Did you or your kids have a sandbox?

[RNMOM]

With all these parenting issues on the boards right now, I thought I would ask.

When my boys were little, we got them a sandbox. They were about 2 and 3 yrs old. They spent many, many hours in that box and we moved it with us to three different homes. They finally quit when they were about 12 wanting to play in it. I had a couple friends who would not allow their kids to play in it because they were afraid someone would throw sand in their eyes. My boys were not always the best of friends but that was not an issue for us. I had a rule, any throwing of anything and the box was closed. It just didn't happen.

The sand was washed play sand and the box had a top in it. We sifted the sand to get any leaves or other things they would drag in there. The sand was messy at times but we felt it was worth it for all the creative playtime they had. I mean they would spend 2-3 hours at a time playing with dinosaurs and aliens making roads and caves. It was great. You would hear them making roaring sounds and baby animal sounds. The poor neighbor kids stood on their side of the fence watching them play. Oh well.

 

[ducklite]

We had a big bare patch in the backyard where we could dig in the dirt to our hearts content.

Anne

 

[wowsmom]

We had a small turtle sandbox for our boys for a number of years. They both loved it and they never threw sand in anybody's eyes. When they were done playing with it, we got rid of it...and they then started digging in the grass-less spot where the box had been.

 

[coolbeans]

I bought DS a turtle sandbox the other weekend. Haven't put any sand in it yet, but he's only 14 months old so we have some time. The only thing DH worries about are stray kitties using it as a litterbox. (It has a cover, he just thinks I'll forget to cover it!!)

 

[mommasita]

No, and no..

We have a great park across the street, and several others nearby..

I hate sandboxes. I always wonder what peed in it. I only like sand on a beach, where it belongs

 

[mom2d&b]

Growing up I have a huge sandbox. In our first house, I hagd DH make a sandbox for our daughter. It was 6 x 6 and had a blue tarp as a cover. She loved it. There was never any throwing of sand. We have a new home now and as much as I would like a sandbox again, I don't want to give up the space in the yard. It may be something I will have to think about as a Christmas gift.

Lisa

 

[TENIA66]

we have a sand box , with a cover, and cats.........the cats remove the cover,they love the sand for their potty...........but, you know, everything, uses the dirt for potty.......we scoop and replace

 

[kendall]

Absolutely! Our kids had a huge sandbox - probably 5'x5' (made with 1"x10" boards) with little seats on the corners. Dig, get sandy, on hot summer days a special treat was adding water from the hose. We didn't have a cover and didn't seem to have animal problems. The sandbox was a great place to be creative! I remember them throwing sand once in anger - we stopped that pretty quickly and it didn't happen again (that we knew of).

We also made little boats, put on rubber boots, and would go out in the rain and float our boats in the water as it flowed through our yard to see where the current would take the boats. And we splashed in puddles - we even purposely jumped in the puddle to see who could make the biggest splash!

Let them be kids. Let them play. Let them get dirty (that's what the laundry machine is for, that's what a $2 ugly shirt/pants is for - play clothes). And of course, we cleaned 'em up to take them out to the store or restaurant.

 

[CEDmom]

My brothers and I had a sandbox growing up. It was huge and at least a dozen kids could be in it at once. We LOVED it.

Our DD7 has a sand and water table that she enjoys. It has a cover so nothing icky can get in it. We've never had a problem with anyone throwing sand. Like you I'd just close it up and send the guilty party home.

For a few years I even had a large Rubber Maid container filled with beans that DD used as a indoor winter sandbox. She's outgrown that but it was wonderful while it lasted.

 

[blowinbubbles]

When I was little, my dad built me a nice white sandbox. He then drove to the beach and brought home a bunch of nice, white beach sand for my sandbox. It was awesome! I was probably 3 years old.

My kids used to have a Little Tykes turtle sandbox filled with playsand. When they were older than toddler age, my husband (a builder) just had a big pile of sand delivered to the back yard. My kids were in hog heaven!

