Ikea Hack Water Table
Do you remember a few years back I made a mud table for Kiki from a IKEA Trovast storage box (find the tutorial here) Unfortunately she completely outgrew the water and sand table so it was time for a bigger unit but when I had a look online all the water tables for sale are aimed at smaller children. So if you have a tall child like me or have an older child that loves messy garden play you have to make your own water table. And that got me thinking, what can I come up with that is easy to make even for people with not much DIY experience and doesn’t require a lot of materials… a simple wooden frame and an IKEA Sockerbit box!!
The Sockerbit box (I went for the 38x51x30 cm one) can hold the water or sand for your child to play with, the wooden frame lifts it to a comfortable height for taller children and I used little hooks, a shelf and basket from the IKEA Sunnersta line to hold all the utensils. A very easy and quick build and Kiki loves her new water table!
I bought a few extra bits in IKEA like the collapsible bowl, yellow funnel, plastic cups and green scraper. All these items have a hole so I can hang them onto the wooden frame. Have a rummage around your kitchen to see what you can use for your messy play. Think whisks, wooden spoons, pippets, plastic tweezers, watering cans, small bowls bits of pipe etc.
When she has finished playing I simply empty the pink box, put all the bowls, spoons etc in the box, put the lid back on and everything stays clean and dry until the next play session
It’s a budget build too as the storage box is £15 and I used 4 planks of outdoor treated timber (22x38x1800 mm) totalling £15.80. You will also need a saw, drill driver, sander, wood glue and wood screws, i used 60mm ones and two corner brackets.
Wood cut list, Outdoor threated timber planks of 22mmx38mm by 180cm:
2x 120 cm
2x 80 cm
2x 36.5 cm
3x 52 cm
2x 41 cm
and two pieces of bamboo of 51 cm
Ofcourse you can use this table as a sandbox too! Almost all the same utensils will work fine with sand as well, just add a few more shape makers, a bucket and rake and you have a great mini sand pit.
Our favourite water table play is making potions, Kiki loves looking for fallen flowers in the garden from which she takes off the petals and mixes them with water in empty jam jars. I might add little containers of soap, bath fizzers, food colour and baking soda& vinegar to add to the potion fun. What is your favourite messy garden play? Any tips of other things I can add?
I think this new water table will be a great success this summer holiday!
