The Sandbox Chronicles: Part 3, The Remix
Yes, just when you thought the sandbox-citement was over – it continues. We chatted all about how we built the base of the box here and how we made the lid with a locking system that secures it to the fence here – but it still wasn’t done. That’s the funny thing about DIY in general – you might expect a kitchen reno to run across 35+ posts and to last four months, but you never think that something like a simple sandbox will be a three part process. On the other hand, sometimes projects that we think will be really complicated end up being no sweat and we wonder why we put them off so long – so I guess it all balances out in the end. Anyway, when we last left our heroine, she was enjoying her freshly completed box – cover and all.
But the next day, as we disposed of all of the empty play sand bags and put two extra ones in the car to return them, Sherry noticed this warning on the back of the bags.
To anyone having trouble reading it, it says: This product contains small amounts of crystalline silica, a common mineral found in natural sands and stones. Excessive inhalation of respirable silica dust may cause cancer and lung disease. Avoid breathing dust. Wear approved respirator in dusty area.
Cancer and lung disease? Wear approved respirators? Isn’t this labeled “play sand” and meant for sand boxes with children who sit in that dusty mess and pour it everywhere? With red flag officially raised, we turned to the Internet to see why the heck a bag of something meant for children would have a warning that it can “cause cancer and lung disease.” Soon enough, Sherry came across a string of articles (like this one and this one and this one and this one) indicating that the type of play sand that we bought may not be the ideal option to have our daughter romping around in (not to mention that Clara left her first play session with clothes and hands covered in a white chalky dust which retroactively freaked us out).
Although we all may have played in sand as children and we’re perfectly healthy (or are we? I guess there’s still time to find out, haha) the way sand is manufactured and where it’s found can change. So if you grew up playing in river or beach sand, which may have been more common than manufactured “silica or tremolite” sand, that would explain why the newer sand containing that potentially dangerous stuff is an issue today. Here’s a screen grab from WebMD with a particularly helpful summary that we found:
So we decided to make a sandbox switcheroo – just so we wouldn’t have to think twice about letting Clara play in there for hours on end for years to come. And frankly, our alternative rocks.
I’ll pause to record a point in my “rock pun” column.
I don’t know why I didn’t think about this before – my sister actually had a rock box for her kids a while back (they’re now tweens/teens and are way too cool for it) but they loved it back in the day. Obviously it’s NOT a good solution for kiddos who still put things in their mouth. Clara did that until about a year old, but now routinely plays with rocks and pea gravel wherever she can find it without ever trying to suck it down (true story: at Home Depot there’s an outdoor planting bed with pea gravel and she loves it more than the playground). Clara’s also less likely to leave covered in rocks and track them all over the house than she was with sand. So I started the not-so-fun task of digging out all of the sand (and hauling it in the wheelbarrow to be dumped in the woods far behind our house – the very back of our almost-an-acre property).
I wouldn’t put it on the top of my “most awesome DIY tasks ever” list, but it wasn’t that bad. Although it was kinda sad to see it all empty and barren when I was through. Pardon the tree’s muddled shadow in this pic (it looks like some sand is still lurking but we swept that baby dry).
Then we turned that frown upside down by dumping in what I will now call my inaugural bag of pebbles. Things were looking up!
But upon closer examination, things were also looking kinda dirty.
Now, I realize it seems kinda prissy to be surprised that rocks are dirty (“Gasp! And water’s wet?! The horror!”). And if we didn’t mind Clara getting a bit dirty, well, we wouldn’t be making a outdoor play box now would we? But the pebbles were all covered in a sort of gritty dust that just kinda bothered me. I felt lazy just dumping them in so dirty when I could easily remedy the problem, so I decided to give the rocks a quick bath in my wheelbarrow.
I felt kinda silly doing this at first, but when I drained my first batch and saw how much dirty water was coming out it didn’t feel like my efforts were worthless at all.
But enough rock washing. Let’s get rockin’ and rollin’ onto the finished product.
Remember the lid is secured to the fence with metal hardware to keep things safe (more on that here).