 

[Pembo]

My dad built one for ds when he was 2, he loved to dig. Now at almost 9 he still loves it out there. In fact all 3 of mine love it and they are 11, 8 and almost 5. We moved it to the new house too. It's about 8x8. We have to buy more sand every year. We throw a board on top along with a tarp for protection. I didn't want a sandbox either, too messy but I have to admit it's the best thing we ever did for our kids.

I wish we could bring home the nice white sand from the Gulf for it though..... That's kind of hard when you live in Ohio.

And for the poster who said sand belongs on a beach...you've never been to what they call the beach by our house...eww....

 

[SetzKitten]

I can't remember much from my childhood, but I definitely remember playing in the sandbox! It was awesome. My dad built it for us. It had little wooden seats in the corner and a permanently attached hose so we could make sand castles. And yes, it was used as a litter box for our cats. We just scooped out the junk and were set to go. It actually prepared me for my life as a pooper-scooper extraordinare for my current feline population. My dad used to hide coins in the sand and we would dig to our hearts content to find them.

I had a couple friends who would not allow their kids to play in it because they were afraid someone would throw sand in their eyes.

This has got to be the saddest thing I've ever read.

 

[blowinbubbles]

One of my friends' son got pinworms supposedly from playing in the sand. She *never* let him play in the sand again. How sad!

 

[DawnCt1]

I had a couple friends who would not allow their kids to play in it because they were afraid someone would throw sand in their eyes. .

Those moms definately need "The Dangerous Book for Boys". Talk about coddling kids and keeping them from the basics. I had a huge sand pile. It wasn't even confined to a box. I had a lot of construction toys, like dump trucks, cranes, back hoes, etc. My DSs always had a sand box.

 

[Steffi]

DD had a sandbox, but even though we kept it covered, we couldn't keep the fireants out of it!

I never had a sandbox, but I played in all kinds of dirt. I really preferred mud to nice clean sand, though.

 

[amid chaos]

We had a huge sandbox. The kids loved when I let them haul the hose in there and turn it on.

 

[solferino]

I loved having a sandbox when I was little! DD had the turtle one until it fell victim to a snowplow. Bad mama for not thinking the location a bit better!

The school I work at has a great sand pit under a big maple tree. Some of my favorite moments are out there- seeing the 6th graders working with preschool and kindy age. When it's t-shirt weather we run a hose and the kids dig to their hearts content to create rivers, dams and villages that get destroyed when the dam breaks. Ok, that's a little disconcerting at times, but I love seeing the kids work so cooperatively together.

 

[OK!]

My brother and I had sandboxes at a few of our houses in CA and the first house we lived in in MO. Nobody ever threw sand, but when I'd had enough of Jeff "bothering" me, I'd find the nearest daddy longleg (the sandbox in MO was near the woods, so they were everywhere) and throw it at him. He was terrified of spiders, so that usually did the trick.

I was a mean big sister.

 

[snomofinn]

I had a sandbox back in the day.. and back in those days you had to use your imagination in covering them. My dad made mine out of some old wood he found, and every night the neighborhood cats used my sandbox as a BIG litter box! now this is going back 35-37 years ago.. My mom couldnt figure out why I was getting so many infections in my eye! back then, it was a quick eye soak with "epsom salt" (the cure-all for my mom) and I was back playing. My mother finally took me to the doctors office and he asked her if we had a sandbox? and she said yes, and then he asked if we had cats in the neighborhood? she said yes..he told her theres your problem. So, my dad emptied my sandbox got new sand and made a heavy duty plastic cover that he put on every night!....guess what??? No more eye infections! We never saw anything in the sandbox that would resemble kitty poop so Iam not sure if they just took a leak in there or what! I will never forget that till the day I die. So...when my DD who is now 20 wanted a sandbox years ago, I thought about my giant litter box but since the sandboxes have come along way we bought her one that looked like a turtle and had a cover on it. We cleaned it every morning and she was fine...except for all the left over sand in her underwear!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We had a great sandbox and spent hours and hours playing in it. I am sure the cats used it and probably the rabbits too but we never knew. We played with cars, barbies, sticks, etc. We flooded it, we put leavs in it. We "baked cakes" , made oceans and had the best time in it. My kids have a sandbox..it is a little tikes turtle but they love it. Count me in for YES I LOVED MY SANDBOX