items

Summer is truly my favorite season. Spring is a close second though. I love being outside and my kids love being outside. We spend so much time in our yard, we practically live outside in the summer. So, what are my 5 must have back yard summer items?

1. Teeter Totter – I bought this Gym Dandy Teeter Totter for my kids a couple of years ago and it’s the best back yard toy purchase I’ve ever made! They will play and play and play on this thing.

What I really love about this teeter totter is that it’s practically tip-proof. I would have to deliberately tip it over, and that would still take a lot of effort. The kids have no hope of tipping it over, no matter how many they pile on at once.

It has really held up well and my kids and any friends we have over love playing on it! The only down side, you will want 2 people to assemble this, it’s pretty tricky to do by yourself (but not impossible).

2. Swimming Pool – So, I seriously love this inflatable pool. It’s inexpensive and provides hours and hours of play for the kids.

I end up purchasing two every summer, because my kids like to bounce on the sides (which isn’t recommended) and this eventually results in some holes that just won’t stay patched. But at under $30 for the pool, I can handle purchasing two and enjoying most of our summer water play in our own back yard.

If you do purchase this pool, I recommend this foot pump for pumping it up. Trust me, you’re not going to want to blow this pool up without a pump. (just speaking from experience here). The foot pump has lasted me for a couple of summers and is still going strong. I can inflate the whole pool in under 15 minutes with this thing – more like 30 minutes if the kids are “helping”. This pump is under $10 and totally worth every single penny.

3. Bubbles – Lots and lots of bubbles. And if your kids are like my kids. You’re going to want a few containers of these gazillion bubbles. Because not only do the kids blow bubbles, they also somehow dump them everywhere. I get it, the bubble solution is slippery, it happens.  This is definitely an “outside only” toy.

If you want to be really adventurous, get this Gazillion Bubbles Hurricane Machine and let the machine do all the work. Though, I personally prefer to let the kids do all the bubble blowing. It’s so much fun for them to run around the yard blowing and popping bubbles! And it burns off more energy this way. The whole goal of yard toys is for the kids to wear themselves out and go to bed early, right?

4. Slip N Slide – I just loved a Slip N Slide when I was a kid and it’s so much fun to watch the kids enjoy this toy as much as I did.

I will say, the double slide like this one is way more fun than the single width slide. I bought this slide for the summer and my kids have a blast racing down this slide. This slide comes with 2 inflatable Slide Boogies that really didn’t survive more than 30 minutes. They switched over to their kickboards and those worked out way better. Plus we now get to use our kickboards for more than just the swimming pool.

Product warning though, if you really care about your lawn, don’t leave the slide staked down in one spot for a week, it’ll kill the grass. This is definitely a play with and then put away type of yard toy. Because no one wants a bunch of mud holes in their yard by the end of summer.

5. Kite – Because summer isn’t summer without getting at least one kite stuck in a tree. Luckily, so far, I’ve managed to rescue all kites without actually climbing the tree. We’ll see how much longer that lasts!

I haven’t bought this kite yet, but it’s on my wishlist. This kite is so colorful! And it looks way easier to fly than the cheap ones from Wal-Mart. Which my kids like pretty well. They will take those kits and run and run and run, then sit down, catch their breath, and repeat. A kite is perfect for wearing out the kids.

What items would you add to this list?

This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase one of these items, please use my link. I get a tiny commission for sharing 🙂