Yesterday we relocated the sandbox and filled it with fresh sand. It was on my to do list for an embarrassingly long time. I'm so grateful for the strong back of my son who carried and dumped the 50lb. bags. I figured it was now or never, as the baby in the house might not be interested for much longer. I'm so pleased she still loves it! We felt like we were on a tropical island all afternoon. I know those walnut trees look nothing like palm trees, but imagination is a beautiful thing...
We love sand so much! It creates such a rich learning environment for young children and provides open-ended, unstructured and unlimited possibilities for learning through play. If you have any space at all in your yard, a sandbox is worth making. It takes very little skill to make a very functional one. My husband made this one years ago with 6 untreated 2x8's, a drill and some sandpaper. It's seen a lot of weather and still going strong! The two top pieces add bracing and structure while making a nice spot for grown-up seating or a counter for working.
We've always loved turning clementine crates into little stove tops for sand cakes. Yesterday my daughter flipped over the crate and focused on the little holes at the bottom. She poured,poked and arranged flowers and sticks for an incredibly long time.
Just another reminder of how much satisfaction is found in simplicity.
I am reliving childhood memories.... LOVE your sandbox!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful spot for a sandbox! And what kind of sand did you use, does it have a name? Our sand is so much greyer in colour and looks coarser too!?
ReplyDeleteWe have one problem with our sandbox, roots from the nearby cedar trees grow into the box to get moisture! Every year we have to chop and sift out the roots but it's the most loved thing in our yard!
I used to want to make one, even when I was living in the big city... And now I live in sand-land!!! It's all sand here, all times. We have no black soil, just sand (which makes it harder on gardening many times, but not all of the time, there are still some plants that love sand...).
ReplyDeleteI now have this brick-made circle in the backyard that was meant for bon-fires. We just used it last sunday for a fire for Zoe's birthday. But it's filled of... sand! So, it is also a sand box, despite the fact that we have sand all over.
I will show you pictures later. But you can see a glimpse of that circle here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/5896975959/
Oh, and here!:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/juliealvarez/6013149245/
two of my younger children have a big old wooden playhouse and underneath is a sandbox that pulls out...they absolutely love it and I have to say (although they would kill me if they knew) my elder two also have a lot of fun in there still! :)
ReplyDeleteJoey- It's called play sand and we got it at our local AGWAY farm and feed store.
ReplyDeleteJulie- love your pictures of the your sand/fire pit. Sand plays such a different role in your life in your new home!
Your sand is so pretty and fine grained! We live by a playground with a giant sand circle and all the kids nearby spend so much time playing in it.
ReplyDeleteWe are on vacation at the beach right now, and the children are definitely having endless hours of imaginative play in the sand (and water). I love it. My husband and I were commenting just last week that we needed to make a sand/mud box for my kids. They so love to play in the dirt and sand. That's what hoses are for my mom would say. She'd let us play and then hose us off before we came inside. I loved playing outdoors when I was young.
ReplyDeletei love sand boxes, and so do the kids. but we have such a problem with neighborhood cats using it as a litter box. have you had this problem? ugh.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful spot for a sandbox! A great idea to spend the weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe live near the beach so have a GIANT sandbox (and no pesky cats) at our disposal... but seeing the new location of your box... I suddenly have sandbox envy!?!
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