I used around 20 bags to fill the whole box to the point where it was pretty much level with the ground around it – meaning Clara didn’t have a big step on either side, and she’d have a few inches of depth to really dig into. Oh and the bags of rocks were actually cheaper than the bags of sand at Home Depot. They were around $2.50 a pop, so it was just under $50 to fill our 25 square foot box up. Not free but worth the peace of mind for us. If only we had seen the warning on the sand before opening it, we could have actually saved money filling things up with rocks from the start. Oh well, live and learn.
We also took this opportunity to mulch around the sandbox, er, rock box (excuse me) so everything would look a bit cleaner when we presented it to Clara (she was with her grandparents the afternoon we made the change).
So how did Clara react to the change? See for yourself.
Honestly we expected a bigger “Where the sand go?!” reaction, but I guess it’s probably best that rocks instantly erased any memory or care for the old stuff.
All she cared about is that she could get her dig on.
Which actually was reassuring to see, since I worried the chunkier rocks might be harder to dig and scoop, but she’s had no problem – even with the flimsy dollar store shovel we got her. Plus she can scoop rocks with a shovel but also pick them up with her hands (not true with sand) so she seems to have a lot of fun with that. For example, she likes filling the front part of her truck with one rock carefully shoved through the window at a time. It’s the little things, right?
And luckily the rocks have proved to be less messy than the sand. Yeah, we may occasionally need a bath afterward – but the sand involved a rigorous pre-going-back-into-the-house-dust-off that the rocks have yet to require. Upgrade!
But in the end, as long as Clara is having fun – who cares how messy she gets? Oh and see those white things around the sandbox that sort of look like rocks? It sort of looks like there was lot of rock fling-age going on, but they’re just white petals dropped by our dogwood. We may be jinking ourselves, but so far Clara has been happy to keep the rocks in her rock box since we explained that’s their home and it’s where they need to stay for her to play with them.
Rock on, Beansie. Rock on.
So that’s the long circuitous story – told Hunger Games style, as a trilogy – about…
Have you guys ever done something and then decided to tweak or redo it in the final hour? Do some projects that you think will take forever end up being easier than you thought and then later you tackle some project that you assume will be super simple and that’s the one that randomly ends up being a bit more involved? Ah DIY, you’re a fickle creature, but we can’t help loving you.
Psst- Speaking of things you don’t always get right on the first try, we’re over here chatting about picking paint colors.
Pssssst- To read The Sandbox Chronicles from the beginning, here’s Part 1 (about building the base of the box) and Part 2 (about building the lid which secures to the fence for safety reasons).
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I remember making big castles and playing the sand ‘mud’ as a child. It’s a bit sad that children now a days can’t do that in their rock box. They’ll figure out new games I guess!
Oh yes, she has discovered trying to play basketball with rocks by tossing them into her buckets and filling cars and even her shoes up with rocks and dumping them all at once like a gravel truck at a job site. Haha.
xo,
s
Just out of curiosity, what will you do about playdates with other children? I’m not a parent, and I assure you that I’m passing no judgement, but my initial reaction was to freak out at the tiny rocks that any-old-kid-who’s-over could shove down their gullets. (Coming from a paranoia grounded in my younger sister eating just about ANYTHING off the ground when she was little – I’m surprised my mother has any mental faculties left whatsoever.)
I guess I always thought sandboxes were best played in with friends, and it seems that filling a box with pea gravel would make playing together more difficult instead of less. How will you negotiate that kind of stuff? Just curious. :)
We always ask parents if they’re ok with whatever activity we’re planning on a play date- for example, yesterday our 2 year old neighbor came over to see the box and we told her parents there was pea gravel in there before letting her in (they gave the ok and she and Clara had a grand ol’ time – no issues with playing together at all – they just filled up buckets together and dumped them and laughed). Of course we supervise Clara and any kiddo who may come over the entire time they’re in there, but if a parent doesn’t think their child is ready we’re happy to play with the play kitchen or walk to the park. Lots to do! Haha.
xo,
s
Oh, yes. My parents did the same thing when we were growing up. We had a sand box, a trampoline and a pool, so my parents ALWAYS had the “permission talk” with other parents before letting their kids come over. My mom even went so far as having parents sign a note before letting their kids jump on the trampoline. I think she was just paranoid about being sued, or parents getting upset that they weren’t aware that we had a pool and a trampoline at our house. I doubt those notes would have ever held up in court if something happened, but they gave my mom peace of mind while also making other parents aware of what we were doing. Most parents didn’t care. I can only think of two instances where parents didn’t want their kids to play on the trampoline or in the pool.
