Yes, just when you thought the sandbox-citement was over – it continues. We chatted all about how we built the base of the box here and how we made the lid with a locking system that secures it to the fence here – but it still wasn’t done. That’s the funny thing about DIY in general – you might expect a kitchen reno to run across 35+ posts and to last four months, but you never think that something like a simple sandbox will be a three part process. On the other hand, sometimes projects that we think will be really complicated end up being no sweat and we wonder why we put them off so long – so I guess it all balances out in the end. Anyway, when we last left our heroine, she was enjoying her freshly completed box – cover and all.
But the next day, as we disposed of all of the empty play sand bags and put two extra ones in the car to return them, Sherry noticed this warning on the back of the bags.
To anyone having trouble reading it, it says: This product contains small amounts of crystalline silica, a common mineral found in natural sands and stones. Excessive inhalation of respirable silica dust may cause cancer and lung disease. Avoid breathing dust. Wear approved respirator in dusty area.
Cancer and lung disease? Wear approved respirators? Isn’t this labeled “play sand” and meant for sand boxes with children who sit in that dusty mess and pour it everywhere? With red flag officially raised, we turned to the Internet to see why the heck a bag of something meant for children would have a warning that it can “cause cancer and lung disease.” Soon enough, Sherry came across a string of articles (like this one and this one and this one) indicating that the type of play sand that we bought may not be the ideal option to have our daughter romping around in (not to mention that Clara left her first play session with clothes and hands covered in a white chalky dust which retroactively freaked us out).
Although we all may have played in sand as children and we’re perfectly healthy (or are we? I guess there’s still time to find out, haha) the way sand is manufactured and where it’s found can change. So if you grew up playing in river or beach sand, which may have been more common than manufactured “silica or tremolite” sand, that would explain why the newer sand containing that potentially dangerous stuff is an issue today. Here’s a screen grab from WebMD with a particularly helpful summary that we found:
So we decided to make a sandbox switcheroo – just so we wouldn’t have to think twice about letting Clara play in there for hours on end for years to come. And frankly, our alternative rocks.
I’ll pause to record a point in my “rock pun” column.
I don’t know why I didn’t think about this before – my sister actually had a rock box for her kids a while back (they’re now tweens/teens and are way too cool for it) but they loved it back in the day. Obviously it’s NOT a good solution for kiddos who still put things in their mouth. Clara did that until about a year old, but now routinely plays with rocks and pea gravel wherever she can find it without ever trying to suck it down (true story: at Home Depot there’s an outdoor planting bed with pea gravel and she loves it more than the playground). Clara’s also less likely to leave covered in rocks and track them all over the house than she was with sand. So I started the not-so-fun task of digging out all of the sand (and hauling it in the wheelbarrow to be dumped in the woods far behind our house – the very back of our almost-an-acre property).
I wouldn’t put it on the top of my “most awesome DIY tasks ever” list, but it wasn’t that bad. Although it was kinda sad to see it all empty and barren when I was through. Pardon the tree’s muddled shadow in this pic (it looks like some sand is still lurking but we swept that baby dry).
Then we turned that frown upside down by dumping in what I will now call my inaugural bag of pebbles. Things were looking up!
But upon closer examination, things were also looking kinda dirty.
Now, I realize it seems kinda prissy to be surprised that rocks are dirty (“Gasp! And water’s wet?! The horror!”). And if we didn’t mind Clara getting a bit dirty, well, we wouldn’t be making a outdoor play box now would we? But the pebbles were all covered in a sort of gritty dust that just kinda bothered me. I felt lazy just dumping them in so dirty when I could easily remedy the problem, so I decided to give the rocks a quick bath in my wheelbarrow.
I felt kinda silly doing this at first, but when I drained my first batch and saw how much dirty water was coming out it didn’t feel like my efforts were worthless at all.
But enough rock washing. Let’s get rockin’ and rollin’ onto the finished product.
Remember the lid is secured to the fence with metal hardware to keep things safe (more on that here).
