Sandbox with your own hands — the best ideas, materials, the simplest drawings and diagrams (80 photos)

A sandbox is an indispensable attribute of a playground. Kids love to mess around in the sand, making cakes and playing fun games. By making a sandbox with your own hands, you will occupy their attention for many hours.

Why put the matter on hold? After all, you can make it without much effort in just half a day.

Summary of the article:

First of all, decide on the location of the sandbox. The chosen site should be convenient for games and safe. These are open and level spaces where parents will always be able to control their child. At the same time, for obvious reasons, it should not be visible to strangers from the street.

The territory should not be fenced with sharp bushes or fences, but a strong tree growing nearby or an installed canopy is a good option that protects from the sun. The proximity of an old tree is undesirable: there is a risk of falling branches.

The size of the sandbox is selected based on the number and age of children. Standard dimensions are 1.7x1.7 m; a plot of 1.5x1.5 m will be enough for kids under 3 years old, and older children will be more comfortable on a plot of 2x2 m. The height above the ground is 25-40 cm and is selected based on the height and age of the child: he must step over it.

The classic shape is a rectangle or a square, although nothing prevents you from increasing the number of corners or, conversely, making it round. If you have enough skill, give the kids a very unusual sandbox in the form of a car or a ship.

Also decide whether to make a lid. The open sandbox is easy to manufacture, but the closed one provides protection from debris, weathering of sand and animals. It is convenient to store toys under the lid, and it can turn into a table and a bench. There are several types:

Shield – connected boards of suitable size.
The awning is stretched over the sandbox.
Two shields. For convenience, handles are often attached to them. Due to the presence of hinged hinges, this is a very practical design: the shields are folded to form benches with a backrest.

Materials and tools

Most often, children's sandboxes are made of pine boards, logs or timber. Less popular materials are metal and plastic. Unusual designs can be made of plywood.

Wood is by far the most suitable material: it is safe and environmentally friendly.

The metal sandbox is durable, but unsafe, afraid of rust and difficult to manufacture.

Plastic is light, compact, easy to transport, will not overheat in the sun. At the same time, it is expensive and unstable to ultraviolet.

Also stock up on tools. For an open sandbox, you will need:

Tape measure, pegs and rope for marking the territory;
Shovel;
Sand;
Hacksaw;
Wood screws;
Geotextile or film on the bottom;
Antiseptic impregnation, primer for wood processing;
A grinder (if the boards are sanded by the manufacturer, it will not be useful);
Oil or acrylic paint.

It is better to process the wood before starting work: the boards are carefully sanded and primed. It is necessary to minimize the risk of splinters and scratches from a poorly polished rim.

Sand

What do children do most often in the sandbox? Of course, they sculpt! Therefore, sand must have this property.

Fine white sand will not appeal to both children and adults: it does not mold well, gets dusty and gets into the eyes. Even builders are supposed to wear a uniform, a respirator and glasses when working with it.

Quartz sand will not be the best choice at all, as it significantly scratches the skin.

The so-called ravine red sand will appeal to children, but it is not recommended to choose it. Due to the presence of clay, it gets very dirty, harmful microorganisms are bred in it.

Medium-grained yellowish sand (sometimes called river sand) will be the optimal solution. There is less clay in it, but enough to make the children happy. At the same time, its quantity plays an exceptionally positive role, making the grains of sand not traumatic and preventing the establishment of unwanted inhabitants.

Stages of work

Consider the process of creating a simple square or rectangular sandbox with a lid.

Plot preparation: Clear the area of unnecessary debris; Use a tape measure to fence the perimeter, drive in pegs and connect them with a rope. Check the accuracy of the markup again. It is easy to do this by comparing the diagonals: they must be equal.

Installation of the base: Remove the top layer of soil (approximately 30 cm). Pour and tamp a layer (5 cm) of sand or crushed stone. It provides water flow and protects the sand from the ground. Otherwise, they will get mixed up, and insects and other inhabitants will start in the sandbox.

Strengthen the drainage with geotextile. It lets water through, polyethylene does not, so when using the film, make holes in it.

Installing the sides: Process the workpieces (45 cm long bars and 3 cm thick boards): sand, cover with antiseptic and prime. Install the bars at the corners to a depth of 20 cm. Attach the sides to them. Install the horizontal pads. These can be boards of any width, also pre-processed.

Mounting the cover

Decoration. Look at the photos of sandboxes for children: even this simple playground item can look beautiful and original. Paint it, decorate it with funny drawings and ornaments.

To create more complex structures, you can not do without a diagram or drawing of a sandbox on the site.

Non-standard solutions and tips

A sandbox made of a garden curb is an inexpensive option, especially relevant if you are engaged in the arrangement of the garden in parallel. The plastic constructor is easy to install, but in practice the elements of flower beds have proven themselves from the best side. You can also use special sets of modules for building sandboxes.

Unhygienic, but free approach – tires. It is not recommended for a number of reasons: accumulates moisture, which causes the sand to become unusable, the steel cord inside the tire can cause injury to the child.

You can save materials without using a horizontal pad: place the seats in the corners. A sandbox of this type, made of logs and stumps, will look very impressive.

We hope our article has helped you figure out how to make the sandbox convenient, practical and safe for children. As you have seen, there is nothing difficult even for a beginner in this; as they say, there would be a desire.