When it arrived it looked a bit daunting...
And in fact when we unwrapped it, it was a collection of specially shaped pieces of wood, screws and other bits, and an instruction sheet. My partner is more of a fine electronics specialist, but he wasn't deterred, and set to work.
It was actually really quick! Our youngest stayed with him the whole time 'helping' and didn't have any chance to get bored, and the sandpit size and shape was evident after only about 20 minutes.
Ta-dah! After around 90 minutes all the wood was in place and my partner's knuckles were scratch and blood free, so it really was a success.
The design is brilliant. Two strong bench seats with backs, that are hinged to fold down to create a lid for the sandpit. You don't need to find anywhere to store a lid when you are using the sandpit, and the addition of seats really did please our 6 year old, who has never been happy to sit in sand.
We were also supplied with good strong corner protectors which again took only moments to fit. The screw holes are not pre-drilled, but the wood is nice and soft, so pilot holes weren't necessary.
The last addition is the sandpit liner. A hemmed plastic reinforced sheet that is plenty big enough to fill the sandpit and rise up the sides to contain the sand.
This has honestly been the toy that our 4 year old has played with the most over the last month, he absolutely loves it. The seats mean that even though it's getting colder, he can still play outside with his hoodie on and be warm enough - although the sandpit has moved off the soggy grass!
Sometimes he even manages to get people to join in with him....although I don't think they need a lot of encouragement most of the time...
The Wickey Flip Sand Pit is brilliant, and we love it. We never thought it would have so much use so late in the year, and I can't wait until next Summer when they can play with it properly with water and make a real mess.
It was much quicker to put up than anticipated, and is really strong and sturdy. Moving the whole thing took moments and the lining hasn't needed tacked into place, it stays where it's put. When the bad weather hits we can scoop it up and store it in the garage until Spring - when we will revisit this review.
Wickey make tons of lovely and clever, mainly wooden, outdoor toys, and the prices are good. Our sandpit is currently on offer at £69.66, the Set of 4 plastic sand pit corner protectors
is on offer at £5.70 and the 3W Safe Sand Foil 200x200cm is also on offer at £6.11. Total cost right now is £81.47, with approx 2 hours to erect. I think that compares really well with the plastic models I've previously had, which are much smaller and less wet weather-friendly (this is very important if you're in the UK, even more so in Manchester, the swampland of the North-West).
We were sent our sandpit for review.
I really like the look of this, especially with the seats and the lid being inbuilt. With a lot of the wooden sandpits we've had the lid was just a tarpaulin cover type thing and that never works out too well!
ReplyDeleteI really like that lid - we can cover it with a tarp when it's not sunny, but we'll never forget to close it, so we'll never have cat mess in there!
DeleteThe integral seats are genius!
ReplyDeleteThey are properly cool, and make it so much better for play :)
DeleteThat is awesome! I love the seats and wood always lasts!
ReplyDeleteI love the way the lid converts to seats - such a clever idea!
ReplyDeleteIt's very clever - so simple and space saving too :)
DeleteThat's a really good price. I love the idea of the seats.
ReplyDeleteThis sandpit looks fantastic, I love the bench lid! x
ReplyDeleteoh wow, what a great idea. the lid for our sandpit keeps making a bid for freedom in the wind and they always come back in with wet knees if they've been playing in it in this weather.
ReplyDeleteThat is a brilliant sandpit - I love the benches. We have been looking for one for our two - will definitely bear this one in mind.
ReplyDeleteLove the look of this, the seats are unique!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much these people were paid but the product is complete rubbish - don't buy it unless you are a carpenter. You would expect a self assembly wooden product to have pre drilled screw holes_- wrong! You might as well go and get some timber and build it from scratch! I am not going to mess with ours and have had to pay a carpenter to install drill all the holes in the right place and assemble it! BEWARE!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't paid - I don't take payment for reviews because I want to be able to slate things if they're rubbish, and I will do.
DeleteI'm sorry you didn't like it. We really had no issue with this sandpit. It was a bit daunting, I said so up there, but the wood was so soft that it didn't need pilot holes, as I also said up there, and my partner got on fine with it once he'd got over his nerves and just went for it.
Believe me, he's not any sort of DIY enthusiast, the closest he comes is buying shelves from IKEA :D
I hope you are at least happy with the sandpit now - ours has been outside since and is weathered, but still fully functional, and my youngest still loves it.