I used around 20 bags to fill the whole box to the point where it was pretty much level with the ground around it – meaning Clara didn’t have a big step on either side, and she’d have a few inches of depth to really dig into. Oh and the bags of rocks were actually cheaper than the bags of sand at Home Depot. They were around $2.50 a pop, so it was just under $50 to fill our 25 square foot box up. Not free but worth the peace of mind for us. If only we had seen the warning on the sand before opening it, we could have actually saved money filling things up with rocks from the start. Oh well, live and learn.
We also took this opportunity to mulch around the sandbox, er, rock box (excuse me) so everything would look a bit cleaner when we presented it to Clara (she was with her grandparents the afternoon we made the change).
As soon as she saw the rocks she was so eager to play, she didn’t even notice it wasn’t sand anymore. We expected a bigger “Where the sand go?!” reaction, but I guess it’s probably best that rocks instantly erased any memory or care for the old stuff.
All she cared about is that she could get her dig on.
Which actually was reassuring to see, since I worried the chunkier rocks might be harder to dig and scoop, but she’s had no problem – even with the flimsy dollar store shovel we got her. Plus she can scoop rocks with a shovel but also pick them up with her hands (not true with sand) so she seems to have a lot of fun with that. For example, she likes filling the front part of her truck with one rock carefully shoved through the window at a time. It’s the little things, right?
And luckily the rocks have proved to be less messy than the sand. Yeah, we may occasionally need a bath afterward – but the sand involved a rigorous pre-going-back-into-the-house-dust-off that the rocks have yet to require. Upgrade!
But in the end, as long as Clara is having fun – who cares how messy she gets? Oh and see those white things around the sandbox that sort of look like rocks? It sort of looks like there was lot of rock fling-age going on, but they’re just white petals dropped by our dogwood. We may be jinking ourselves, but so far Clara has been happy to keep the rocks in her rock box since we explained that’s their home and it’s where they need to stay for her to play with them.
Rock on, Beansie. Rock on.
So that’s the long circuitous story – told Hunger Games style, as a trilogy – about…
Have you guys ever done something and then decided to tweak or redo it in the final hour? Do some projects that you think will take forever end up being easier than you thought and then later you tackle some project that you assume will be super simple and that’s the one that randomly ends up being a bit more involved? Ah DIY, you’re a fickle creature, but we can’t help loving you.
Psst- Speaking of things you don’t always get right on the first try, we’re over here chatting about picking paint colors.
Pssssst- To read The Sandbox Chronicles from the beginning, here’s Part 1 (about building the base of the box) and Part 2 (about building the lid which secures to the fence for safety reasons).
Jen says
Funny you should post this now! I just got back from Disney, and one of the play areas (“The Boneyard” at Animal Kingdom) had this fine gravel instead of sand for digging (complete with fake fossil to dig up). My daughter loved digging in it, and I loved how it didn’t stick all over her, the way actual sand does. It was so cool, I asked the Disney guy what it was– apparently it’s something called “Texas grit.” When I saw your first sandbox posts, I thought “gee, I’ve got to see if I can find that grit stuff for our sandbox.”
YoungHouseLove says
That stuff sounds so cool! Someone else mentioned they sell sand like that in California. Here’s hoping it comes East!
xo,
s
janetl says
what a twist I didn’t see coming. :-) it looks like the wait was meant to be. Had you done it a year ago Clara might have been too young for the rocks.
Nicole says
That’s so funny that you made it a rock box. when I was reading part 2 yesterday, I almost commented that if you ever got tired of the sand, pea gravel is an excellent substitute. Our boys love their rock box, and their mama loves not having sand tracked through the house on a regular basis! :) the rock box looks awesome!
Nicole
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! I’m sure your boys’ rock box is awesome too. Happy rock-box-playing to one and all!
xo,
s
Coasting anon says
This is freakishly timely as my husband just built a 6×6 sandbox for our son and daughter (though she’s only 6 months old, so she’ll have to wait a year or so) over the weekend. I’m actually slow on catching up on my Google reader this week because I’ve now spent the past three days researching play sand and silica. Which is why I am surprised that since you listed Dover Projects’ sand box (http://doverprojects.blogspot.com/2009/05/wooden-sandbox-plans.html) as an inspiration you were so blindsided by the play sand conundrum. The entire bottom three paragraphs of that post are about play sand and the issues surrounding it. In the end, after three days of research, I decided to go with the play sand and be vigilant about keeping it from being too dusty.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah we just looked on Pinterest for design ideas, so we didn’t read all the posts all the way through- just looked at the designs and planned what would work for our space. Wish we had though, could have saved us some time!
xo,
s
Patty C says
I love the sandbox! Great design – the split cover is so nice – not so heavy, I’m sure. Have fun.
