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Get your kids involved in the trip to pick out the materials, painting and the step before the fun begins – filling it with sand! Here are five simple sandpit ideas to get you started.
Square and simple
It doesn’t get any easier than treated pine sleepers laid out in a square and stacked on top of each other. Look for sleepers that are treated in a manner that makes them safe for kids, often with an attractive reddish-brown finish, so they don’t need any more work to look great. Drive nails into the sleepers to join them, making sure the heads of nails are below the timber.
Colour and shape
Make the sandpit even more fun by painting it in loads of bright colours. As a bonus, it’ll also brighten up your garden at the same time! While you’re at it why not think outside the square and play around with different shapes. If you paint each side in a different colour, you can turn your sandpit into a kaleidoscope of fun.
Take a seat
Playtime is tiring work so give your kids somewhere to take a break. A pair of slatted timber seats is perfect for a quick drink before getting back into the action. The clever bit is that by adding hinges to the different sections of the seat, they fold over and become a sandpit cover when it’s time to come in and wash up for dinner. That’ll keep out the neighbourhood cats so the sand stays clean ready for next time.
Take it up a level
Bring the sandpit up to your kids level with a simple sand table. As well as your kids not getting down and dirty, it’s also great for small spaces, simply lift the sandpit out of the way when they’re done. Start with square timber legs and join them together using wide boards screwed into the legs at top and bottom. Create the base of the sandpit by turning it all upside down and screwing boards into the ones joining the legs at the top.
Sandpit in a deck
Another way to save space with your sandpit is to build it into a deck. Cut the decking boards over the sandpit and join a few together with timber to make a couple of lids. Hinge them on one side so when playtime’s over, and it’s time for the grown ups to entertain, all you have to do is fold the lids back over and you’ve got a full deck.
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