All Child’s Play

One of our kids favorite summertime activities when they were little was to play in our good old backyard sandbox.  At the time, we were one of the only families in the neighborhood that had an outdoor sandbox, so it became a gathering place for all the neighbor kids.

We have fond memories of those times, but there were also some not so fond memories of uninvited guests visiting the old wooden sandbox daily.  The neighborhood cats!  It became a ritual every morning to go out and clean up the “presents” that the cats had left behind.  Even after we had cleaned it up, we were always worried that one of the kids might get sick from whatever else the cats had done in there (urinating).

Hubby made all kinds of homemade covers to keep out the cats, but they were either very bulky and hard to store, or difficult to get on and off all the time.  That old homemade wooden sandbox has been gone for years, but the cats still remain in the neighborhood.  We wanted to get a new backyard sandbox for the grandkids and determined not to go through the whole cat issue again.

Now there are all kinds of sandbox covers to help parents eliminate this problem.  For the grandkids we’ve decided upon a childrens sandbox that comes with it’s own cover.

This kidkraft sandbox comes with it’s own mesh cover.  The mesh cover is great because it’s porous enough that rain won’t puddle on top of it.   It’s also really easy to store and take on and off.

Kidkraft carries another childrens sandbox with it’s own mesh cover, but this sandbox is a little smaller than we wanted.

The thing we did like about this other one though is the great storage bins underneath the side seats to store all of those fun sandbox toys (which include half of my kithen utensils and bowls?).

Here’s a little tip I learned years ago for those of you who have cat problems in your uncovered sandboxes.  Sprinkle all of the sand with good old white vinegar.  Not only does it sanitize anything the cats may have left behind on previous visits, but it also helps to keep them away from the sand because they don’t like the smell of it.

Another serious safety concern with backyard sandboxes is too much sun!  Like I said, our kids used to spend hours and hours in their sandbox, and too much sun is always a concern.  You can lather them up every couple of hours with lots of sunblock, but a covered sandbox provides one more big layer of protection from the sun.  Of course you can always place your sandbox in a location under a tree where the kiddos won’t get as much sun, but then you have the problem of leaves and birds to deal with.  These covered sandboxes will assure you that the kids are having a healthy and happy playtime out of the sun.

Every sunburn a child gets is harmful and raises their chances of skin cancer.  For more information on protecting your kids from summer sun dangers, go here.

Have a fun, happy and healthy summer with your kids and their backyard sandbox.