Backyard toys take some big steps forward

Like many parents in her suburban Long Island neighborhood, Patty Tilkin is a veteran buyer of backyard toys. She's shopped for climbers and slides, seesaws and wagons, child-sized castles and plastic log cabins.

"We've had a million things," she says, "even one of those little railroad tracks with the train that's battery-powered."

And yet Tilkin has spent surprisingly little money transforming her yard into a play space for her 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. With so many affordable, durable products now on the market, the challenge for parents isn't tracking down the right toy. It's deciding which to buy.

The molded plastic pieces made by companies such as Little Tikes and the Step2 Co. are easy to assemble and require little or no maintenance. Forget the cumbersome metal swingsets of your childhood, the ones that came with six dozen nuts and bolts for your father to assemble that turned rusty within a year.

Today's plastic climbers snap together easily and begin at about $100. Slides and teeter-totters run as little as $39.99. And for parents who consider brightly colored outdoor toys an eyesore, these products are available in shades such as tan and dark green too.

As a result, sales of outdoor toys are growing, says Dotti Foltz, director of marketing communications for Step2. "Parents, if they have the luxury of having a backyard, really like the idea of making it a kid-friendly area," she says.

Playing in style

Even the highest-end retailers have begun offering more affordable choices.

The luxury Web site www.PoshTots.com sells wooden playhouses in the $30,000-$50,000 price range (think cedar shingles, interior lighting and optional cable TV hookup). But they've recently added the much less expensive "Topsy Turvy" playhouse ($2,649) to their roster.

"For families with a home full of toys and gadgets, this is the next step, and gives 'go outside and play' a whole new meaning," says PoshTots spokeswoman Christy Allen.

You oughta try used

While new products are increasingly affordable, some parents save even more by buying items secondhand.

Denise Harris of Centerport, N.Y., bought a Little Tikes log cabin for her son at a neighbor's yard sale for about $40. It looked brand-new. After four years of use, she recently sold it for the same price she'd paid.

"They're unbelievably durable," Harris says. "You can sell it at any garage sale. You put Little Tikes on your garage-sale list, and everyone comes."

Reselling can be a great way to keeps kid entertained. Tilkin offers her children new outdoor toys each summer by selling older pieces on eBay and purchasing new ones with the profits. "It's good," she says, "because if they don't use it that much, I don't feel like I paid a lot for it."

Imagination? Imagine!

Popular as these products have become, some parents are resisting the urge to turn their yard into a sea of toys.

Lisa Terrell, a mother of two from Minnetonka, Minn., recently bought a tire swing for her daughters. But she has no plans to invest in a plastic playhouse. She believes kids play more creatively without the ready-made entertainment of backyard toys.

"Sometimes you have to let them be frustrated for a little bit, and you have to be OK with that," she says. "We have a tree stump, and that's our kitchen. And I didn't create that; that was their idea."