A Water Table Is Not A Waste Of Money, I Swear

In my seven years of parenting a small crew of children, I’ve spent my hard-earned cash on a lot of things that end up collecting dust. It pains me every time.

The water table is not one of those things. We’ve had the same one for six years now (that little girl in the main photo just turned 7, so BRB crying), and it is the gift that keeps on giving. All of my kids love it, and during the colder months, I am just enough of a “yes” mom, to let them bring it inside and play with it using dried pasta. They love it.

Even though it’s still cold, rainy, and snowy for many of us, now is the time to snag a great deal on some of this stuff.

We have the older model of the basic version here. It’s not the fanciest one, but I do love that the wheel is portable, so you can take it to the sandbox (or the beach or the bathtub). It’s sturdy and stands the test of time.

This one is fun too. I love the whirlpool. My kids are big fans of the whirlpool feature at the local science museum, and this seems to be a (more basic) version of that. (Note: It can be hard for some of the little ones to reach this feature.)

And I am tempted to buy this one, because it just looks so damn fun. Anything that looks like a pirate ship is a guaranteed hit. It also has room for a few kids to crowd around.

This is a different spin on the ol’ standby. I love that kids can play on both sides, and the pieces are easily removable so they can create their own water mazes.

And, if you have a Paw Patrol-loving kid, this might be the golden ticket right here.

I know, it’s still February, but we can dream of sunshine, and prep for sending those kids outside starting now.