Best sand and water play tables to enjoy with your kids outdoors this summer

Don’t be dejected by the reasonable price tag of the Dolu 3-in-1 activity, sand and water table. Superbly designed, this ticks all the boxes. Easy to assemble? Tick (in fact, it didn’t even require the instructions). Entertaining? Big tick – the added tower in the middle totally captured our tester’s attention. Plus, there’s even two little sailing boats included. Multipurpose? Absolutely, use it for sand, water or simply pop the lid on and you have a great colouring table. You will need to choose sand or water, however, as they can’t be played simultaneously, otherwise you’ll end up with some soggy sand.

Our tester loved watching the pieces twist and turn as the water or sand trickled down. Recommended for two-years plus, our three-year-old was just big enough to pour the water in the top independently – anyone smaller may struggle to use it on their own. The three cups are perfect vessels for little hands to pour sand or water in the top (although, note there’s a hole in the bottom of each cup) and great if there’s a couple of kids playing together.

TP Toys is a brand many parents turn to when kitting out their gardens, and for good reason. TP has been designing and manufacturing children’s play equipment for more than 60 years. The early fun sand and water table has similarities to a mini mud kitchen, with a sand pit, slide-out water tray, black board, plastic hooks and a handy storage shelf.

Sustainably made from FSC-certified timber, the quality is indisputable. Easy to assemble, it took around 30-minutes to complete, and was the perfect size for our mini tester. We love the compact design of this table, and, thanks to the wheels and handles, our three-year-old tester was able to wheel this out independently (without any sand or water) and set this up in her own designated spot in the garden.

The blackboard is a sweet touch, and the three hooks are great for hanging up little buckets and spades. The sand compartment doesn’t come with a liner, so you’ll want to add a plastic tray or liner to ensure the sand doesn’t escape through any gaps. A brilliantly compact option, it’s a practical and playful choice and something that would make a drawing table, too. Our tester also found many uses for this… a shop, a cafe and a post office.

For water-only fun, it doesn’t get better than Plum Play’s discovery forest water run and, while it is a costly investment, this is an outdoor educational toy like no other, which promises to adapt and grow with your child.

Made from FSC certified sustainably sourced wood, it is a configureable water play system whereby the layout can be changed to optimise space and switch up water flow. Designed with five individual wooden reservoirs that join together with natural bamboo racing chutes, there’s plenty of room for multiple children to play together, using toys or things from nature, such as stones or sticks, to race to the bottom. We also loved that the bottom basin can be picked up, so the water contents can be added back into the top to begin a brand new race (and avoid water waste). Although it’s recommended for children aged three and up, our younger testers still loved splashing in the water and made good use of the two-in-one step with storage, so they could get involved too. And that’s not all, the water run even comes with an easy clean painting screen for even more creative fun.

Bring the joys of nursery home with this sand and water tray from Edx Education. This company has designed educational toys for schools in more than 90 countries for more than 25 years, so it’s safe to say it knows a thing or two about creating fantastic learning resources. This sand and water trayset is the same as you would find in nurseries and early years settings, so, as you might expect, it’s designed for years of play and it was fascinating to see our three-year-old tester gravitate towards this product, given there are no bright colours or fancy gadgets.

The durability is second to none, with its stainless steel frame and heavy-duty plastic tray and lid. The tray hones in on a child’s imagination, it’s much deeper than any of the others we tested, allowing kids to really get stuck in to exploring gravity, floating, sinking (and splashing) while also providing plenty of space to build multiple sandcastles, destroy them, and build them again.

It’s designed for those aged 18-months and up, and you can choose from a 58cm or 40cm height, depending on the size of its user, but we’d suggest going bigger for maximum usage. On a practical note there’s a handy plug release that makes it quick and easy to empty the water, or clean out.

To create the ultimate home-learning play station, it’s worth considering an upgrade with the sand and water activity set (£23.99, Shopedx.co.uk), and you’re able to add the water play activity rack (£87.99, Shopedx.co.uk), which attaches to the frame of the tray to store all the accessories. We love that this is on wheels, so it can be moved around the garden, to keep little ones out of the sun.

