There are so many options in today’s market on what your sandpit can look like. Gone are the days where it is just a hole in the ground or a plain box above ground. Now you can get creative!
What to think about when you are building or renovating your sandpit
There are 7 main things to think about when you are looking to build or renovate your sandpit:
- Location
- Age group
- Size
- Access
- Textures
- Shade
- Shape
Location
Before you can think about the location of a sandpit you really need to determine what you see the sandpit’s main use and how often you see it being used? Do you see it as a quiet space? So, then you will need to have it out of the way of a high traffic area. You may position it to be the main focus of your play space, which would mean you would have it front and centre.
Size
Another factor you will want to think about is the size of your play space and where your sandpit would best fit in the yard. Sometimes it comes down to the size of the area you’re working with and the size you need for the amount of use.
Age group
You would also need to look at the age group the sandpit is intended for.
There are several factors to take into account with age groups, if it’s for babies does the height of the edging need to be low or do you want it to have a barrier so the kids can’t easily crawl into it? In which case it would be taller. Soft edging or hard edging are also taken into account as a result of age. Perhaps you want to divide a larger playground so it is shared between two age groups but split by a dividing barrier of some sort like the below:
Access
As mentioned above your access points are also determined based on age group and location. It’s also logic and aesthetics. For example flat access vs. bordered with height.
The benefit of a higher-rimmed sandpit is that the sand stays in the pit more. With a lower/ flat edging access means the sand can find its way out.
Textures
This is entirely up to you. There are several options you can have when building your sandpit or even a bark pit.
Shade
The biggest question to ask yourself is where is the sun at what time of the day. And how long is the will your sandpit be in the sun? This will determine:
a) if you need shade
b) how much shade you will need
c) what kind of shade would best suit the area.
If you are unsure, let the experts help. Mathiou Services can have shade specialists onsite to look at either shade sails or custom shade built.
Shape
This is really a design and space choice. A sandpit doesn’t have to be your traditional square, or circle, it can be the shape of a kidney or it could look like its between mountains. This is entirely up to you. See some of our sandpit examples or download our playground inspiration catalogue.
