Step2 Naturally Playful Sand and Water Activity Center
by Step2
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Our Price: $199.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $149.25 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Step2 Naturally Playful Sand and Water Activity Center
Customer Review: The most perfect sand and water table there is!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this table for my daughter's third birthday (and for her 1 and a half year old sister to play with too), and it has been a hit with them, and for all of the children in the neighborhood. Whenever they come over, no matter how old they are, this is the first thing they want to play with. I have even found myself playing with it!
My oldest daughter receives speech and special education through early intervention in our home, and this has been a great tool for both of these sessions. It is a great tactile activity, promotes sharing, creativity, and just plain fun!
I had no problem putting this table together myself (although the girls were trying to play with it before it was fully together!). When putting together, make sure that the rubber plugs are in place over the top of the legs before screwing tem in to prevent leakage. Without these plugs, I am sure the table will leak. With the umbrella, I was a bit surprised. I thought that the pole reaches through the hole in the middle to the ground, but it does not. I did not use the umbrella for a while because I thought the hole was too small. The umbrella "sits" in the hole, and it works perfectly. I would imagine that if the umbrella went to the ground, the umbrella would be too short.
I have reccommended this table to many friends. Although costly (I bought it at Toys R Us for 79.99!), it is well worth the money. It is still in perfect shape, and I am sure that it will last many more summers!
Customer Review: GREAT FUN but WEAK LEGS
Summary: 4 Stars
Being VERY picky about my purchases, I researched and debated pros and cons of all the sandboxes available,and am very pleased with this one except for the weak legs, which may pose a safety problem as it could collapse on a child. This is a shame because this table is fantastic! Kids play for hours!
This one gets 5 stars for the following:
*Umbrella is a bonus--but take it down if the wind kicks up
*Lid strong & secure keeps kids&cats out. DO NOT cut black ties
*Size and design of the table enables 4-6 kids to play
*Drain works well--drain daily to avoid mosquitos
*Price is reasonable--look for sales and coupons
*Looks nice on the porch, not cheezey looking like most
I found that a sand table is better than sand box because:
**more kids can play together--4-6 can fit and not kick sand
**no sand in the shoes or pants = less sand waste, less mess
**water section adds to the fun--drain it if you want less mess
**only requires half a small bag of kiddie sand
**keep on porch to easily sweep up and re-use spilled sand
**smaller toys = less cost and more use of fine motor skills
I hope the company will fix the problem with the legs on the new models and do a recall with a solution for those of us that own the table already so that no children get hurt. I closely monitor mine right now, but have to fix the legs at least once a day.
Customer Review: The best "sand" and water table
Summary: 5 Stars
We tried many tables for our 20 month old twin boys, including little tikes, and the water wheel one. This one is great, we keep it on the back porch and our boys love it
* The little umbrella is perfect for keeping the sun out of their faces
* Very easy to assemble, only about 15 minutes
* The little bridges and boats that come with it are adorable
* The colors are neutral, not a "loud" pastel color
* The cover keeps all the unwanted animals and leaves out
* WE too dont use sand, but we use rice, popcorn kernals, coffe grinds (got it from a previous reviewer) shredded newspaper, pebbles and rocks, water on two sides, play dough, pasta and sometimes leave it empty
* We also keep a fabric on the bottom of the "sand" portion to make clean up easy, but we dispose of what ever we were using, usually
* The cover has matchbox car race tracks, our sons LOVE that, they even have that on their stock car beds
* Very durable, withstands winter and harsh weather, oh yeah and my boys!
* Doesnt fade from sunlight
* Drains very easily on the water side
* It can fit about 3-4 toddlers around it
We love this table, our boys like it too. We enjoy that theres something fun to do when its not too hot or cold, and that they dont have to get TOO messy, though they do still get VERY messy sometimes. We love our table, and hope to have it for MANY MANY years to come
Customer Review: Don't belive what you read
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading all the reviews about this toy I had to get one for my kids. I didn't want to order one on-line since shipping is almost half the cost of the sand and water activity center. So I started the search by calling all the local toy stores. Of course, everyone was out of it because it's a very popular item. Finally after about a month of searching I found one at Toys R Us (they had just gotten some in).
To my surprise, the activity center seems very sturdy. There are long screws that goes in to safely attach the legs to the table so I don't see how the legs can ever pop out. The cover secures on very tightly so I can't imagine anything crawling inside unless I forget to close the plug on the water side of this table. Toys come with this table but not enough for more than one kid to play at the same time. But that's easily solved. I just put out more sand toys. The sand stayed dried for about 3 minutes and my kids started pouring water on it. Now the sand is completely wet and it just won't dry up again.
Overall, my 20 month old played with it for about 5 minutes and my 4 year old played with it for about 20 minutes. BUT, they haven't played with it since the first day and they're not interested in it anymore.
I'm disappointed because I went through all that and my kids don't want to play with it anymore. It's not as great as I thought it was going to be.
Customer Review: Ages 2-14 loving it!
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought this for my youngest son's 2nd birthday - as the youngest of four boys, it's difficult to find toys we don't already have! But the sand & water table fit our needs perfectly - we needed NO MORE TOYS inside the house, we needed something durable, and we preferred something all of the boys could play with if they wanted (ages 14, 8, 8.5 and 2).
After reading dozens and dozens of reviews on different sand/water tables, I chose this one and am extremely pleased with it. It is so sturdy that my 34 lb. toddler was able to climb *into* the water section without a single wobble of the table. The lid really does work great to keep out the elements & critters, too! And the umbrella provides a great amount of shade, so I feel good about knowing my kids are getting some kind of protection from the sun when they take off their hats or shirts because it's so hot outside.
I think the biggest surprise to me was seeing how much my 14 year old son enjoyed this toy. I knew my 8 year olds would love it and so would the 2 year old, but seeing all 4 boys willingly play with the same toy at the same time without any fighting or arguing (once we got enough play vehicles for everyone) was truly a sight to behold! With children so far apart in age, it's hard to find *anything* they can all do (or would want to do) together, but they all love playing with this toy!