Are water tables worth the money?

[colsy]

Who's got a water table for LO to play outside safely with water without having to actually get in a paddling pool? I've been looking at the ones that come with little boats, squirty fountains, etc. Are they worth the money? If I bought one, it would be about the most expensive thing I've ever bought LO!

Any recommendations much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DaisyBee]

Ours gets played with daily but lately Jordan is into it more than megan. So I'm not sure if it's because of her age or if she will get back into it again?

Honestly though I think Mine would be just as entertained with a tote of water they can have on their little table. The height is what seems the novelty. Something just for hands vs whole body.

 

[Rachel_C]

We don't have one but I do fill a bucket with water for the kids to play with and that seems to amuse them! I also have some of those wide shallow under-bed storage boxes, one has rainbow rice in it at the moment but I think I will put it on the kids' picnic table outside for water tomorrow. I would see if you have something you can improvise with before shelling out. When they play with water, my kids love the cheap Ikea funnels (kitchen ones), a few cups, some bath toys and an old bottle or two.

 

[seoj]

My friend has one and all her kids love it-- but then again, we live in OR, so we get the weather for it maybe 3mos out of the year. LOL. I can see how it would be fun though Maybe you could buy a used one? Actually- I might be looking on Craiglist for one now... I think my LO would love it!

Right now- we just have a couple different small sprinklers that we can lay on the grass and LO can run through or play with it. Easier than dragging a pool around- and honestly, she doesn't really seem to keen on the pool at all. We have a little blow up one- but she prefers to just put her hands in front of the sprinkler more.

 

[Miss_Bump]

We got ours last year half price in the Argos sale. Evie prefers it to her paddling pool. I have recently been putting some washing up liquid in it and its a big hit

 

[binxyboo]

My mum got this one reduced at one of the Asda baby events - think it cost her about £10!
Daniel LOVES it!
Sometimes, we fill it up with sand or flour instead. Thats also a big hit.

https://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p206x206/922892_10151342451036455_1044549976_n.jpg
https://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404027_10150985874911455_374606598_n.jpg

However - if you still have your old baby bath - use that!

 

[smokey]

With my boy it certainly is.
He would play with it all day long rain or shine if given the chance.
Sadly we dont have a garden but he has one at nannys, one at grandmas and one at great grandmas amd they are always played with.
Even at play school thats what he heafs straight for.

 

[Miss_Bump]

We also have a small net and Evie like to fish in her table or catch bugs and put them in there (without water)

And also as others have mentioned, sand is great too!

I can even just fill it with a little water and give her a few pots and cups and she is happy

 

[SillyMoo1983]

My LO has a couple of old washing up bowls with water in instead of a water table. She loves playing with water and using her tea set to make 'tea'. I put them on the wall outside as that's where the shade is. She has a sand/water table toi but at the moment it just has sand in. She spends more time with the washing up bowl water.

 

[aimee-lou]

My mum got this one reduced at one of the Asda baby events - think it cost her about £10!
Daniel LOVES it!
Sometimes, we fill it up with sand or flour instead. Thats also a big hit.


However - if you still have your old baby bath - use that!

THIS!

We had a play table for a while but it got used more as a table than for water etc as it was a faff getting it out etc then making sure it stayed clean. Also, our next door neighbours little girl broke all the little mechanical bits that Earl (who's a year younger) had managed to keep nice

Last summer I just got the baby bath out with some bath toys and plastic tubs and bottles and Earl had a ball. This year I've just bought a cheapy paddling pool and again used the baby bath if I don't want them to get completely wet.

 

[rosie272]

We have one on the balcony and Charlie loves playing with it! He fills it up, empties it again, floats rubber ducks, boats allsorts in it I got him one with a lid that has a little race track on it so he can race cars on it as well. It was only £15 from Argos so I would say they're worth it - there's usually loads on Gumtree for £5ish too if you wanted to get a cheap one and see how it goes

 

[aimee-lou]

We have one on the balcony and Charlie loves playing with it! He fills it up, empties it again, floats rubber ducks, boats allsorts in it I got him one with a lid that has a little race track on it so he can race cars on it as well. It was only £15 from Argos so I would say they're worth it - there's usually loads on Gumtree for £5ish too if you wanted to get a cheap one and see how it goes

I think this is the one we had - shame it got broken as it was a nice one.

 

[cat lover]

i think so if u get a cheap one, i wouldnt spend 50 quid or anything x

 

[eddjanuary10]

We got ihsan one when he was under a year it wasn't a fancy one just a basic table with two sections so u can put sand in one side or whatever. He still plays with it and we put all sorts in it. When he was younger I used to have it in the kitchen with towels underneath and he would play whilst I cooked dinner! These days he loves to fill it up himself using the garden hose. Was def worth the £10 or whatever we spent on it x

 

[Jchihuahua]

We have a fancy water tray which they love but to be honest they'd be as happy with a washing up bowl full of water!

 

[sun]

We have one, but it got all grungy over the winter, so I just started using different sized tubs of water and containers. They like that just as much lol.

 

[Bec27]

We got one reduced in the Argos sale last year. It has 2 compartments, lid and came with some sand and water toys. Josh loves it, it was £25 originally and I got it for £16ish I think. You don't have to buy an all singing all dancing one, it's the water and sand they love with a few toys, spade etc

 

[Twinks]

We got one for my lo and I think at 13 months he just too young to enjoy it so I'm hoping he will more next summer :0) The first day I had it out he seemed really interested and played with it a little but now he doesn't even look at it :0( He's much more interested in his plastic watering can and watering the flowers lol! As I said I'm hoping when he's two and a bit next year he'll play with it more :0) I've got loadsv friends whose kids love them tho!

 

[Buttercup84]

I just use dd's baby bath at the moment which she enjoys but will probably buy her a proper one next summer so she can stand at it. I set myself a budget for summer stuff and she already got a sandpit, slide and house this year.

 

[geordiemoo]

We have one and Evie loves it. OH had bought a little inflatable thing, smaller than a paddling pool and we used that for water first but it was impractical to empty/move about etc. We got one from argos for £15, round with 2 sections and she has sand in one and water in the other. She loves to mix the sand in the water and playing with bottles. It came with a couple of accessories but the pound shop sell all sorts of suitable things, travel bottles, bucket and spade etc. Definitely get one! Only thing I watched out for was the height of it as lots of the reviews of the cheap ones say they are very small.