Amy says
Wow- who knew sandboxes could be so controversial! You handle the critical posts so gracefully (as always)! Currently planning a sandbox and losing sleep over the sand issue. The gravel won’t work for us yet cause I KNOW the rocks will end up straight in the mouth of our 13 month old. And at $200, the Safe Sand route just seems WAY too expensive for something that should be so “simple.” I am leaning towards the Crayola colored sand, but fear the mess and clean up that may result. But, at the end of the day, I think safety and peace of mind is worth some extra sweeping and baths for the kiddos.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Amy! I’ve heard from a few folks who have said great things about the Crayola colored sand and it’s on the safe list so hope it works out perfectly for ya! Also, for a smaller indoor sand and water table (or small activity with a bucket or bin) some folks have said that dried beans (or rice/corn) are great instead of sand or rocks, since they’re edible so they aren’t as worrisome for kids who still try to slyly swallow stuff. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kathryn Griffin says
Blasted play box sand! Good job and GREAT job in informing your readers of potential danger. My hubby and I ran out to the garage to check our bag of sand. Whew! Thank you for sharing. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Cate says
Good info. Random question: is Clara left-handed? Lots of southpaw shoveling in your rock box :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we’re so proud of our southpaw! My brilliant dad and BFF are both lefties so I’m a proud momma!
xo,
s
Paula M. says
What a bizarre thing, that the sand bags were labeled that way!
I’m wondering, on reflection, if the danger is exclusively about big CLOUDS of DUST from the sand, not from the sand itself? I’m guessing it’s more of an industrial or workplace issue (or potentially an issue for movie sets, come to think of it), since I doubt that a child raises much dust in playing in a sandbox.
Of course, having said that, if it were my child and I discovered that label, I’d definitely want to play it safe (haha, no pun intended) and replace the sand as you all did. And in addition to being less messy and probably safer than sand, the rocks look PRETTIER than the sand, don’t they?
Good job!
Aaroohi says
The label said “crystalline silica, a common mineral found in natural sands and stones” so wouldn’t this mean that natural sand and stones will be just as dangerous?
YoungHouseLove says
Like asbestos, it’s only dangerous when it’s aerated (when the tiny particles are able to be inhaled) so since you can’t inhale stones, and beach and river sand is made up of larger granules (which is why when you sit on the beach on a windy day, it’s not a chalky dust storm). It’s just something about the finely ground size of the play sand which is extremely dusty and more easily aerated/breathable. After paying not only were Clara’s head, hands, and arms dusty, even the inside of her nose was coated with white a fine powder – she had sand boogers later! So I think the finer, chalkier stuff gets the warning labels since it can get into the ol’ lungs more easily than heavier things like larger grains of sand or rocks.
xo,
s
Jenna at Homeslice says
hah! what a trilogy it was… glad Clara will be safe now :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jenna!
xo,
s
Jessica says
Completely irrelevant to this post, but I`m in the process of buying a house. I am looking to buy an older (cheaper) home so that I can remove walls to make larger rooms. Is there a way to find out which walls are the load bearing ones while I house hunt?
It would suck to buy a house in hopes of removing walls and then having to find out that the walls have to stay.
YoungHouseLove says
One general trick is to look at the direction of the hardwood floors. Those walls parallel to those are usually weight bearing. You can also look at the beams in the attic, which are usually perpendicular to weight bearing walls (which is why they run the floors the opposite direction since it keeps them from warping as much). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
nikki says
i cannot get over carcinogenic play sand. will stores be selling asbestos-walled playhouses next? “it’s great, kids! and you can even explore your pyromaniac tendancies in it because it’s fireproof!”
John Manross says
I am glad to see Beth’s suggestion about returning the sand bags for a refund. Seeing this coming together each day is a delight as well. Hope to see the finished product soon!
