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We are currently on our second water table, and we love it. It gets so much use and the boys ask to fill it up daily. So I thought I would give some information on our water table for mamas on the hunt.
Years ago, when my first turned one, we were gifted a water table similar to the Step2 Duck Dive table. It was round, simple, and had a crank in the center to turn the water. I was hesitant at first and I don’t think I opened it for a while. I could only imagine the destruction my 1 year old could cause, as well as the idea that he wasn’t quite big enough and I would have to do all the work. Thankfully I eventually gave it a chance and placed it on the front porch. My toddler ended up loving it and we spent a lot of time out on the porch on hot Texas days, and even rainy days, enjoying the water.
Fast forward two years later and I was trying to think of birthday ideas. I love things that motivate outside time. Our water table was still going strong, but I decided maybe a bigger one would be fun for the boys to use together. So I did LOTS of research. I ended up falling in love with the Step2 Rain Showers water table. My husband and I ended up buying it for the boys as a joint birthday gift. We even got it on sale at the time, so definitely look around for the best offers!
The boys LOVED their new water table and still send hours playing with it. They pour water in the top, they fill it themselves, spray it down with the hose, bring in their own toys for water play, and more. We even make cleaning up fun by letting the boys scrub it with soap suds as needed. My 4 (almost 5!) year old knows how to pull the drain plug when needed, so he can help when we need to change the water. They make up stories with their toys and cars, and sometimes help water plants with their pool water.
I personally don’t add anything to the water to keep it clean. I had a cover for the smaller table, but honestly never really used it. We just dump it out every few days and spray it down or scrub it with some soap. If it gets gross, we just dump it and start over. Having to clean water toys just ends up turning into another form of play for them. I always enjoy turning “chores” into something fun for the family.
Different uses for water tables:
- general water play
- soap and suds! (clean toys?)
- Bubble Foam fun
- Water beads
- Rinsing nature treasures
- Mud (my boys dump dirt in for fun)
- Anything your imagination thinks up
One thing that we have not tried yet that intrigues me, is adding a pump to the table. I’ve seen a lot of moms on facebook talk about buying a pump like this and attaching it to the table to keep the water cycling up into the rain section. We might have a fun summer project on the horizon! It would definitely be nice to have the rain feature going constantly. I did have a phase just after getting it that I had to explain why I wasn’t going to keep refilling it for them. I think they would really enjoy the constant waterfall.
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