sandboxes/sand and water tables

sechat322

hi all!  thinking ahead to what we might like to get our daughter for her first birthday in may, and was wondering whether any of you had thoughts about sandboxes or sand/water tables.  i know that some people don't love sandboxes because they can get icky (is this true even if it has a cover?) and are generally messy... but is it so bad that you'd rule the whole thing out?

any recommendations?  thanks!

orangecurls

I would get nice water table. You can fill it with water in the summer and other things when it is cool, sand, pebbles, beans, rice, pasta, and other sensory play items. The combo tables can get pretty messy. And I personally don't like sand boxes beca

Caseyk1127

We skipped the sand because I figured LO would eat it. We bought the pirate ship water table and he loves it. In the winter we brought it inside and he  uses his little people in it empty and pretends it has water in it.

LittleApple

We have this and the girls loved it last year!

https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?prod

CougFan

We got our son a water table for his first birthday and he's almost 6...we still get it out for every outdoor party we have...kids love it! Go with just water. Combo is a pain and water is much cleaner...I would rather deal with a wet kid than a dirty or

J234

I want to make one like this:

https://inspirationthief.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-water-table.html  

abell77

I hate sandboxes because of the mess, but the water table is great and my kids love it too.

drpayne

I actually like our sandbox. It's the crab one with a lid from toys r us. I just opened it for the the first time since last year and its still clean.

wifeyvana

We have a water table and DS has played with it for 2 summers now. He LOVES it! Sandboxes and AZ just don't mix, so we would never get one...one of my neighbors found a scorpion nest in her sandbox (EEEK, no thanks!). We have a super basic Step2 water tab

A37licia

My parents got my kids the one below last year, and they really like it. We either use water or sand but not both, for mess. I just put some water in it today since it was a mild day, and I need to get more play sand for this summer.  I like the u