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I think sand (a bit) is meant to ge good for your lawn isn't is (drainage or summat). I move our pit about regularly so all the lawn gets a regular dusting. Sometimes I do a bit of forking to get it in a bit further.
We dont have a sandpit for those reasons. they have a water tray/table instead.
And a trampolene, slide, playhouse x2, scooters, little cars, swings etc. They are not missing out. plus the farm we belong too has 2 huge fab sandpits and we go there A LOT!!!
I think water is more of a pita than sand. Sand you can remove with shaking, hand rubing, feet shimmying. Water (an excess of) requires clothes being changed.....or nudity....and then you have to fart arse about with sun screen.
We have a lawn, sand still gets fecking everywhere, the last straw was waking up one morning with sand stuck to my cheek I negotiated a swop with dd1, freecycled the sand table and bought a playhouse instead.
Could you buy a ginormous tarp from B&Q, stick it beneath the pit and then post sand strewing fold it in half and effortlessly slide the sand back into the pit? If you are short armed (regardless of tone) you might need a step ladder.
I think you get more mileage out of sand than water. Aftr all they get water in the bath, so water outside if, you know, wetness to be poured onto other stuff. Sand is better for making (and hence allows you longer to sit in deckchair sipping at non-alcoholic coctail reading the paper.
Mine always want to play in it just before tea and then traipse sand all through the house. DH never here so he couldn't care less really about that! Sand in hair is always a pain.
princesmel Do you want to be the woman that encourages OO into sand refusal, which then causes deep seated paediatric sand psychological disorder, which inevitably leads one of her dd's to run away from home (aged 15) to live with Huan the beach umbrella attendant in Corsica?
sand in the garden - not a problem, it's sand in the house, sand stuck on feet, in hair/pants/nose/ears sprinkled liberally in every room/bed/bath/toilet. <sigh>
I last week expectantly spent 150 quid on a huge new sandpit. We were all overjoyed at the time. My knickers and bed are now permanently sandy. I hate it very very very much this week.
I just repeat "sand stays in the sandpit" over and over like a broken record. Dses are 7 and 4 now and they're not bad at keeping most of it in, so is not too messy.
Old sand gets dug into flowerbeds and sprinkled on lawn (really bad drainage here - clay soil) so not wasted.
I have long since learned though to keep it covered when visiting children come over. After once having to sweep piles of sand off all the patio chairs and table, and picked up ds2 (then 18mths) to find that visiting child had poured half the sandpit down the back of ds2's neck, I vowed never again.
I negotiated a swop with dd1, freecycled the sand table and bought a playhouse instead. 
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