The Best Water Table for Kids

There’s something about a water table for kids that simply seems to inspire new creativity levels and play in toddlers. If you’ve ever watched kids play in puddles after the rain, you’d understand why bringing the puddle to them would be one of the most joyful things you can do for your kid. 

Kid’s water tables are amazing toys. Friends can gather and splash together while developing fine motor and sensory skills, amongst other excellent benefits. We’ve looked at what we think are the best water tables available on the market today. 

At the bottom of this article, we’ve added a buyer’s guide to help you understand what to look for when making a water table purchase decision. We’ve also added a few tips on how to up the fun beyond just water and how to take care of your water table for kids to ensure your toddler enjoys it for years to come and still be able to pass it onto someone else afterward. 

What is a Kids Water Table? 

For those of you who know, this might seem like a silly question. But for those of you who aren’t sure what a water table is, it’s quite simple to understand. 

Picture a table high enough for a toddler to comfortably stand beside. The table is like a basin on feet. The basin could be split into two sections, which consist of water and sand, or it could just be one large water section. They all come in different shapes and sizes, with different features, such as a fountain, water tower, a lazy river, etc. 

Benefits of a Water Table for Kids?

So what’s all the fuss about? As we’ve stated before, kids’ water tables are genuinely great “tools” to assist your kids’ development in several key areas. 

Sensory Exploration

Water, sand, wet sand, plastic figurines, spinning wheels, spiral towers, lazy river, waterfall sounds. Your kids’ water table will introduce your child to new textures, sounds, sights, and temperatures. It will challenge your toddler to use multiple senses at once to explore as they splash, dig, and laugh together. Kids’ water tables are not just toys to pass the time and have fun; they will continuously learn through seeing, feeling, and hearing new things.

STEM Learning

Water tables expose your toddler to physics concepts like flow and motion. Teach them by guessing what will happen when a pirate figurine is placed atop a water slide and squirted with water from behind. Spinners, water wheels, and slides are great ways to stimulate STEM learning, teach them cause and effect, and start exposing them to concepts like momentum and inertia. 

Concentration and Focus

Your child will become engrossed in their water table with all these new sounds, textures, motions, and concepts. Through this, you encourage them to engage their focus and increase their concentration spans, helping them later in life when your child begins formal studying at their schools. 

Communication and Social Skills

Water tables for kids are great for group play. Gathering around a water table and splashing together inspires kids to talk, role-play, negotiate, and take turns on different parts of the table. They will experiment together and expand their vocabulary with excellent new words like “squirt,” “spout,” “trough,” and “maelstrom.”

Physical and Motor Skills

A water table for kids is an excellent tool to assist in your child’s physical development. When they scoop a floating toy from the water or empty a large bucket of water into a trough at the top of the tower, they will stretch their physical dexterity and improve their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

How to Clean and Care for Your Sand and Water Table

Keeping your water and sand table clean and hygienic is essential to your kids’ health and the enjoyment of this toy. As with any other toy, you are applying some common sense, and exercising good judgment is vital in deciding when, how frequently, and how to clean your kids’ water table. Sand tables, especially, can quickly become a trap for all kinds of unwanted germs and bugs.

We recommend that you disinfect your water table regularly, but here are some other common-sense ways to help take care of your kids’ water table.

Hose it Down

If your water table spends most of its time outside, and you’re lucky enough to have a yard and some room, then we recommend starting by at least hosing it down from time to time. It won’t kill germs, but it will remove mud, access sand, and surface grime.

Wash with Warm Water and Soap

Next up, depending on how you use the table, find some time to wash it with regular dishwashing liquid and hot water. Use a brush that can get into the groves and hard-to-reach spots created by the accessories. It’s how you clean the dishes you eat from.

Disinfect Often

If you want to clean your water table, especially if your kids use it for group play or share it with other children, we recommend disinfecting it regularly. Use 200 ppm chlorine or 400 ppm quaternary ammonium and let the disinfectant sit on the toy and in the tub for a few minutes before rinsing. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s recommendations on using disinfectants on their toys.

Keep it Out of the Sun

Almost all water tables for kids are made from durable plastic. They can weather the elements for years, but an extended amount of harsh direct sunlight will shorten their lifespan. Sun brittles plastic and it will decolor and fracture over time. If you live in an area with extreme summer conditions, we recommend you position your water table in the shade or carry it indoors during summer.

Change the Sand

If you have a sand and water table combination, take special care of the sand area. Sift the sand regularly to get rid of any debris. Use your best judgment about when to change the sand completely. When in doubt, just change the sand! It’s cheap and easy to come by.

Cover It

Many water and sand table combinations come with some sort of cover for the sand area; this is designed to keep dirt, debris, and the neighborhood animals out of the sand. It’s not a bad idea to cover your entire kids’ water table, though. You may find a strong weather-resistant cover online, have one custom-made, or simply make one from a cardboard box.

Tips to Make Water Table Play Even More Fun

So you’ve bought that water table for your kids, and they’ve spun the spinny-thingies and made everything that can slide down the slide, slide down the slide. What can you do to spice it up for them again a bit? Here are a few pro tips.

Foam Party!

Yes, the easiest and cheapest option is to add a squirt of bubble-bath or even dishwashing detergent to the water. Sit back and watch your kids have hours of newfound fun with the bubbles.

Add Color

Another easy, cheap, and fun option is to color the water. You can use a food colorant or even water paint. Make sure it’s non-toxic, and remember, you probably need no more than a drop to turn the water into that hue of purple and let their imaginations do the rest. Note: remember some colorants could stain or be hard to wash out of clothing!

Water Beads

Yup, buy some non-toxic water beads – like these Marvel Beads Water Beads Rainbow Mix – and add them to your water table. They are fun and provide a completely new sensory experience for your child. Even though they’re non-toxic, make sure your child is old enough to understand how to play with them safely.

Frequently Asked Questions