Mike Lanza, who blogs over at Playborhood, did an amazing thing a while back to increase community interaction and kids' play in their northern California neighborhood. He redesigned his front yard into a "family room," with the goal of building a family neighborhood hangout.
Mike blogs about his front yard family room, and you'll be amazed at the innovative additions he's made to his lawn: a 30 foot long outdoor whiteboard, a media system, a fountain, a sandbox, a basketball hoop—and that's not even all. If you're not up for a complete playground in your front yard but do want to encourage outdoor play and neighborhood fraternizing, you might consider adding just one of the elements he talks about.
Learn more about why the family chose to remodel their front yard and how they did it over at Playborhood.
(Via Active Kids Club; Image: Mike Lanza)
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Thanks for the great mention! Since I wrote the article you link to, I've made one great addition to our front yard, and another one is coming next month.
Here's what we just added:
A Neighborhood Map in Our Driveway
And next month, we're getting a play river with waterfalls from Riveropolis.
Wow, wish we lived near you. Awesome!
No home owners association swooping in to ruin their fun? Oh, I envy them! Very creative and practical - I love it.
I'd worry about liability. It's all fun and games till someone breaks an arm and sues.