Reddit mentions: The best sand & water tables

I have a 20 month old who loves water. We spend a lot of time playing outside in the garden, and I wanted to make him something that he could really play with this summer when we're outside.

You can buy these things called water tables that I've never been especially crazy about (I'm generally not crazy about "kids toys" and prefer to give my toddler stuff that is safe for him, but not branded for babies). I also wasn't nuts about spending a bunch of money on something he'd outgrow and that couldn't then serve an obvious new purpose.

I thought it would be super easy to make something similar, and lucked out when I found all of the supplies I'd need at one of my local thrift shops.

Books are great -- you or other family members can read them to him when he's small, and then he can read them himself when he gets a little bigger.

You might check out some of the Margaret Wise Brown books -- she had a very odd sensibility. I especially like "Little Fur Family" but they are all pretty good. Goodnight Moon is the most well known.

Edit: We have this edition of the Little Fur Family, with a soft fur cover. http://www.chasing-fireflies.com/little-fur-family-book/productinfo/26222/

Otherwise, kids at 2 aren't really going to carry over a lot of stuff into older childhood. What often happens is that when they get to be 5 or so, a lot of the "baby stuff" gets boxed up and sent to the garage/basement.

I don't know about your budget or about your family's space situation, but probably the single thing we got the most use out of is a sand and water table, like this one; http://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Endless-Adventures-EasyStore/dp/B000E3YWL6

My favorite site to go to for gift lists seems to be down, but we used gift cards from family/friends to get some things for my toddler from it. If you have an idea what your friend's kid has already, maybe some of these will work:

• stacking blocks or cups
  
  
• ring stacker
  
  
• shape sorter
  
  
• ball ramp
  
  
• a water table
  
  
• baby puzzles with pegs to pull the pieces out
  
  Board books are also always welcome. Look for Dr. Seuss or other classic titles that you might've enjoyed as a kid (if you remember what you liked).

How about a water table? My daughter loved the Little Tikes Spiralin' Seas one. I'll try to link to it, but I'm on my phone, so not sure if it'll work. https://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Spiralin-Waterpark-Table/dp/B004INDQWY

If you're looking for a "motorized" ride-on toy that's not so pricey, my kids love this one. It's about $50 at Walmart. https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Disney-Push-Button-Acceleration-Traction/dp/B01FUXZ28Q.

Last summer my son went nuts over this snail pool. We used it both with water and with ball pit balls. Hands down his favorite toy ever.

He's 17 months now and since his first birthday he's loved his slide, his basketball hoop, and his cozy truck.

We're looking to get him a water table for the back patio soon and I've been thinking about a sand box.

We're in SoCal so there will be lots of outdoor activities in the immediate future.

We got ours off a local buy sell trade group - they are usually in good shape because it's a limited time kids will use them - they're totally a toddler toy. Like this - only we got a used one.

We've got this one http://smile.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Sandy-Lagoon-Waterpark/dp/B00HXAOTU2/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1458794994&sr=1-4&keywords=sand+and+water+table) that we started using at around a year old. We actually use it in the kitchen instead of outside because I didn't want it to be a spring time only toy (and its hellfire hot in the summer here). To make this work, I have it sitting on an old comforter-this keeps it from sliding on the tile and also soaks up the spilled water. I wash the comforter when I wash the table. Instead of sand I put various items in the other side and rotate them out. currently she has different types of dried pasta in there. I don't use sand in it because we have 3 cats and I don't want to tempt fate ;)

We have this one - it’s a little fancier than some of the others. Last year when my daughter was 1.5 she didn’t really figure out a lot of the water features but I think this year she will. https://www.amazon.com/Step2-874600-Showers-Playset-Multi-Colored/dp/B01K1K0K6M/ref=zg_bs_166211011_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4QXWPXX0PAFVPRKNQW6B

Some have umbrellas and I wish I had gotten that one, unless you have a lot of shade then you won’t really need it.

The biggest hits outside are probably their water table, their sand/picnic table and their swings. They've got a play house that they also like and the climber playhouse that I got them for their birthday last year. I'd forgo the the latter as it is a monstrosity and they have just as much fun with the smaller house.

Edit: oh and for pools just the cheap hard plastic ones as the inflatable ones are a giant pain in the butt to blow up

If they have an outdoors space then water table for sure. This is the one we got: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K1K0K6M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_669mDbR7P1ZFM

This is the water table that the trash men took.