Sandpit advice

[starrychime]

I plan to put a sandpit in the garden for DD. She's too big for the plastic turtle type ones you get so here is my plan - can anyone see any problems with this and why it might not work, or have any hints and tips.

1. Mark out the area - probably about 6ft x 4 ft.
2. Dig out the area to about a foot depth.
3. Line bottom and sides of hole with garden fabric that you get to keep the weeds from coming through.

Question here - how would I keep the fabric in place - thought about using some old concrete spabs on the bottom and something like these in the corners and up the 90 degree angles in the pit.

1. Fill with sand.
2. Use some more of the pegs on the flaps of the garden fabric that come over the top of the pit and are lying flat on the ground IYSWIM.
3. Make some sort of border to go over said flaps - what could I use here?
4. Use a tarp or some sort of board to cover pit when not in use. I#ve got some old fence posts but they're liable to produce skelfs.

Does this sound reasonable or will it be a total disaster with sides crumbling in and foxes trying to get in for a widdle ?

We had a similar pit to how you are describing yours. It was a nightmare - despite being 'watertight' - LOADS of woodlice and spiders/ants used to get in , lay eggs and crawl about and it was manky. My dc loved being able to put their feet in their sandpit but we got rid and now have a sand table (that also doubles up as a picnic table).

Dh made one using a much bigger version of this from Ikea, the lid closes on really well and if in doubt you can buy clips for it.

He screwed 4 wheels to the bottom to enable us to move it to sweep up all the sand that is chucked about by ds2. Ours is on the patio and has never been invaded by any creatures.

Ds2 is now 6, he was too big for the ELC one which we had previously, I did look into the table ones that they have in school but they are shockingly expensive.

I forgot to say, love the word "widdle"

I've never had a sandpit but knew somebody who had one. She said exactly the same as laurz75. It was a nightmare. Creepy crawlies in sand. Eeeek!!!

We have a 'frog' sandpit that's much bigger than the turtle ones and ds (7) still fits in. Nicely fitting lid. Very few creepy crawlies.