This sand table by Step2 gets a 2-thumbs up rating from Matthew. It's the perfect height and size for him. He's 36 months old and 34.6 inches tall. It can probably accommodate up to 3 little kids playing at the table at the same time. We have yet to test that though. I definitely like the fact that he's not sitting in the sand when playing and getting sand in his diaper like he would if this were a ground-level sandbox.
After about 20 minutes of digging, filling the bucket and cup with sand, pushing a little bulldozer on the sand and hiding and finding toys in the sand, he was done. We secured the lid to the sand table with the attached elastic tie-downs. The top of the lid can double as a racetrack. The lid is supposed to keep water out but we'll see how well it does when it rains.
There's practically no major clean-up necessary except for the little bit of sand that ended up on the wooden deck floor, which Matthew enjoyed sweeping into the gaps in the floor.
Other Sand Table Fillers
Instead of sand, we might also try filling the table with other materials like dried corn, dried beans or feathers for indoor use. However, I imagine it would be a tiresome but very necessary task to pick up corn or dried beans off the floor especially when Elizabeth becomes more mobile.
3 comments:
Great ideas. Aidan lived in his sandbox but the lid wore out. We definitely have to get Alayna one in the spring, she enjoys the sand.
Cornmeal is always fun in there too. Just as messy as sand though.
we have the same one - easily works for 4 kiddos his age :) check out our last post on Sheridan's birthday party to see photographic proof :) we also have another one that we fill with different sensory stuff (oobleck or rice and beens or anything else that will be different in terms of sensory exploration). He doesn't have any sensory aversions, but I like to give him lots of opportunities to explore :)
I'm not a huge fan of messy toys (something I have to get over), but instead of the table I use a tuperware container full of sand, rice, corn, etc. whatever strikes the mood for the day. It's easy clean up since it's a small container and we can carry it in & out easily. :-) If we play inside, I lay down a tablecloth for easy cleanup. Outside we don't use anything. :-)
Post a Comment