Sand Box or Dirt Pile?

Due to biting bugs and the possibility of animals using the bathroom in just a pile of sand, you should get some type of covered container to use as a sandbox. You can just buy one of those hard plastic pools at Wal-mart for about $15 and cover it with a tarp. You should also buy play sand instead of just any old sand. Play sand has been specially treated to remove some type of bad bacteria that is very harmful to children. You can buy play sand at Wal-mart pretty cheaply.

I am thinking that a dirt pile would be much dirtier, especially if it rains. Sand just wipes off for the most part.

Hi E.,
My experience with kids has always been with a sandbox, however my nephew lives in East Texas and they usually have a load of dirt delivered and he plays in it for hours every day. I am not sure how you would get the dirt pile in your yard if you live in the city without too much trouble, but he thoroughly enjoys his dirt pile. When it is almost time to have another one, they fill holes all along their yard with the extra dirt.

K.

My husband built a sandbox earlier this year and we have not experienced any problems with bugs. He included a roof so she would be shaded from the sun and to prevent too much rain from coming in. My daughter absolutely loves it, it is by far her favorite place to play. You can buy sand at Home Depot or Lowe's - it is extremely affordable.

I buy sand for my sandbox at Toys R Us, it's play sand so it's especially for sand boxes.

Hi.
I was recently talking to about buying a sanbox for my son, he's 16 months. I got some unexpected advice: You might want to buy one with a cover if your neighborhood has any stray cats! They like to use it as a litter box. Health related issues there, if you know what i mean. Good luck!

You may prefer a sand box because when it rains the dirt pile will create a lot of mud in your yard and get clumpy. You can keep the pests out of the sandbox by getting one that comes with a tight-fitting cover. My dh made a large square sandbox for our backyard but no cover. The problem is weeds, rain and ants. The unfortunate thing is that the sandboxes you can buy with a cover are relatively small. Good news is they are probably on sale right now since we are heading into the end of summer. You can purchase large bags of play sand at Home Depot or Lowe's. Take your husband, though because they are really heavy. Make sure you get play sand and not a generic sand because all other sand may contain tiny glass particles which is rougher on the skin or if it gets in their eyes.

Hi, E..
We bought a little sandbox (with a lid) at Target for less than $25. It's *really* small, but they have larger ones, too. And, we bought sand (50 lb. bag, $3 or so) at Lowe's. I'm sure Home Depot, etc., would have it, too.
Good luck!
A.

We haven't had any issues with bugs in our sand boxes, and we've had one type or another for about 4 years now. I would think that if you're really concerned about it, you could get one of the ones that comes with a lid (it's nice to keep the sand dry when it rains as well). Right now we have one that is part of the bottom of our fort, and dh just put weed block underneath it before adding the sand. We've seen a bug or two, but nothing major.

Oh, our boys (ages 2,4, and 6) have loved their sand and water table as well.

As far as where to get sand - we just got ours in large bags at Lowe's/Home Depot.

We got a sandbox for my daughter...she loves it. Its the little tykes I believe (its tan & maroon). It has a lid w/ pulleys to hold it on. The top of the lid has a race track circle for cars..she loves that too. I have it on my covered deck so she's out of the sun...it works well. The sandbox has legs so its off the ground. Ive always heard people getting ants in there if its on the ground. I got it at Target for around $35. It was worth every penny....it gets a lot of use. We forgot one time when it rained to cover it and I just let it dry out a bit and then she liked it b/c she could mold the sand like @ the beach. Hope this helps some. Oh....Home Depot had sand for around $3 for 10pound bag. Im still on my first even though shes dumped alot out.

The only thing I've been told is to cover your sand box so that cats don't use it as a litter box. Also, make sure your sand box has lots of drainage.

My husband works at Carroll Stone and Rock in Weatherford and thats were we got our sand and the price was much better than at the stores. We have one of those frog ones with the lid and it works great. If you are worried about ants they have these little plug things to put in the ground to keep them away.