Chopsy Baby is Reviewing… The Hexagonal Wooden Sandpit from Garden Games

Chopsy Baby Says: “A nice sandpit for outdoor use through the year.”

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed for Chopsy Baby by Jen Smith with Astrid (2) and Sid (5)

The Hexagonal Wooden Sandpit from Garden Games is pretty much a simple outdoor sandpit made from wood and offering a generous sand play area due to its shape.

The sandpit comes in wooden planks ready to be assembled. It simply slots together and then needs screwing. For this, holes are already drilled. It is fairly easy to put together but care needs to be taken to line it up correctly otherwise you end up with gaps along the top ledge. One person can do this by themselves.

There are two accessories included, a protective cover, ideal for keeping rain off and cats out. There is also a geotextile underlay to protect the sand from the ground and the ground from the sand.

It’s certainly an attractive sandpit and offers a practical way of having sand play in the garden.

The price is higher than cheaper plastic sandpits. But, this one will not take off into the stratosphere when a slight breeze blows down the garden. In fact, this one has easily stood recent 70 mile per hour gales and flood warning rains. The only thing you do need to do is to make sure the plastic cover has something supporting it underneath in the middle. If you don’t you will end up with a water feature.

While it is a sturdy item, once assembled, it needs to remain fixed in one spot. If you lift it up, the bottom will start to come appart like a 3D wooden puzzle.

But in December, why would anyone think about purchasing outdoor toys for the garden? Well suprisingly, this sandpit managed a diverse range of uses:

I assembled this toy myself at home before taking it outside. But before I could move it to the garden, the sandpit ended up taking residence in the living room for four weeks.

During this time, it was used as a pirate ship, tent, train tracks, bed and eventually to house two guinea pigs while a replacement cage was on order.

It was a really fantastic play space because it contained LEGO and toys that otherwise would have ended up covering the entire carpet.

Once in the garden it sits nicely on the patio and will be perfect for outdoor sand play during the colder months as well as into the summer.

The only place the sandpit lost points was in the places where it had to be lined up. Though it was easy to put together, it was hard to make the top ledge line up perfectly without leaving some gaps.

The wooden sandpit is currently £59.99
www.gardengames.co.uk/acatalog/Sandpits.html