So smart of her! I would really respect a mom who wanted to make sure I was ok with that stuff, just because she’s being so open and sharing all the deets!
xo,
s
Please can you hide little bits and pieces in like marbles, crystal rocks and fossils etc.. I bet she will LOVE her rockbox regardless though it looks amazing. xx
LOVE that idea! I want to make treasure maps and fake dinosaur bones and hide them along with little toy trucks for her!
xo,
s
Great change-up guys! That’s scary that sand you’d use for a sandbox could be cautioned as possibly harmful! I like the switcheroo a lot better though. That pea gravel is too cute :)
BRILLIANT!!! I wondered if you guys knew about that cancer-causing thing (figured you didn’t since your so eco/health conscious but didn’t want to burst your bubble so I didn’t say anything). It is the reason why our turtle is filled with dirt instead of sand. I’ve always longed to provide our little ones with a sand space and the pea gravel is a great alternative especially since we can always go to the beach to play in sand (we live on CT shoreline so it’s the Long Island Sound). I love that it is not as messy!
Wow, thanks for the warning! I am planning on buying a bag of sand for my son’s 4th birthday (yes, he asked for sand for his birthday)and I’m definitely reading the fine print on the back now! Great job on the sand box, it looks great and will be hours of fun!
That Clara is a tall glass of water! Her legs and arms are as long as mine. What a gorgeous little girl.
Haha- isn’t she lucky? Her short squat mom is jealous! It’s all thanks to her tall dad.
xo,
s
i’m so glad you posted a video of clara playing! after her reaction to her yellow chair, i was hoping to see a reaction when you showed her the sandbox.
loved this.
and i love how she immediately gets to work. so sweet :)
Sherry and John,
You read my mind. I guess bloggers think alike. We have a million peebles in our landscaping that we want to remove and replace with mulch but my 2 year old loves to dig in them. I have planned to build a rock box for him as well and transplant the rocks from the landscaping. We have three cats and although we will keep it covered I know they will get in it at some point. We went to a discovery center and they had a rock box and he loved it. This post and my visit to the discovery center are giving me the confidence to just do it. Lesley
Aw, I’m so glad Lesley! Good luck! I’m sure the kiddos will love it!
xo,
s
I’d never heard of a rock box before, but it looks like so much fun! Just an FYI to anyone reading the comments, you can google “bulk sand” and your town’s name to find places to buy river or beach sand for pretty cheap. We bought half of a cubic yard – plenty for a sandbox – for only $17 in Marietta, GA and its VERY clean (surprisingly)! We just had to borrow a truck to pick it up since it doesn’t come in bags.
SUCH A GREAT TIP! THANKS FOR SHARING THIS!
xo,
s
I was going to ask how much the rocks were, but I see you already covered that. I would have thought they would be more, but $50 isn’t bad!
Yeah, we thought the same thing! They were cheaper than the sand bags at our store for the same size!
xo,
s
As someone who typically shrugs at safety warnings I was a little deflated at the idea that poor Clara wasn’t getting sand in her sandbox but – pea gravel? That stuff totally rocks, less cat attraction when left open, less mess but you still have all the fun play times. Excellent solution and one I have filed away to use sometime myself!
That is so scary about the sand! It makes me wonder about every playground sandbox my future kiddo will play in!
As far as Clara’s reaction, I was just thinking about how flexible she must be! How often does she wake up from a nap to see big changes in her house? Kudos to you for keeping it real for her!
Haha- we joke that she must think whenever she goes to sleep little elves come and tweak things. Haha. She’s very flexible and totally used to it, which is funny. We’ll never forget when she woke up to some cork flooring in the kitchen and she just walked by and said “ooh, new floor” and then went into the other room to play. No biggie. Haha. It was hilarious!
xo,
s
OMG…….that’s funny ~ ooh new floor!!
