Comments on: The portable sandbox

By: Dooley

Dooley — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:18:30 +0000

I had a sandbox exactly like that when growing up.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:33:52 +0000

I guess I don’t understand what a uni-tasker is if, you know, a “sandbox on wheels” isn’t one.

By: Amy in Ann Arbor

Amy in Ann Arbor — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:19:42 +0000

IMHO, the plastic turtles and such are too small. A lid also helps with rain and leaves.

My twins’ sandbox went into a fairly open portion of one of the flower borders around the back yard. After that stage was over, away with the sandbox, grass intact.

By: messyann

messyann — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:54:22 +0000

Shana,
They are friends, so it’s awkward. I did mention the cats shreiking at night. And I did catch one pooping in our yard while they watched and I clapped and shooed it away. Maybe they will get that message, too.
I suspect there are other neighbors who will get fed up before I do and be more firm (sigh). There is another neighbor who had a little dog that he let poop wherever, and one petless neighbor in the wee hours dumped a plastic grocery bag full of crap on the guy’s front stoop. Senior citizen wars. I suspect the cat folks may be next.

By: Shana

Shana — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:57:46 +0000

Messyann, do your neighbors know that their cats create these problems for you? It might be worth a visit. They can’t fix a problem they don’t know exists, and most decent people would feel badly if they knew that their cats were destroying your property.

By: messyann

messyann — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:23:30 +0000

My neighbors’ cats are very cute, sweet, clever and a sincere pain. They didn’t want to clean a litter box, so they let them live outside. Thanks! Did you know that cat crap smells a LOT worse than doggie-doo when left outside to bake in the sun? Especially when you step in it and track it up the driveway. Excellent. When two cats fight (or mate) under your baby’s windowsill at 3 a.m., and wake her (and you) up repeatedly, they get less cute. When they hang on your screen door and shred it, they get even less cute. The dead birds, moles, etc. are an added bonus. In theory, I love these cats. But I love my sleep, a non-stinky, carcass-free yard, no mosquitoes flying in the shredded screens and clean shoes even more. They are the reason why my daughter does not have a sandbox at home. She has one at daycare. That’s fine with me.

By: Saderchick

Saderchick — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:43:24 +0000

An easier solution to the cat/animal problem: lattice. Buy some PVC or wooden lattice, cut to cover your sandbox when not in use. Keeps away the cats, since they can’t really get comfortable. No moisture problem, you can hang it when not in use, so you don’t kill your grass. Also, for the bugs, friends report that mixing a warehouse-club sized container of cinnamon into the box keeps away the ants, at least. And the kids smell great!

By: martha in mobile

martha in mobile — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:48:02 +0000

This is way overdone; a waste of time (unless you enjoy construction as a hobby), money and garage space. Just get a cheap plastic sandbox with lid — keeps cats and (most of the rain out. Corrals sand toys. Handed down throughout neighborhood. Why be so complicated? Especially given how fickle little kids can be…better not to put in too much effort so you won’t be frustrated if they never play in it.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:38:08 +0000

We had a sandbox as kids; my dad put it on the patio under the breezeway that connected our house and garage. No grass died for the cause, and there was a board that my dad put on at the end of the day. I don’t remember ever finding any animal droppings in it. And it was always in the shade.

A good friend of mine had her husband put their sandbox in their covered, screened-in porch; the kids can even play in the rain! Obviously their house is kid-centric.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:40:59 +0000

Give me a break about the cats! What about the 99% of other animal species that live outdoors? This is about sandboxes, not being a responsible cat owner. I don’t even have cats, but what is so wrong with a spayed/neutered cat being outdoors? Again, they are not the only animal who roams the great outdoors.

By: Shana

Shana — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:12:26 +0000

Is anybody else shocked at the prospect of devoting an entire garage parking space to a sandbox? I can’t imagine doing such a thing.

By: alle

alle — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:37:54 +0000

As a kiddo my nephew LOVED rolling his matchbox/hotwheels cars through roadways he dug in the sand; when he came to visit I made him a temporary sandbox out of a big shallow plastic under-bed storage bin. Less of a unitasker than a dedicated sandbox and it came with its own cover

By: Nana

Nana — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:11:03 +0000

We had a sandbox…which the kids used all the years we lived in that house. I covered it at night with a window screen. Light, easy to put on and remove, no moisture trapped. critters won’t walk on screening.

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:43:07 +0000

Yikes, I totally agree with Erika – seems like a lot of effort and potential risk to impound your neighbor’s cat. I think I’d rather put a lid (or tarp) on a sandbox than risk having a cat put down just to teach my neighbors a lesson on why they should keep their cat indoors…

Plus it’s not the cat’s fault their owners deem them outdoor cats… or that you put a huge litterbox in your backyard.

By: Erika

Erika — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:40:59 +0000

Some shelters are better than others: are either no kill or leave a long grace period for owners to pick up their lost pets, but some aren’t. In short, taking an animal you know has a home to the shelter is a really horrible thing to do, not to mention wasteful (that money should be going to truly lost/abandoned pets). You don’t know that your neighbors will get to that animal before it’s put down. There are also some cats that have spraying/incontinence issues. They’re better off outside than dead.

I had one of those turtle sandboxes when I was a kid. I loved it.

By: jfb3

jfb3 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:35:38 +0000

Obviously none of you have ever lifted a bag of sand. This box looks like it would take 4-5 bags to fill (or more). That’s 200-250 pounds. There is no way this thing loaded with sand will roll across grass on those little wheels. There is also no way anyone is going to be bend down to push it with their hands only 10 inches off the ground. It seems more like a student design concept, you know one of those things that looks good but is can’t actually built.

By: momofthree

momofthree — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:10:25 +0000

Oh gees, my dad was a genius and he didn’t even know it way back in the 1960’s!!
He did the same thing to the sandbox that my little sister and I had in the yard.
We kids were responsible for placing the lid on it every night when called in for the evening. While it was the Chicago northwest’burbs of the 60’s, we still had our fair share of wildlife….pheasant, deer, racoons, opposums, feral cats, loose dogs, and gads knows what else lived in the undeveloped land that belonged to the cemetery at the far wnd of our street, and whole neighborhood for that matter….because, ya know, people were just dying to get in there!! (sorry, bad taste joke…an oldie but goodie)

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:09:04 +0000

While cats can be a problem (we have the turtle box) I have lingering memories of earwigs (sp?) and critters in my sandbox as a kid – ick. One problem I’ve had with the turntle is that when it gets wet (dry sand is not much fun, actually) and then covered it can turn green – or maybe that was from the time we left it open and it flooded and then it baked in the sun while covered and not breathing for a while. In any case, we are getting rid of the turtle this summer when we move – it’s good for one or two children, but not more. I’ll definatley run this idea past my handy husband – it might be good for a crowd if the sides are made into little benches…

By: Cole Brodine

Cole Brodine — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:27:07 +0000

I built a sandbox in my backyard for my children. I just made it the dimensions of a piece of plywood. I then bought said plywood and put hinges on it, making a lid.

As far as neighborhood cats go, I think if you trap them you will spend your whole life doing that. It’s probably just easier in the long run to get a lid. I know the neighbors are the ones in the wrong. I just can’t see taking all the effort to run back and forth to animal control with the cats when a few bucks on a piece of canvas or plastic covering will take care of it.

Something that might be useful, check your local sand and gravel business. I got an entire pickup load of sand for my sandbox and it cost me $10.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:18:38 +0000

The neat thing about the wheels also is that you can roll the sand box to a shady area. Our south Texas heat is brutal and being able to roll a play area to a shady spot under a tree is a real bonus!