Storage bin sandbox for the balcony

Most apartments in Copenhagen have some kind of courtyard attached to it which is really wonderful, especially if you have small children. Where we live now, we are however not so fortunate to have one. Or well, we do have an area attached to the buidling, but it’s made up of cement and it’s main purpose is bike parking and garbage disposal, so not exactly the most interesting place to play. This means that we have to go to the park or one of the nearby playground whenever Eva desires to do something outdoors. Which is quite often.

Storage bin sandbox – cheap and easy to put together

So one day when she had been asking to play in the sand every day for a week, I went out and bought her big bag of sand and a see-through storage bin with a lid to serve as a sandbox. We don’t have enough room on the balcony to keep a regular sized sandbox (or want to spend that much money on one to be honest), so I thought this could do the trick. And it did!

I went with a rather small storage bin, as we have a very small balcony, and I wanted to be able to pick the sandbox up myself and store it indoors. This means she can’t sit in the sand box, but she has not complained. But  if you have the room, then there’s really no reason not to buy a bigger size storage bin and keep it outside permantly like these guys did– just remeber the lid!

Eva prefers to build things with the sand, and since you keep the sand in a box, it won’t get that moldable feel. There’s luckily a solution to that: either just add some water each time or make moon sand inspired moldable sand with oil and flour, that will keep for a long time. If you add the water just remeber to let it dry out completely before putting the lid back on – otherwise you might get that moldy, stale water smell afterwards. At least that’s what we got, which I why I ended up making the moldable moon sand version instead. An after 3 months it still smells and feels fresh. If you n the other hand go with a large storage bin, keep the moldable sand with flour and oil might be a bit excessive though.

Indoor use

If you use a smaller storage bin which you are able to move around even with sand it it, you could bring the sandbox inside. If you do this I would recommend using a shower curtain or some other kind of fabric like a vinyl tablecloth under the box to catch the sand which will be tossed or spilled (because that’s how playing with sand works), so you’ll be able to pour it back in the box afterwards. I must admit that I haven’t tried this (yet) it as I can’t seem to find and empty space on the floor which would be big enough for this, but I have considered doing it on several rainy occasions.