an eco friendly(er) water play table

For months I've been thinking about and looking forward to water play. Its one of the things I miss in winter, nothing keeps little people occupied like water play.
As the weather warmed but we are still having lots of cool days I decided I wanted to get a water play table.
This decision came about after 1 too many incidents of little girls ending up fully clothed in the bucket of water they were supposed to be filling up watering cans from on a cool day. Something off the ground would be good!
I searched and searched for something that would suit us at a decent price. I was just about to buy a plastic step 2 sand and water table. It looked great but I hesitated because although I knew it would be good quality and last a long time it would still eventually end up as a big piece of plastic in land fill.

I'm glad I hesitated because soon after I came across a blog post where someone made one out of a low table. I mentioned to Benny that I wanted to find a a little table to make one. He pointed me in the direction of the shed, I had completely forgotten about our old coffee table!

All we had to buy was a plastic bin and some paint. I afterwards saw one made from a stainless steel double sink which would cut out the plastic completely and be super long lasting but this should keep us going for a long while anyway and its still a lot less plastic so i'm happy

Benny measured and cut a hole for the plastic bin to sit in using a jigsaw

 its made of good thick wood so it should last a long time

 Once it was fitting just right I gave the whole thing three coats of paint and looked forward to my first day back to work so I could try it out!

 I had originally looked for an under the bed storage container as I was worried this would be too deep but I couldn't find any that seemed strong enough. It turned out fine, the just turned 2 year odls can easily reach the bottom. I think its actually quite good this deep as I can fill it less when Id rather they don't get too wet (ie near home time)

 They played happily for ages this morning although by the time I thought to take pictures the boys were off on other adventures. My minds buzzing with ideas of sensory play activities we can use it for, flour and water, dried beans etc. in winter, paint, slime, mud pies, all sorts of fun is yet to be had!

 while I had the paint brush out I gave our old sandpit  boat a coat too. I've had this boat since I started daycare 6 years ago and its looking worse for wear but a bit of paint always makes it feel fresh and loved again. M was the first to see it. I heard him gasp and say in a surprised tone 'the boat got blue, that's awesome!"