Step2 Naturally Playful Summertime Play Center

It’s getting harder and harder to tell the kids that you can’t go to the beach today. “Please, can we go again today? I’ll clean my room,” begs Emma, age 6, and Lori, age 5, protests that a single day spent away from the beach will ruin her future career as a professional sandcastle artist. Dot, age 3, is the only one who doesn’t mind staying home, because of that one time that she got sunblock in her eye.

All three girls (and many, many other little girls and boys) will be delighted with the Step2 Naturally Playful Summertime Play Center, which brings the beach to your backyard! The immense sandbox can easily accommodate two kids, with sturdy built-in benches, and the two included shovels and two included pots will get kids started with digging and scooping. Naturally, of course, your kids will add all of their other sand toys into their backyard play, and other toys, too: expect to see toy trucks rolling over miniature sand dunes, and perhaps a Barbie doll buried up to her neck.

But that’s not all: moms and kids will love the enormous attached umbrella, which shades both the sandbox and the attached picnic table and bench. The Summertime Play Center’s picnic table seats up to four kids for snacks, art projects, and more. Between the sandbox and the table, it’s possible that your kids will hardly go back indoors at all this summer!

The Step2 Naturally Playful Summertime Play Center’s sandbox includes a lightweight lid to keep pets, bugs, and rain out; we suggest fastening it with bungee cords for extra security. Reviewers also suggest keeping a little whiskbroom and dustpan on hand to whisk sand off of the table and bench for snack time. Adult assembly is required, but it shouldn’t take you longer than 15 minutes, and the directions are clear and simple. The sandbox holds a maximum 200 pounds of sand. Recommended for ages 2 and up.