Who can build the best sandcastle? (Stats Green Sand and Water Table)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Stats Green Sand and Water Table
Date:	21/06/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: sturdy, bright

Disadvantages: slight gap in the lid

For my daughter's recent birthday, I wanted to get her a sand and water table for the garden. I didn't know what I wanted so I spent quite a lot of time having a look around for some nice ones. I quickly settled on the stats sand and water table which was available to buy from Toys R US for the sale price of £24.99 instead of £29.99.
I quickly realised that this wasn't majorly expensive for a sand table, as some of the cheaper ones only had space for sand or water, not both together, or they looked very flimsy and wobbly on display. We had a quick look in store at the table before asking relatives to buy it for our daughter, and we saw it looked chunky, bright and appealing. It also had a lid which was a bonus included in the price.

Unpacking the table on my daughter's birthday, we realised straight away she wanted to play with it, so my partner had the job of putting it together. Thankfully this was a really easy process as it came with just the legs needing to be slotted into the table base, and the lid needing to be connected on to the sides.
Once together the table stands at just the right height for a two year old to play comfortably at. The table is 50cm high which is perfect for a toddler.
The table is available in two colours, green and blue, or pink and purple. We chose the green and blue as it fits in better with garden colours and the toys that we have in the garden already.

Immediately I could see I was going to like this table as the lid acted as a double feature. It folded over to the centre of the table to prevent water going in when the table isn't in use, but also when the lid is open, it acts as side tables as an extension to the table, meaning you can place toys on the side such as watering cans and buckets etc.
When laid flat the lid is still fairly sturdy despite not having any support underneath it, which was another plus point to this feature.
The only negative we have found during use to the lid is that whilst it sits flat against the table when closed, a small amount of water still manages to get through when it rains, so any dry sand you may have left in the table after play will probably still get wet.

The table is split into two compartments, both a decent depth to prevent sand from spilling out over the top and onto the ground when messy play is occurring. One side is for water and the other for sand. We were given one bag of play sand to get us started with the table, and we have used perhaps a quarter of the bag and found that there is plenty in the table to keep my daughter amused.
You can obviously fill the water side as much or little as you want. I personally don't fill it too deep as my daughter likes to throw water around, and she soaks herself very quickly. It also ends up in the sand side soaking all the dry sand and turning it to mush.

On each corner of the table there is a slot for four toys to sit. These are provided with the table and consist of a sieve, two different shapes to make moulds and also a simple watering can effect spout. These toys sit in the corners and blend into the shape of the table very prettily.

After a few weeks of use in the garden the table has proved very popular with my daughter. So far it has withstood the elements in form of wind and rain and doesn't look any worse for wear.
Providing it doesn't have too much sand in the table, it is easy to transport around the garden, but I have found its better sitting on a flat portion of ground rather than on decking as you tend to get stuck between the decking slats and it makes the table uneven for some reason.

Overall this has been a fantastic buy and if you're in the market for a sand and water table this one would be a good choice. It's still very cost effective against some of the others on the market.

Summary: a great sand and water table