Best sand/water table

[Coldhandscoldheart]

Morning all, I’ve resisted thus far, but am thinking towards a sand and/or water play table.
Any opinions on what to look for/avoid or if you’ve bought a spectacularly good or bad one.
Cheap is good, but if I need to spend a bit more that’s okay.

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MNHQ

Sorry, should have said, for a 3&4 yo and thanks in advance :)

I got this for my 2 and a half year old. He is enjoying it. It's not the fanciest one and is a little basic but it does the job well. It depends on how much you want to spend. It comes with a cover which is useful and the little spade, fork, boats etc.

Just a tip I don't use sand and water at the same time on different sides or it becomes one big slush as my one tips sand into water and vice versa. One day is sand day and another is water day!

When I was looking Little Tikes do more fancy ones.

Should have posted the link!

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8886116?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=c290d9a9-b5d6-423c-841d-2a559621874c&istItemId=ixilqpaqq&istBid=t&&cmpid=GS001&$ja=tsid:59157%7Cacid:598-923-9094%7Ccid:9654898961%7Cagid:100918491722%7Ctid:pla-296303633664%7Ccrid:426399308097%7Cnw:g%7Crnd:434905787844327773%7Cdvc:m%7Cadp:%7Cmt:%7Cloc:9045815&utmmsource=Google&utmmedium=cpc&utmmcampaign=9654898961&utmterm=8886116&utmmcontent=shopping&utmcustom1=100918491722&utmmcustom2=598-923-9094&gclid=Cj0KCQjwez2BRCyARIsAJfg-kv2CJ2ItXID22BzQsGyr3GAL-IVkn1nlrUr0xJs49qbsX63b4cqasaAo04EALwwwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

We have the little tikes sandy lagoon for DD (almost 2). Like the previous poster I had intended to alternate between water and sand as couldn’t stand the thought of the sludgy mess, but creating a sludgy mess keeps DD entertained for hours. At the end of the day I just drain the water from the water side, use a small spade to shovel the sand back to the sand side and put the cover on. It soon dries out.

All good thoughts! I had planned separate days, but as you say sludgy messes are fun! Perhaps that would make 3 days...

My DS loves dinosaurs, so we got him the Step2 Dino dig table.

How about a builders tuff tray and stand? We use them all the time at work (in a preschool with 2-4 year olds) sometimes water, sand, other messy sensory stuff and they are v easy to clean out. If you go on pinterest theres loads of ideas for them.

Will grow with them and you can adapt to what they need as they get older. We use the tuff trays with trains/happyland and all sorts they are v versatile for both indoor and outdoor play.

Alternatively cheap cat litter trays are great - poundland do small ones but you can get bigger and deeper ones too for under £10 in places like wilko or pet shops.

www.ebay.co.uk/i/401464793982?chn=ps&var=671130454650&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=671130454632_401464793982&targetid=909953938039&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9045817&campaignid=10195653098&mkgroupid=105678543527&rlsatarget=pla-909953938039&abcId=1145987&merchantid=138358988&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq7TYspfv6QIVxbTtCh2P_Q6cEAkYBiABEgIry_D_BwE like this tuff tray - variety of colours available too!

My grandad treated us to a wooden picnic table where the lid comes off and you have sand inside it. It's great if you have a smallish garden cos it's also somewhere for the kids to have a picnic/sit for a bbq etc. But it is definitely a slightly pricier option. We have also had a plastic water table thing but tbh if it's hot enough for water play we get the paddling pool out!