Beanstalks and pop up sand boxes...

 

Today we made a beanstalk. Evie doesn't know it yet but all these things she's making are going to be used later in the week. We used this beanstalk to do some math first and then I let her fill it in however she wanted. I asked her to put certain amounts in, take away a few and see how many were left...etc. She had fun poking them in there and making it look the way she wanted it to. Then since it was so nice outside I set up her sandbox for her to play in. 

When she was about 2 I got her one of those Step2 sandboxes with a lid and an umbrella and a picnic table. It cost something like $300 and then of course the cost of 200lb of sand to fill it up. It was great for awhile but the lid didn't keep out rain and over the course of the following several years despite trying loads of things to keep it clean it just...never was. So we got rid of it. She was sad about it because she LOVES playing in sand but it was always green, slimy, filled with worms, and just...gross. So we came up with this $20 solution. The pool cost me $12. The sand cost me about $10. We use this pool for ALL kinds of things too, not just sand. It's been a holder for bubble solution when we made hula hoop bubbles, a "cereal" bowl when we used pool noodles and soapy water to make a big bowl of fruit loops, a quick wading area and a great place to store water balloons for our fights. It's even been the end of obstacle courses when we have filled it with water and hidden things for her to find. So it's getting use for sure! But on days when it's job is to be our sandbox we just empty the sand out of the cat litter buckets we store it in (they hold quite a bit of sand and when sealed can be set outside without any rain getting into the sand) and when the play is done we pack it all back up. Its easy, cost effective, and the sand stays CLEAN. Plus it takes up zero space in the yard! Win/win. :)