The fountain factory water table from Little Tikes wouldn’t look out of place in Willy Wonka’s factory. Encouraging sensory play as well as teaching the basics of STEM learning, it comes with plenty of plumbing pipes and water taps that can be rearranged in a variety of ways. Simply pour water into the top of the tower and watch as it travels down, through the spinning wheels and splashes into the basin below. Kids can also use the water pumps to channel water into the fountains and send it shooting out in different directions.

Our little tester loved the bright colours, which give it instant appeal and they also enjoyed experimenting with the different water filter spray settings and accessories – a boat, water cup, and funnel. Parents will love how easy it is to assemble and take apart for storage and cleaning. Plus, it has a convenient plug at the base, which makes emptying the water a doddle. While this has no use for sand, it has loads of features that kids can keep discovering.

We have a lot of respect for multipurpose products, and Plum Play has created something practical and playful with its surfside sand and water table. Made from FSC certified sustainably sourced timber, this sturdy picnic table makes for a comfy spot for little ones to either make a splash, build a sandcastle, or enjoy an alfresco lunch with their friends.

Assembly was a straightforward task, which took less than an hour to complete. You need to attach the two liners provided, to create your undercover sand and water compartments – which are cleverly concealed with the centre panel.

Suitable for use from 18-months, there’s plenty of room for little ones to play together, and we commend the rounded bench edges to prevent any nasty collisions. Something to consider is if you need to replace the water or sand, the whole unit needs to be tipped (or could be syphoned or scooped), which is no easy task. Again, you’ll need to recruit some beach or bath toys to keep young ones stimulated.

There’s something utterly adorable about miniature furniture, and when something is this well made, you know it’ll see you through plenty of British summers.

Renowned French toymaker Smoby has been in the game for almost 100 years, and with that comes a level of expectation when unboxing one of its wide range of products. The water and sand table is probably the most straightforward out of those we tested. Simply attach the four legs to the frame, slot in the red and blue trays and let the fun commence.

It comes with a little accessory pack, which is certainly geared more towards the sand department – with a shovel, rake, two sand moulds and a little boat to bob on the water. We like that sand and water play can take place simultaneously as the removable trays are very much separate entities, but we did have to rope in extra toys to keep the attention of our three-year-old tester. By having two removable trays, cleaning, changing water or sand is also a simple task.

There’s a thoughtful slot in the middle to add a little umbrella, and sand is kept in good condition, thanks to the lids. It feels super sturdy, and the durable plastic is anti-UV treated, to help with lifespan. Suitable for children aged 18-months to six-years-old, it stands at 46cm, which suited our ‘threenager’ but would feel a little small next to a bigger child.

This is certainly the most compact of the sand and water tables we tested. While it’s not neat enough to take for a day down at the beach, it certainly won’t take up much space in your garden. Small but mighty, this gives all the thrills and spills, just on a slightly smaller scale, and we were surprised how many additional pieces it comes with, given the price tag. With eight additional accessories, there’s a sieve, sand mill, spade, rake, bucket, watering can and two sand moulds for little ones to enjoy.

Layout wise, there are three different compartments, which sit on two legs. We did find the sand sections at either side too small to make much headway with, however, it may suit younger children, who are often fascinated with the novelty of simply running their fingers through sand. Young ones will love watching the water travel down the castle, with the brightly coloured cogs spinning along the way. It’s great that all the pieces are separate, doubling up as fun bath or beach toys. Our three-year-old tester needed to kneel down to interact with this, but this wouldn’t be necessary for an 18-month-old.

If you’re looking for a discreet ‘toy’, this is a smart choice. It’s worth bearing in mind it’ll take around an hour to assemble, so, if this is a gift for an excitable toddler, we’d recommend assembling beforehand.

All Plum Play products are designed with sustainability in mind – made from FSC certified Chinese fir wood, the quality was instantly apparent. The design is smart: the nest of tables consists of two wooden activity tables, which could easily be mistaken for planters. As the smaller one sits neatly inside the larger frame, meaning it takes up a small amount of space, it’s a great option if your garden is on the bijou side.

You get two liners to attach to the frame, a smaller blue one to create a mini swimming pool – it was a matter of minutes before our tester got her Barbie dolls involved – and a darker one for the sandpit. You also get a protective cover, which keeps the sand fresh. Our only slight niggle is that, as the liners aren’t removable, when it comes to emptying the water, you’ll need to lift the whole thing, which is a little finicky.

Owing to its popularity, this one is currently out of stock but you can sign up to be notified via email once it’s back.