Wooden sandpit

[alex__17]

What do people recommend?
We have a plastic sand table which I'm getting rid of, it's too shallow and the kids didn't have room to do much digging or building castles and just emptied the sand out, I want a wooden one that's sat on the ground so they can sit on the ground or on the edges (or in it!) and play.
Finding it hard to find one on argos/Amazon with good reviews!

[FloraDora]

My children are all grown up so I do not want permanent children things in my garden now.
Traditional wooden sand pits are great if they are big enough - but I feel they do need to be big and deep to get more prolonged play than in the trays. Plus you have to keep them well covered and check meticulously . They rarely can be dry sand as the dampness from the ground is a factor.

The only plastic equipment I have is a sand / water tray that I can put away out of sight daily if needed or when I want my garden back and it is well used.

Last summer it was usually water play in this, with big deep garden trays for sand, one wet and one dry.

We have an outdoor kitchen and I put wet and dry sand on offer in there too and a veg type bed specifically for the little ones to dig in - sometimes we put a bag of sand on top of the soil for different texture - they love digging it in after they have played in it for a while.

Luckily my local garden centre has an area of sand you can sit and play in, but I expect there are lots of people on here who have a natural sand pit if they leave near the sea! The best sand play ever.

[loocyloo]

I either have sand in a play table or a tuff spot on the ground.
And like floradora said ... Go to the beach for big digging! The beach is 40 mins away but we go often!

[clareelizabeth1]

I gave up with traditional sand containers and now have a giant tractor tyre. It means it's nice and deep. As all the wooden ones I looked at were rather shallow and like others said might as well of just been a sand tray.

[mumofone]

Talking of savours, what ages can you use them from? Or sand trays?

[mumofone]

Gah typo! Should say "sandpits"!

[Maza]

I always put a child height table or tray next to my sand and water areas so that they don't have to keep their play/creative designs confined to the sand tray. The sand pit/water tray (I've had several versions over the years) sometimes just get filled with the random sand toys and the play/learning goes on elsewhere. They usually cook with it and this takes place either on the little table next to the tray (muffin tin trays/candles usually used here), a 'picnic blanket' on the floor or over at the cooker (with the pans), which is always placed next to the sand and water to encourage this. I honestly don't feel the need for a bigger sand tray which would take up space for charging around (much needed for one particular mindee!). Then again, we do often visit two local parks which both have huge sand areas and so they can get the 'whole body experience' there! For the last few years I have used an under the bed lidded storage box. I can put it on the grass or on a long bench type of thing that we have. We have transferred it to large buckets a couple of times when they wanted a deep digging area.

As for what age - think of a beach - you see all ages enjoying it there. Well, obviously some people don't like sand and we have to respect that. Little babies can sit in the sand and have a fabulous sensory experience - obviously you have to watch them because they will put it in their mouth etc. I think it is probably the most popular with my 2 and 3 year olds who will spend hours cooking with it and transferring it, putting it in our water wall etc. My 6 year old is starting to use it in a different way - making complex structures/sculptures. It is one of my favourite resources.