Destiny says
For the love of pie, and I do love pie, ya’ll are CUTE!
lynda says
Hi,
Brings back a lot of memories. I have an important caution, you need to put a piano hinge type of thing on that cover like on toy boxes. That top can be very dangerous and injure your precious baby if you don’t.
I knew when I saw the sand yesterday that it was a problem. I do think there is a particular type of sand that needs to be used. In any event, there are various options and hopefully yours will work.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, check out the picture in this post where we installed metal hardware to hold the lid in a secured open position against the fence when it’s in use (here the link to Chapter Two where we explained it more in detail). It can’t close when she’s in there since it’s chained to the fence when it’s open. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lisa K says
Wow! Thank you so much for this post! We had no idea that our little ones could be playing in hazardous conditions in their sandbox! We will be replacing the sand (since we bought it last year, we have no idea if it’s of the “safe” variety) with pea gravel.
Carrie says
Ugh!!! We just filled our new sandbox with 11 bags if play sand this past weekend!!! I was a little concerned when I saw how dusty it was since our son is 1 and they don’t even recommend using baby powder any more b/c of the inhalation factor. Thank you for this post, I wish we had put our sandbox project off till this weekend. How disappointing!!!
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry Carrie! Maybe it you still have the bags you can put it back in and return them? We totally know how you feel about removing all the sand right after pouring it out!
xo,
s
Carrie says
I literally just ran out to our trash can on the curb to see if I could grab the bags. No luck, the trash men already came this morning. It’s unbelievable they can sell this stuff. I may try to go back in with the receipt and see what they say. Unbelievable! I love the rock box idea! Thanks for all your awesome posts!
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck with everything Carrie!
xo,
s
Melanie says
Ha ha, you’re not the only one who has washed rocks- the wheelbarrow was smart though! My best friend helped me wash a TON of 1-2 inch-ish sized rocks for our wedding. They were in blue Ball jars/vases and when we started filling up the vases, everything clouded over. Both of us wrecked our nails washing rocks! :-(
Oh the things we do…
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s such a sweet memory though! I’m sure it was a paint at the time, though. Haha.
xo,
s
Suzanne says
rocks ROCK!
That sand should be re-labeled. Once again a good reminder that we consumers must read and research and not trust the largest writing on the package. Geesh!
Laura D says
Did you buy play sand or paver sand? There is a difference and from your pic it looks like paver sand.
YoungHouseLove says
The front of the bag said Play Sand (not paver sand) and it was from Home Depot. You can kind of see the words “Play Sand” under the black box in the bag on this pic. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Melissa says
This is completely random & you probably already saw it,but I saw this honey(bee) post on Design Sponge & thought of you guys! Such cute things… a little honey pot would be adorable in your lovely new kitchen!
http://www.designsponge.com/2012/04/honey.html
YoungHouseLove says
LOVE that stuff! Thanks for the link!
xo,
s
Tara says
If I was your neighbor, I’d have taken that sand off your hand in a minute! Then rinsed it, just like you did with the rocks. Hubby’s a chemist, which is great because I always have a scientist to check labels.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Tara! We’re planning to use it as the base for a brick path or patio or to amend our soil someday!
xo,
s
Ann says
That is insanity about the sand being toxic. Who knew? I think the rocks would be far more fun anyways and honestly, you don’t want to have to trail after her, or your son burger, for playing in the sandbox to clean up!
Sarah says
Clara is such a lucky girl! Also, I just have to say, I really admire the way you respond to negative (and occasionally very rude) comments-that’s true class in my opinion.
