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The sandbox is not only a place for a child to play. Modeling Easter cakes, building castles develops the baby’s thinking and hand motor skills. Modern parents are accustomed to buying plastic sandboxes in the store. However, these toys are very expensive and not everyone can afford. In private courtyards, children’s sandboxes made of wood are most often installed, which will not be difficult to make on your own.
Choosing the best place for a wooden sandbox
A wooden sandbox made in the yard should not be hidden far behind buildings. It is better to equip a place for children to play in a visible place. It is advisable to abandon the north side of the yard, otherwise the sand will be constantly wet and cold. It is bad if the sandbox is illuminated by the sun all day. The child will not be able to play in extreme heat. But even in the shade it is impossible to completely hide the playing place. Here the sand does not warm up well.
It is optimal to install a wooden sandbox for children in a semi-lit place. The spreading crown of a large tree will be an ideal shelter from the heat. However, some problems may arise here as well. It is impossible to place a children’s sandbox under old and fragile trees because of the threat of falling thick branches. Harmful insects and rotten fruits will constantly fall from fruit plantations into the sand.
We prepare a place for installing a wooden box and equip the bottom of the sandbox
According to the principle of use, children’s wooden sandboxes are seasonal and all-weather. The first structure can be built without a bottom. It is enough to install a small wooden box for the summer period, and in the winter to remove it under a canopy. All-season sandboxes for children are installed on an ongoing basis. They remain to winter, and so that the sand does not turn into mud over time, it is separated by the bottom from the main soil.
According to their design, seasonal and all-season wooden sandboxes are an ordinary box, most often with a lid. They are installed and manufactured in the same way. The only difference can be the device of the bottom.
Let’s look at the photo, how they prepare a place for a wooden box and equip the bottom:
- Initially, drawings of a wooden sandbox are developed in order to know its dimensions. According to the dimensions of the box on the site, markup is performed. This is easier to do with wooden stakes and construction cord. According to the marked markings with a bayonet shovel, the sod layer of soil is removed to a depth of 20 cm. For an all-weather wooden sandbox, gravel filling can be made on the sides of the box, draining water after rain or snow melt. To do this, the sides of the pit are expanded by 30–50 cm.
- The bottom of the excavated recess is leveled with a rake, after which it is lightly rammed. For an all-weather wooden sandbox, you will need to make drainage. The bottom of the pit is covered with a layer of clean sand or mixed with gravel 10 cm thick. If this is a seasonal option, then the bottom of the pit can simply be rammed.
- So, we decided that for any wooden sandbox it is better to make a bottom. To do this, take geotextiles and lay them out along the bottom of the pit. You can use dense agrofibre or cut old polypropylene bags. When in the future the wooden box is installed in its permanent place, the bottom material should extend beyond the borders of the sides.
- After installing the box of the all-weather sandbox, the material is tucked up, after which it is shot with staples of the stapler to the sides, and the excess is cut off. There is no point in fixing the bottom in a seasonal wooden sandbox. The material is simply tucked to the sides and pressed with soil.
Here, according to this principle, they prepare a place where a wooden sandbox for children will be installed.
We solve the issue of manufacturing a cover
Even if parents overcame their laziness to make a sandbox with their own hands for their child, there is less and less desire to make a lid. Does she need it? Judge for yourself. Sand is a favorite place for yard animals in terms of organizing a toilet. During the wind, dry sand will be blown out, and various debris will be put into the box. You don’t want your child to dig in that sand afterwards, do you? So a cover is needed.
A piece of film can be used as a cover, but it will constantly have to be pressed with bricks or pieces of wood at night. In order not to deal with this procedure every day, it is better to take another half a day of time and make a normal lid for the wooden sandbox.
The simplest cover model
First, let’s look at how to make a wooden lid without much effort. Its design is an ordinary shield knocked down from boards 15–20 mm thick. From above, the cover is upholstered with linoleum or film so that rainwater does not penetrate through the cracks into the sand. Handles are attached on both sides for easy removal of the shield.
The disadvantage of this design is that the lid cannot be opened by children themselves. Even from thin boards, the shield will turn out to be massive. The child may try to pull it to the side by the handle, but there is a risk of injury.
Folding lid model
If you make a wooden sandbox with a lid, then it is better to pay attention to the folding model. A photo of a diagram of such a design clearly shows how an ordinary shield turns into a comfortable bench.
If the boards are connected with a rubber band, then such a shield can be rolled up. The lid of the two halves is hinged to opposite wooden sides, and if necessary, the segments are opened to the side.
If you want a do-it-yourself children’s sandbox made of wood to bring real joy to a child, equip it with a folding lid with a bench. For its manufacture, only eight loops are needed, which connect the individual elements. The lid consists of two halves, each of which contains three boards. One of them is thoroughly attached to the board of a wooden sandbox, and the other two are connected with loops. Outside and inside, limiters are installed from the bars, which are the emphasis of the back.