Very cool rockbox (TM?) for the little one! Sounds like lots of fun for her and a great project for y’all.
I’m curious about why you decided to dump the play sand rather than returning it, using it in a different way or giving/selling it to someone else. If it was dumped in an area that washes out to a stream, it could have a negative effect on plants, fish and other wildlife.
Love the blog!
It’s not in an area that washes out, so we thought by dumping it in the back we might be able to use it for another project someday (ex: sand under a brick pathway, etc). It’s the same sand that’s under our patio, so as long as it’s not something we’d sit and play in we’d be happy to reuse it for another project!
xo,
s
Not to intrude, but I’m a geologist and can refute this. Even if the sand washes into a steam or river, it will not be environmentally detrimental. All sand is crushed quartz, but the way this sand was manufactured, it was crushed finer and rougher than the particles that accumulate in beach or river sand. Those particles exist in nature, they’re just not concentrated and airborne like in this play sand. As long as you don’t put this sand somewhere that you will breathe in the airborne dust, it will be fine (similar to asbestos being fine as long as you don’t disturb the particles).
Thanks for the tip Stephanie!
xo,
s
Glad to hear it, Stephanie! That’s good news.
How much did ya spend to fill the box with rocks versus sand?
We just added that to the post! It was actually cheaper for bags of rocks than sand! We filled our 25 square foot box for under 50 bucks.
xo,
s
I can’t handle her cuteness! Love Clara videos. And how sweet the first thing she said was the rocks stay in the box. And she looks so tall and leggy her in jeans! Have you ever thought of DIYing a swing set when she gets older?
Yes, we would love to make her one in a little while- maybe for her third birthday?
xo,
s
Love it. Kept thinking of the Decemberists’ Rox in the Box song while reading. Think I’ll go listen to it now…
Wow…who would have known about dangerous sand! That’s disappointing but the rocks seem like a great alternative. And the mulching looks awesome.
This has been quite the saga…WTH would they make label it “play sand” if you really shouldn’t be playing in said sand? Glad she loves it just the same, you guys are terrific parents!!
Awesome solution, and I’d totally be down for the rocks as opposed to sand to cut down on the mess! Just a word of caution tho, I live in Minnesota, and pea gravel is a notorious spider attractant here :( I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up so that Clara doesn’t get any bites or freaked out from the 8-leggers. I love the box you guys made!
Thanks for the tip Abby! We keep the cover on when it’s not in use so hopefully that’ll keep the eight leggers out!
xo,
s
Great job!!
This was the perfect spot for a rock box too. We had a sand box on our lawn when I was little and the cats…. well lets just say it didn’t have a cover. So my dad did the rock box thing. Ours had blue stone in it though, lol. He was a landscaper so I have a feeling it was part of a driveway project. He was very proud of it… until the first time he mowed the lawn. We weren’t as good as Clara is at keeping the rocks inside the box apparently.
Ah memories.
Hahaha! My two year old did the same thing!! She was much more interested in dumping rocks on the lawn with her dump truck than she was about playing in the designated area! That first lawn mow was not fun!! Haha!
We also used pea gravel around and under our swing set for safety. The bonus was the kids loved to dig in it. One huge rock box. Another bonus, animals aren’t drawn to it to use as a litter box.
This is an awesome idea – we just “inherited” a used (empty) sandbox from our neighbors’ kids, and our 19-month old would LOVE tiny rocks instead of sand. Luckily we hadn’t gotten any sand for it yet. Scary stuff!
Unrelated, it always cracks me up to see how many of our Lucy’s clothes are the same as Clara’s – we have the pink Crocs, the yellow “cute” shirt (long sleeved version), and the cute hoodie from yesterday’s post as well as a bunch of others. Guess it’s bound to happen – they’re pretty close in age. And we obviously all have great taste! : )
Haha- that’s hilarious! I love that they’re outfit twins.
xo,
s
I love the gravel instead of sand, what a great idea!
I didn’t have the chance to check our sand….maybe I’ll see if i can find the bags, or I’ll check at Home Depot next time we’re down that way.
