I love sending my kids into the back yard to play. I always say it’s a much better “babysitter” than the television ever was, and the kids have a lot more fun playing outside than they ever do on the computer. And minor injuries need to be a part of life.

While much of the playground nearest my house is plastic, I do love the area it’s in. The park is huge and has lots of trees and even just plain old dirt. People go riding by on horses sometimes. I consider it to be a better than average park because it has access to both the equipment and more natural areas, and I never know which my kids will want on a given day.