Preparation of material for a wooden sandbox
If, nevertheless, it is decided to build a sandbox with your own hands from wood, you should immediately prepare good edged boards. Obopols, old rotten blanks and other rubbish for the box will not work. A child can get hurt on such a sandbox and pick up a splinter. Boards are taken new, preferably from pine. Poplar is short-lived, and oak, larch and other hardwoods are difficult to process. The grooved board is ideal. The tight connection of the grooves will prevent sand from pouring into the cracks, as well as the penetration of rainwater.
All wooden blanks are polished. The surface is made smooth, without a single burr. To make the wood last longer, it is impregnated with an antiseptic. It is impossible to use mining, and even pure engine oils cannot be used. The design will acquire an unpleasant odor, in addition, the child will constantly stain clothes.
When the box is already done, it must be painted. It is advisable to choose multi-colored oil or acrylic paints. The bright sandbox will be pleasant to the child, and will get an attractive look.
Box manufacturing procedure
So, the materials are all prepared, and it’s time to build a wooden sandbox with a lid with your own hands. You can make a box according to the proposed scheme. The boards are assembled from two or three boards so that their height is within 40 cm. The optimal size of a wooden box is 1,5×1,5 m, but the board is taken 1,8 m long. 15 cm recede from each side of the workpiece, and grooves are cut with a hacksaw . When all the boards are prepared, they are connected groove to groove, as shown in the diagram. For the reliability of the nodes, a bolted connection or self-tapping screws are used.
Legs from a bar with a section of 50×50 mm are nailed to the finished wooden box in the corners and center of the sides. The supports protrude down the box, and are needed to fix the sandbox in the ground.
Side edging
An assembled wooden sandbox in the shape of a square box is not considered a complete structure. It’s time to remember the lid. It is too early to fix it, but further refinement of the wooden box depends on the chosen design. If the choice fell on a folding cover, then the ends of the sides need only be sanded, and nothing else is done with them. After installing the cover on the sides of the box, most of the ends will hide under the bench.
When making a removable cover from a shield, the child does not have the opportunity to sit. To make a simple bench, edging the sides with a board laid flat will help. In addition, this design will hide the uncomfortable thin ends of the box, which the child can hit. Shops are made from four boards, the edges of which are sawn off at an angle of 45о. The scheme for attaching benches is shown in the photo.
Installing the box in its permanent place
After completing the manufacturing of the box, you should get a box with eight legs, as in this photo. The place for its installation has already been prepared, but not quite. You have to do a few more things:
- A knocked down wooden box with legs is placed on a prepared site. Moreover, the bedding material from the bottom of the pit must be removed for a while. Places for grooves are marked on the ground around the legs.
- The box is removed to the side, where it is treated with an antiseptic. Wooden legs are covered with bituminous mastic. So, the wood will last longer in the ground. While the structure is drying, grooves are dug in the marked area.
- The depth of each groove should correspond to the length of the leg, taking into account the fact that sand and gravel are 10 cm thick. For digging grooves, it is better to use a garden drill with a diameter of 80–100 mm.
- Now it’s time to lay out the lining material in its place. The piece is larger than a wooden sandbox, so it will cover all the holes. In these places, neat holes are cut under the legs, after which a box is installed. The edges of the material are tucked to the sides, where it is fixed or pressed down with soil.
- A dug trench 40–50 cm wide remained around the box. Its bottom should be covered with black agrofibre, and a layer of sand and gravel should be poured on top. Thanks to the resulting backfill, water will not accumulate around the sandbox, and the agrofibre will prevent weeds from growing.
On this, the base of the wooden sandbox is installed. It remains to fix the folding cover-bench, and you can start painting the product.
Sand filling a wooden sandbox
So, the paint is dry, it’s time to fill the box with sand and invite the child to the playground. The choice of filler must be taken seriously. For sandboxes, river or quarry sand is used, but not all of it is ideal. Too fine white sand practically does not mold, and when it dries, it is very dusty. In windy weather, the baby will not be able to play, as it will clog his eyes. Gray quartz filler will not work. There is little dust from him, but he also does not mold, besides, he strongly scratches the delicate skin of the child’s hands. There is also orange ravine sand. It has many impurities of clay, which contributes to good modeling, but heavily smears hands and clothes. A suitable filler is considered to be white sand with a yellowish tinge, preferably of medium grain size.
The video shows a version of the children’s sandbox:
A variant of an interesting children’s sandbox made of wood
The square wooden sandbox is a classic option. If you want to surprise your child and make him a real playground, the issue will have to be solved in a creative way. The photo shows a diagram of a sandbox in the form of a car. This is perfect for a boy. In addition to playing in the sand, the kid will travel, repair a car or come up with a lot of other ideas.
You can make such entertainment from moisture-resistant plywood or OSB. Fragments of the car are cut out of the sheets, after which they are connected according to the proposed scheme. The finished structure is painted as realistically as possible so that it resembles a real truck.
There are a lot of ideas for making wooden sandboxes. Wood is very malleable to processing, and allows you to create real miracles.