We had a commercial sand & water table for our daughters on our deck. During the winter, we cleaned it up, brought it inside, and filled it with dried beans. (no water) Similar concept to your rocks, but lighter weight and easier to clean up after. Probably wouldn’t work outside, but it worked just fine inside. Also, you might want to consider augmenting Clara’s equipment with measuring cups – my little ones loved to play with them and learned something at the same time.
SO much fun for an indoor area! And I love the measuring cup idea!
xo,
s
That box totally ROCKS! Also, I have the same problem with my skinny jeans that Clara does — they slide down my tush! I personally find that makes for very challenging water-can-rock-filling, but she looks like she handled it like a champ. Rock on, Clara!
Haha- don’t you like that big cloth diaper hanging out?
xo,
s
She is darling! And who thought it was a good idea to make cancer-causing sand?!
Love your site and all your amazing ideas! We recently just made a small rice box for our 16 month old and she loves it. I love the idea of making a larger outside box for her with gravel! Thanks for all your hard work :)
Love the rice box idea for inside! Such a fun idea!
xo,
s
That is an awesome final hour switcheroo. So happy Clara loved the rocks. And the decreased need for patting and shaking off the sand before entering the house is a great perk! Your backyard redo is coming together nicely! Looking forward to your next project.
Your washing machine will thank you. Also, Clara’s eyes will thank you; I loved my sand box but frequently got sand in my eyes. Most incidents ended with me running inside doing the “ugly cry” face and begging my mom to make it all better.
Thank you for this warning – we just got our 16 month old daughter a sand/water table thing. Guess it will just be a water table until she’s old enough to play with pebbles like Clara!
We have also heard that dried rice or beans work well for sand and water tables since they’re edible if the wee one sticks a little in their mouth!
xo,
s
Dried corn is something we always used in the table at the Kiddie college. Also, there is a play sand that is sold by the bucket that is completely non-toxic. It’s purple and sort of rubbery and a lot of fun to play with!
I love the idea of a rock box. Less mess is awesome. Glad that she loves it.
OMG! I did not know that about play sand!! Thank you so much for sharing that scary info with your readers. I’m so happy you found another great solution, though. Clara certainly seems to love it! I love the idea of hiding little objects in there for her to find.
Good Lord.. the things they put out and market for kids these days! What in the heck? Why would anyone even think this was a great idea? I’d imagine this type of sand was apparently intended for landscaping, I guess, but even then.. SOMEONE’S going to be breathing the dust!
grrrr..
Great job keeping the kiddo safe, and great idea with the rocks!
I can’t help but be a bit concerned about the rockbox covers – I hope they’re somehow attached securely to the fence behind them (haven’t had time to read all three posts).
Oh yes! In post two it talks about the locking mechanism to keep them attached to the fence while she plays!
xo,
s
What a great solution. You know you’re going to start a new trend with “rock boxes!!” I hope the summer heat doesn’t make them too hot!
I think as long as they’re in a shady area they should be great! We had gravel paths in our last house’s backyard for a while and even on hot days, the rocks were cooler than things like asphalt.
xo,
s
Yay rock box! I helped build a Children’s Garden once, and we ‘paved’ all the paths with crushed granite (similar to pea gravel but prettier), and it seemed most children were more interested in picking up the gravel and dropping it than the actual plants!
Totally! I’m telling you, Clara is obsessed with rocks wherever we go. Once when the neighbor girl brought her a snack, Clara gave her a rock in return. They’re her currency!
xo,
s
and now you need to go listen to “Rockbox” by Heath McNease in celebration (if you like a little rap, that is… it’s a fairly clean song)
“R-O-C-K, B-O-X, so old school that I’m also next…”
Haha, I sang “Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got- I’m still, I’m still Clara from the rockbox” – she looked at me like I was crazy.
xo,
s
Haha. Love the lyrics Sherdog!
Next line: “Used to have sand, now I have rocks” :)
Hahaha, nice.
xo,
s
We redid our front walkway a few years ago. It has really large pavers with gravel in between them. In order to move the pavers, we had to dig up all the gravel and dump it in the driveway. We did our fair share of “washing rocks.” I’m pretty sure our neighbors thought we were weirdos, but the rocks were dirty!
