Sandbox or sand table? Other deck toy recs?

bim38106

I can't decide! I wanted a sandbox to put in the yard, but now I'm wondering if I should get a sand table to put on the deck. We have a walk-out basement, which means the deck is up by the kitchen and you have to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the yard..

We were going to do a play structure, but it's not in our budget this year. We moved DD's playhouse to the patio/yard so now I'm wondering if I want more toys on the deck so DD can be out there playing while I'm making dinner or cleaning inside or something...

We already have a small water table that she loves. Maybe I need to forget the sand for now and do something different? Thoughts?

Or any recs for deck toys?

We do have a ton of wildlife here! So a sandbox would require a good lid.. we have deer, raccoons who get into everything, wild turkeys, etc...

Mrs Manners

Our house is a similar setup. We have a sandbox in the yard, but I needed something to entertain him upstairs on the deck while I grilled or cooked in the kitchen. We already had a water table so I moved it up there. I wanted a sand option too but didn't want to spend much money on it. I decided to get a storage tub (the under bed kind that's low and flat) from walmart - it was like $15 or $18. I bought two bags of sand from Walmart for like $4 each and he's got a sand box that's the perfect size for the deck and has a lid for me to put over it to keep water and debris out.

howleyshell

Hands down sand table.

My kids will play wayyyy longer standing at a sand box than they will sitting in a sand box.

And... they stay cleaner by not sitting in it.