Do your kids love playing in the yard? If so, the front yard fence you choose should keep your kids safe and secure. Here’s how to choose the best one.
It’s not exactly a secret that most kids aren’t spending enough time outside. One recent study revealed that kids today spend about half as much time outside as their parents did.
If you’re a parent, you should make it a point to encourage your kids to play outside more often than they do now. It’ll get your kids the exercise they need and put them in a position to use their imaginations more as opposed to constantly staring at screens inside.
Before you send your kids out to play, though, you should make sure you have a front yard fence set up that you can rely on to keep your kids safe. You’ll feel better about allowing your kids to play outside unsupervised when you have a reliable front yard fence installed.
Want to get some front yard fence ideas that will help you find the right fencing for your kids? Check out some cheap front yard fence ideas here that’ll make it easy for you to track down the appropriate fence for your property.
Look for a Front Yard Fence Made Out of the Safest Possible Materials for Kids
When you go to buy a fence for your front yard, you’re going to find that there are lots of different types of fences out there today. You’re going to be able to choose from:
- Vinyl fences
- Wood fences
- Wrought iron fences
- Chain-link fences
- And more!
Your ultimate goal should be to find a front yard fence that’s made out of materials that are going to be safe for your kids. You don’t want their safety to be at risk if they brush up against your fence at any point.
Something like a wood fence might work well at first. But over time, the wood from this kind of fence may splinter and potentially put your kids at risk.
You’re better off going with something like a vinyl fence that will always be smooth to the touch. It’ll prevent your kids from putting themselves into danger merely by coming into contact with your fence.
Make Sure a Front Yard Fence Will Provide Your Kids With Plenty of Privacy
When your kids are playing out in your front yard, you’re going to want to be able to keep an eye on them. But you don’t want everyone else in your neighborhood to be able to sit and watch your kids and what they’re doing.
With this in mind, you might want to opt to go with a front yard privacy fence rather than a fence that people can see right through when they’re looking at your home. You’ll feel so much better about letting your kids go out to play when you know that they’re going to be able to do it in privacy.
Putting up a front yard fence like this might limit your home’s curb appeal. But it’ll be well worth it when you consider how much safer your kids will be when everyone who walks or drives by can’t sit and stare at them.
Find a Front Yard Fence With a Gate That Your Kids Won’t Be Able to Unlatch
One of the things that parents worry about when it comes to their kids playing in the front yard is them wandering out into the street or onto someone else’s property. The last thing you want is for your kids to leave your front yard without your permission.
But if you install a front yard fence that has a gate on it that’s easy to unlatch, that’s exactly what might happen. The first time your kids get curious about something that’s happening outside of your front yard, they’re going to be tempted to go right over to your gate to open it.
You should instead try to find a front yard fence that has a gate on it that won’t be easy for kids to unlatch. A lot of gates these days have special mechanisms on them that make it almost impossible for kids to open them.
You won’t have to be too concerned with your kids breaking out of your front yard when you have one of these gates installed as part of your fence. At the same time, you also won’t have to be concerned about fighting with the gate yourself since these kinds of gates are simple enough for adults to open.
Search for a Front Yard Fence That Is Difficult for Your Kids to Climb
Once your kids realize that they’re not going to be able to get through your front yard fence by opening up the gate for it, another thought might pop into their heads. They might consider the idea of trying to climb over your fence to get to the other side.
If you have something like a chain-link fence set up around your front yard, it’s going to be so easy for your kids to climb it. These kinds of fences don’t pose much of a challenge to kids who want to climb over them.
Vinyl fences, on the other hand, are more difficult to climb, especially for those kids who don’t have a lot of experience as far as climbing fences is concerned. Kids might still try to climb over them, but they aren’t going to be able to get very far and they’ll eventually give up and stay put in your front yard.
The fence contractors that you bring on board to put your front yard fence into place can talk to you about which fences would be best for containing your kids.
Stay Away From a Front Yard Fence That Your Kids Might Try to Squeeze Through
This should almost go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway since some parents underestimate how creative kids can get when trying to get to the other side of a fence. Believe it or not, some will try to squeeze through a fence in certain cases.
They’re not going to be able to get through a solid wood or vinyl fence under any circumstances. But depending on how big your kids are, their bodies might be able to work their way through a wrought iron fence or another type of fence with big spaces in it.
This is another thing you should think about when searching for a front yard fence. You don’t want any fence that your kids can fit through when they’re still very little.
Avoid a Front Yard Fence That Your Kids Might Be Able to Knock Over
It’s safe to say that your kids are likely going to engage in at least a little bit of roughhousing when they’re playing outside. Whether they’re playing football, tag, or some other game, they might end up running right into your front yard fence at some point.
When this happens, you don’t want your fencing to go toppling over. You want your fence to be strong enough to stand up to whatever your kids might throw at it. It should be able to stand strong for many years to come, even as your kids begin to get older.
It should also be able to stand strong if anyone or anything ever tries to get into your yard for any reason. If, for instance, an animal attempts to run through your fence to get access to your front yard, your fence should stop it in its tracks without a problem.
Buy a Front Yard Fence That Will Do More Than Just Protect Your Kids
You’re going to be buying a front yard fence in large part because you want to provide your kids with the protection they’ll need when playing outside. But that isn’t the only thing that your fence should do for you and your home.
Your fence should give your home’s curb appeal a boost whenever possible. It should also make your home as a whole more secure. And it should even work to increase your home’s value by providing you with a great selling feature whenever you go to sell your home one day.
Keep all of these things in the back of your mind when you’re searching for a new front yard fence. You’re going to be making a big investment in your new fence, so it should check all the right boxes and offer you a long list of benefits right from the start.
Which Front Yard Fence Is Right for Your Home?
As you’ve no doubt seen here, there are so many things to consider when you’re in the market for a front yard fence for your home. You should look around at your options and select the fence that’s going to work best for you and your kids.
Make sure you’re making the right decision before buying a fence for your front yard. You’ll thank yourself later once you start using it daily to keep your kids safe.
Find out more about purchasing a fence for your home by browsing through the other articles on our blog.
