With the temperatures finally cooling down, it’s a great chance to let the kids out in the backyard to play.
Father built this sandbox and now plays with his son in it. Photo courtesy of Dover Projects.
If they don’t already have one, a great idea is to build your kids a sandbox to give them that ‘at the beach experience’ during the week. Kids love it. They use their construction toys and buckets to make things like castles with moats, towers, animal shapes, and other sand creations.
While you can find good quality wooden sandboxes at stores, with a little know-how and an ability to follow directions, you can build a much better sandbox at a lower cost.
In other words, a small store-bought sandbox will likely cost you more than a bigger sandbox that you can build yourself. You can make anything from a very basic sandbox to an elaborate one with a warp-around seat.
Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the best and most unique ideas from some parents who have built sandboxes for their own kids (with their websites includes, so you can get the step-by-step details from them).
If you have no idea how to build a sandbox, Roger Cook, a landscape contractor with This Old House, has some good instructions on how to build a very simple, no frills sandbox. The website and the directions have a lot of pros and cons.
A simple sandbox. Photo courtesy of This Old House.
On the website, it shows pictures and explains the process of how to build the sandbox step-by-step. On the original site, you have to click on each picture, but if you press the ‘print’ button another page comes up that shows you how to do everything on one screen. I personally preferred seeing everything on one page.
The building directions are very simple to follow (not really requiring any pre-existing carpentry experience) and the tools are what most people have around the house, except for maybe the circular saw.
As I said, these are very basic instructions, so there is no information about staining or waterproofing the sandbox. The directions are still a good start point - even if you decide on something fancier – because they give you an initial point of reference.
If you do decide on these instructions, remember to stain and waterproof the sandbox even though it’s not mentioned, and also don’t use the suggested tarp for the interior of the sandbox. It’s not breathable and there are better options. While weeds and bugs can’t get up through it (which is the point), the problem is that water from above can’t drain out either.
A better suggestion comes from the sandbox instructions from the Dover Projects, which recommends ‘landscaping fabric,’ which allows air and water to pass through, but not weeds and bugs.
The Dover Project gives instructions on how to build an upgraded, deluxe sandbox, which also has a full wrap-around seat, and is stained and waterproofed.
An deluxe sandbox. Photo courtesy of Dover Projects.
There are a lot of great ideas worth mentioning in the Dover project that can be incorporated into a less deluxe sandbox.
When picking lumber for a sandbox, the Dover project recommends hemlock/fir, while This Old House suggests cedar. Others suggest untreated spruce or pine. All of these are good options.
Most important, everyone agrees that pressure-treated wood should be avoided. Its purpose is it to be resistant to outdoor elements like moisture, fungus, and insect infestation, but this wood also often contains chemicals harmful to children, such as ammonia, chromium, and arsenic. These chemicals can leach from the wood and onto the children.
Everyone also agrees that another important thing to pay attention to is the direction of the rings in the wood during construction.
Rings in wood must always curve inward. Photo courtesy of DIY Network.
The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Network recommends that when building the sides of the sandbox, “To prevent the boards from warping (curving) outward, make sure the natural curve of each board faces into the sandbox.”
The Dover project gives similar advice about the warp-around seats of the sandbox, explaining that, “As wood ages, it cups, and it cups inwards towards what would have been the center of the tree. As our seats age, we want them to cup downwards and not up. If they cup upwards water will sit there, promoting rot.”
Another thing to keep in mind is the kind of sand you buy. All agree - use play sand or playground sand. Do not use construction sand because it can have gravel and large pieces that can hurt your children. They can either get scratched by the gravel, or get sick or chock by swallowing a large stone.
One more important point is that while proper construction is crucial, so is the placement of the sandbox when it’s completed! All parents agree that it needs to be in a spot that gets partial sun and shade throughout the day. Heat exhaustion can be a very serious health risk.
If a tree is used for shade, then the sandbox should not be placed right under the tree to avoid damage to the roots, and because the leaves falling in autumn will be a nightmare to clean out of the sand. Many suggest using a tarp or building a wood cover for the sandbox when it isn’t in use.
The kids can get years of enjoyment out of a sandbox, and another great thing mentioned in the Dover project is that when the kids have outgrown it, the box can be turned into a raised flowerbed. Enjoy!
Reader comments and input are always welcomed!