Backyard ideas to entertain 18 month old - suggestions for outside toys/decorations?

hi all

we have just recently cleaned up our backyard and with the warmer weather coming, have started using it to entertain our 18 month old son. i think i'll be using it a lot more in the near future when bub #2 arrives (and it helps when my mum babysits, as she is old and doesnt have the confidence to take my son outside our house all day).

we have a small-ish backyard - about 12m by 6m. half of it is grass and half of it is paved (also has a 6mx3m shed on it, which takes up some room). we have one tree (not huge) and some garden beds along the sides of the paved area with rocks in them. (We're not gardeners at all!).

we recently bought a shell sandpit/splash pool and have put sandpit toys in there. apart from it, and some balls and trucks, that's about all the entertainment he has out there.

can anyone suggest some good or creative ideas for how to decorate a backyard for a toddler, and what sort of toys to put out there? i dont mind attaching things to the fences, i was just after some fun things that will entertain my son. he tends to play really well on his own out there, doesnt really need me to interact with him, so any toys/ideas where he can get stuck into it himself would be great

thanks!!!

You could get one of those pop-up cubby houses, that way it can be used when he's outside and then put away when not in use so it doesn't take up heaps of room all the time. Is there anything you can attach a swing too? Or a basketball hoop? Little tikes do a great one of those that's adjustable in height.

We just bought ds a great outdoor toy - it's a wiggles waterway, kind of like a train track but with rivers and boats. There are locks and pumps so he can control the water flowing through it. He loves it! (It took my engineer dh about an hour to put together though!) It was about $50 on sale at target.

Also, and easel with a blackboard and some fat chalk can be a great idea. Ikea have good ones with blackboard on one side and whiteboard on the other, and you can also roll paper through it too. We keep ours in the backyard on the pavers so there's no chalk dust inside.

One thing my kids love is bubbles...whether it be using a good old bubble mix and blower thingy, or you can buy from places like Toys r us a bubble machine for around $15 that produces stacks of bubbles that kids love chasing after (it does chew thru the batteries tho!).

We have a slide, a tiny tikes one, which has solid sturdy steps and is great. That provides constant entertainment. Also have a swing and a chalkboard too.

DD and DS also love to "paint" outside. I give them a proper adults paintbrush each and a small bucket of water and they go around painting everything with water including the dog. Keeps them amused for a very long time.

We got a secondhand play gym from ebay when Yasin was about 18 months old and he still plays on it. Sometimes I chuck a sheet over it to make a cubby.
Other than that we just have balls, a sandpit, a bubble blower and a blackboard.

ETA - what a doofus, how could I forget the ride on/push along car and the foot power trike. Both boys love these toys they chase each other round the garden on the for hours.