Bark chips may cause splinters in little feet - especially in summer when flip flops and sandals (or nothing) are the preferred footwear. In addition, as the chips get worn and break into smaller pieces, they get in shoes. You will also need to frequently rake to keep them under structures, and beware that the wood is easily tracked inside on paws, in fur and on feet and clothing.

Artificial turf. That’s too small of an area to take that much wear and tear. You need to have the kids have structured exercise walking the dog and get them out of that tiny little prison yard. It will benefit both.

I love the idea of turf and you can actually get one that is made for dogs.We are actually putting it inour big dog run.It is easy to pick up the poop from feels good on our feet and drains very well . It is expensive but you have a samll space and no care required and no splinters.It is called K9 turf

You said a 20x20 in the backyard, so I assume it's not the whole backyard then. How old are the kids? That corner of the yard you're carving out for a play area may not make sense to have covered in artificial turf once they're older, functionally or aesthetically. I'd just do wood chips. If you're freaked out about splinters (I've never seen an issue w/ arborist's wood chips, but ok) look for a local supplier of engineered mulch. It's what they use for commercial/municipal playgrounds.

And yes, a clover lawn will get demolished. Hard to say if grass is an option without knowing light, drainage, location and size of play structure, etc

If the dog uses the area to do its business, I can't imagine wood chips would be easy to clean up after it.

Thanks for the replies, all. A couple of thoughts...

Kids are all under 4.

I've been shying away from artificial turf for the following reasons:
- being synthetic it's not particularly great for the environment and the soil below it
- we have poor drainage in the area that results in very soft soil below
- it's a bit beyond my budget
- being basically a carpet, I believe I'd have to "wash" a turf once my dog goes to the bathroom on it, right?
- I've also read numerous stories about artificial turf heating up in the sun and burning dogs' paws (I suppose it depends on the material, though).

Is there a type of grass out there that is extremely durable and could cope with the conditions I've got? Otherwise engineered mulch/barkchips might be the only practical option. I do hear what you're saying through, Jane Gray -- we currently have bark chips on a lot of our landscaping and it gets everywhere, even without people walking or playing in it.

You are asking way too much of a 20x20 area. And you do NOT want to combine a doggie restroom with a kids play area. Fix the drainage, and pick one function for the area. Figure something else out for the other function.

Kids are too young to walk the dog alone. That means family neighborhood walks with the dog until they are old enough to take over that task as their regular chore.

There are holes on the back of the artificial turf so when it rains it gets washed off. Or you can hose it down. We have encouraged our little dog to pee and poop in one area of the yard. Also since the artificial grass is permeable, you can install french drains underneath. We don't have a problem with it heating up, although I've heard that sun reflecting off windows nearby can burn it. Sounds like the best solution for your situation.

Additionally, the surface under the artificial turf may not be resilient enough for a play structure - think about a child falling onto the turf if there is concrete, asphalt or packed aggregate underneath. Playground surfaces should meet minimum standards for resilience and are quite expensive to do properly.

https://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/122146/324.pdf

See page 5 for surfacing guidelines.

Pea gravel? I live in the desert and care about water use, so grass has never been an option. We have a kid and 3 dogs, and it's never been a problem (we've used crushed granite, because it's local to our region, but I imagine pea gravel is similar and widely available anywhere--I could be wrong!).

Yikes! I rather fall on syn turf with a little pee than pea gravel with a little pee. Everyone worried about dog pee and poop should remember that dogs pee and poop on real grass too. I don't get it.

There is also recycled tires that they make into mulch maybe that would work not nearly as attractive as the turf BTW the system I posted works very well where there are drainage problems