A private backyard is one of the greatest benefits of home ownership. While lounging in your personal outdoor sanctuary is enjoyable, don’t underestimate the joy derived from planning your perfect outdoor space. From browsing websites and social media for inspiration to admiring your neighbors handiwork as you stroll through the neighborhood, daydreaming about what’s possible is a true delight. That said, while the planning may be appealing to adults, for kids, that’s not always the case.
Teach Your Kids to Measure
Step one toward designing your perfect backyard is figuring out how much space you have to work with. If your yard is a huge, blank canvas, you have more options when it comes to outdoor pools, decks, landscaping, etc. But, if you have limited space like most homeowners, knowing what your backyard can support is critical. This is a great opportunity to teach your kids how to use a ruler and tape measure!
Educate them on the difference between the metric and imperial systems, and how everything in the world can be measured if you have the right equipment. Let them spool out the tape measure around one- and two-dimensional objects to illustrate the concept of depth, and give them the chance to measure your entire backyard.
Teach the Kids About Pool Shapes and Encourage Them to Draw Their Ideal Pool
Introduce them to various pool shapes and then have them sketch out the ones they would like to see in your backyard. If they’re old enough, this is also an opportune time to teach your children about ratios and models.
Use the pool shapes they like and work them into a simple to-scale drawing of your backyard. Once you have a diagram, hand over the tape measure and see if they can map out the pool shape in the backyard using brightly-colored tennis balls to mark corners. If you have a string handy, you can even get them to map out the perimeter of your ideal pool so you can all see how it would fit in the space. Once your kids are able to visualize how a pool will fit in your yard, they’ll be even more excited to help with the planning process.
Teach Your Kids About Colors With Pool Tiles
If your kids have not yet had the chance to experience the wonder of Roy G. Biv (the mnemonic to help remember the colors of the rainbow), now’s the chance to enlighten them. You can explain about primary and tertiary colors, and how some color combinations are more appealing than others because of how they are situated on the color wheel.
Use pool tile colors to demonstrate how hues differ (for example, the variance between aquamarine blue and sky blue) and how adding white or black produces lighter or darker shades.
This is also your chance to explain how to achieve an overall color scheme that’s pleasing to the eye. A tasteful backyard setting should include dominant hues and small pops of highlight colors to avoid monotony. Get your kids to weigh in on what color schemes they’d like to see in the backyard; then use the color wheel to help figure out a palette that works for everyone. You can even try the Latham Liner Visualizer to illustrate examples of appealing color combinations and see how they look on various pool shapes.
Bring Their Imagination to Life With Visual Tools
Now that you’ve done the legwork of measuring and picking shapes, you can use Latham’s Visualizer tools to bring your designs to life. Use the Vinyl Liner Visualizer for vinyl pool designs or try Latham’s AR Pool Visualizer for your fiberglass pool creations.
The AR Pool Visaulizer is a mobile app that helps you differentiate between pool shapes like rectangle and freeform. Once you pick your shape, simply point your phone in the spot where you want to place your pool. Tap reset to try a different shape and color combination, it’s like a modern-day digital Etch-a-Sketch! Don’t forget to take pictures of your creations, you can use them as digital flashcards to memorize colors and shapes!
Seeing your ideas come to life with these applications let’s you truly use your imagination to dream up your ideal backyard and then figure out the logistics to make it possible. This isn’t only fun for your kids, but a great way for adults to express creativity and personify your personal style in your backyard. You can also use the night shots feature to get a real-life idea of how your pool will look at different times of the day.
Once you get your kids involved in planning a picturesque backyard that everyone will enjoy, it’ll be easy for them to get caught up in the excitement and anticipation of what’s to come. Soon, they too will understand the thrill that comes with designing for the future!
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