Haha, it’s true, right?
xo,
s
The rock box is pretty cool – and easier clean up is always a plus!
Now, to go completely off topic, I was wondering how the grandparents handle the cloth diapers? I noticed her blue fluff sticking out of her pants in the video and you had mentioned that she had been with her grandparents for the afternoon. We use cloth, too, and absolutely love it (we use fitteds, not all in ones) but find that there is definitely a learning curve, especially for those who don’t have to change them all the time.
We did have to show them how to work with them, but since we have all in ones with snaps, there aren’t clothespins or liners to fuss with so it’s pretty simple. We just give them a wet bag and have them snap off dirty ones and toss them in. I hear it’s what they do in daycare too (they don’t clean them, but will put them on and take them off and toss them in the wet bag). Since you have fitteds, maybe pre-stuff them so they’re all ready to go and it’ll hopefully be ok?
xo,
s
Most daycares around me (SE Michigan) require that your child use disposable diapers, which is extremely disappointing.
So happy that Clara loves the rock box! I think it’s funny that you buried it so she wouldn’t have to step up/down but she still squats and bends down to get in. So cute!
Aw that stinks!
xo,
s
I don’t even have kids but I’m a little outraged by that whole sand situation. I admire the way you two always look for toxins in the things you expose Clara to… I hope I’m such a responsible parent someday! I’m wondering what the cost difference was between the sand and pea gravel? I’m thinking about building this at my parents place for my nieces n nephews!
The sand was actually more than the pea gravel! So at $2.50 a bag for the pea gravel we were able to fill the whole 25 square foot box up for under $50! Not free, but not too bad since we thought rocks would be more than sand!
xo,
s
my father in law builds houses in florida (pensacola and destin area) he dug up a ton of beach sand at a house that he was working on and brought it for us to use in our sandbox! it’s illegal of course but the sand was going to get tossed anyway as it was at a work site and taking up space for them! i just don’t see how a rock box is that fun.. lol.. i mean for awhile it would be but you can’t build anything with it. my son is 3 years old and constantly builds stuff in his sandbox.
Wow- you’re so lucky!
xo,
s
In addition to being safer, I think it looks more beautiful as well, with the sunlight bouncing off the natural colors of the rocks. Well done you guys!
Clara’s reaction, or lack there of, made me laugh. My little guy just turned 2 and there are times you expect a big reaction and get nothing, but then you make a teeny tiny change to something and it is either the most amazing thing ever or creates the biggest temper tantrum ever. We just keep quoting Forest Gump, “you never know what you’re going to get”.
I was going to comment how much fun I had as a kid playing with sand in my kindergarten. Our favorite game was building houses and bridges with dark, damp sand and then “icing” them with the dry, white sand. Then I read you switched it for the pebbles. Although one can’t build much with pebbles, I kind of like it how clean the kid is afterwards (no sand sticking everywhere), and as long as Clara is happy all is good :) My daughter’s (5 yrs) favorite toys are still sand, rocks, sticks, water, flowers, grass, leaves… hours and hours of meditative, self-contented play :) Also wanted to add – you don’t have to build any kind of bench, you can always pull up one of your garden chairs if Clara wants your nearness.
Amen to natural things like sticks, water, flowers, leaves and rocks being their favorite! It’s amazing how they seem to prefer “discovering” things outside- even over all their toys strewn out everywhere!
xo,
s
I had no idea the drama that goes into a sand/rockbox! Glad it all worked out in the end. :) You may not be able to build sandcastles with rocks, but I forgot how great rocks are for digging.
Wow. I had no idea! I have been pinning sand boxes to tackle next summer…my little one is only 8 months now. So glad you wrote of this so I don’t use bad play sand in my sandbox!!!!!
THanks :)
So sorry the sand didn’t work out, that is HORRIBLE!!! I’ve personally never thought about a rock box before! What a great idea!! Love seeing you build stuff for your baby :)
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE PEA GRAVEL.
I think I’ll do something like this…and then keep it as a zen garden for myself when they get older! :-)