we have three of these tables in our backyard. one for sand, one for water, and one for soil.
yes, this may seem excessive to some. but it has been THE BEST investment for us.
remember how I mentioned reevaluating our rhythms and routines now that the weather is warmer and KK is more active? and how I wanted more outdoor time and outdoor play, but needed ways to make that organically happen in ways that I would personally enjoy, too?
enter these tables. (as just one of our outdoor options, of course. see the blogpost where I modeled my thinking out loud - what I do when we need a change or when a routine is no longer working - for more on how we’re adding more outdoor time into our day!)
we love our indoor sensory tables, and I wanted some sort of easy-to-clean outdoor version for messy play - tables that lived outside. and I love that these would fit our needs in our smaller backyard beautifully. I love that I could change up the table contents to best fit a variety of ages (and interests!) and I could move these tables around wherever - backyard, patio, brett’s garden, our driveway, indoors, wherever. aI love that these could grow with us well, and that there are countless ideas out there on new ways to use them (thank you, Busy Toddler!)
brett loves that if he opens one of these tables, he can piddle around in the yard (or his garden!) and KK is happy and occupied nearby for a longgg time.
(and I love that these tables are an easy way to kill some time have fun at home. namely when Brett hasn’t gotten off work yet and time is standing still.)
but most of all, I love the outdoor time and the outdoor play. and I loveeee that I can sit nearby to rest and drink a good beverage - if I so choose - and maybe even listen to an audiobook.
BLESS.
our water table:
we use this sand table - it currently lives on our patio...or out in the yard. I love that I can move these tables to where we need them that day.
brett can get a lot of gardening done when he makes this water table available to KK. he adds some water to it and dumps it out when she’s done. there are tons of ideas out there on how to make this more interactive and complex as she gets older, but for now she’s very happy with water and some toys.
toys we’ll add:
cups from college/professional sports games, from restaurants, wherever
Note: we’ll also use these things in our indoor sensory tables, our bath time toys, and/or our play kitchen. It’s all fluid.
Sometimes we also add our ferry boat toy.
KK also likes to fill up her watering can from her gardening set.
our sand table:
we use this sand table - it currently lives in Brett’s garden.
brett filled the table with sand from Home Depot.
toys we add:
see our full list of beach favorites here!
our soil table:
we use this sand table - it currently lives in Brett’s other garden. (he has the sides of the house and the sides of our yards completely transformed into garden space - and it’s always a work in progress - so we like keeping one table on one side, and one table on the other side. so he can have KK nearby wherever he needs to be.)
brett filled it with soil
there are lots of ideas out there for ways we can make this more complex and more interactive when KK’s older, but for right now she just likes digging in the soil, scooping it into cups/pots, and transferring it between cups/pots.
toys we add:
those miniature buckets from the Target Dollar Spot/Dollar Tree
measuring cups
Loved this post?
follow me on Instagram - I’m always showing peeks at our daily life in my Insta stories!
see our full list of outdoor play favorites here
see our summer and pool essentials - like my favorite swimsuits for KK! - here
see our full list of kk’s favorite things - from birth until now! - here
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