Sarah J. says
reading a lot of the comments and noticing a lot of parents feeling bad for having their kids in a sandbox for years. maybe you should mention in a future post that the health concerns are only for the bagged sand. around here (Nebraska) nearly everyone buys sand from the quarry (especially back when our parents were making sand boxes), and there is no dangerous dust with that stuff. i just hate seeing all these parents feeling like they failed, when it’s very possible that they had the “ok stuff”.
anyway, love the gravel idea! so much less clean up! my hubby and i have already decided to do one for our 2 toddler boys. thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no, I didn’t notice that! We certainly don’t mean for this post to make anyone feel bad about anything and tried to link to a bunch of articles with more info and highlighted the part about beach and river sand (since many folks might get things like that over home improvement play sand). I’ve seen people saying they got quarry sand or beach/river sand that was larger grain, so they were relieved! Also heard from some folks who checked their bags and it was the good kind! But we will look at this post again to see how we can update it to make it sure it’s clear that it’s just about certain types of sand posing a potential problem. Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Kim says
Your daughter is so cute. I agree with another person who left a comment that the labels should be very big so parents can be warned before they buy play sand for children then find out it is very dangerous for children. It should not even be allowed to be sold for children. Thanks for letting us know. My children are in college now but I will remember it for when they have children. She looks like she is having lots of fun.
Mendi says
Funny – My mother and I were just discussing this yesterdy and she is a huge fan of using pea gravel. Her reasons are because you will have less bugs and mess. You just gave us a 3rd reason -less toxic!!
Jen D says
you guys are the best parents. the people who try and pass of that sand on children should be ashamed. clara is very lucky to have you both :)
stephanie says
Thank you so much for posting this. We just recently dumped a few bags of that exact same play sand into our toddler’s sandbox and never even noticed that warning. I’m heading BACK to Home Depot today to get pea gravel. THANK YOU.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, you’re welcome Stephanie! Good luck with everything!
xo,
s
Sara says
We made a play area at our Albuquerque home and used 1/8″ washed pea gravel to fill it. Our boys loved it! It does play just as good as sand and doesn’t blow away with the massive spring wind. Plus the animals don’t like it as much as sand :)
Calypso says
CUTE!! I see a little geologist in your future!
YoungHouseLove says
Cute! I want to hide some geodes and stuff in there for her to find!
xo,
s
Audrey says
Thanks for the heads-up! We were just planning on building a sandbox in the next couple of weeks. We just built raised-bed gardens and our 21 month old loves digging in them, so we were thinking of building him his own sandbox so our veggies have a chance! Now I’m wondering about filling his sandbox with garden soil (without fertilizer added). As messy as it would be, I know he’d have a blast! Also, I remember as a child playing in a sandbox of dried corn–like the kind they have at feed-and-seed stores for horses and deer. The texture was amazing! But I’m wondering if it would attract critters.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny, we thought about dried corn but worried animals might want to eat it too! I think garden soil without fertilizer sounds like a good time- Clara loves digging around in the dirt!
xo,
s
Nicole Sidders says
I did the same thing with the sand, except I saw the warning before I bought it. I asked the cashier about it and she told me they have to put the warning on there because they have stricter laws in California. What?! So it’s okay if my kids play in dangerous sand because I don’t live in Cali? Dumb, dumb, dumb. They shouldn’t label it “play sand” at all. I bought the colored Crayola sand instead, which is more expensive, of course. But at least it’s non-toxic. We just have a small sandbox though, so it wasn’t too costly to fill it. Next time I may have to try the pebbles. My kids like playing in rocks too.
Kacie says
Clara is getting SO BIG! Wow, I’m shocked at how big she is. Really. Again, so excited about this tutorial. I can’t wait to make one for Gwyneth!
Kacie
http://acollectionofpassions.com/
Coasting anon says
While doing my three days of research on play sand, I found a fantastic article in the Winter ’99 issue of the Pace Environmental Law Review titled: “From the Sandbox to Sandblasting: Regulation of Crystalline Silica”.
I found this bit to be especially pertinent to this issue:
———-
D. Labeling Requirements
Companies distributing a product containing 0.1% silica must comply with OSHA’s hazard communication requirements. 224 The product must include a label that warns of cancer 225 and must be included in a Material Safety Data Sheet. 226 Because of the abundance of crystalline silica, labels are potentially required on numerous, everyday objects and another slippery slope is created. A label may be necessary on a supply of sandbox sand or on a package of kitty litter. 22 7 It seems only a natural progression that soon roadways and beaches would need to be posted with warning signs. However, because of the widespread presence of silica-containing materials, labeling silica everywhere it occurs is impracticable. 228 Moreover, the common occurrence of warning labels will lessen the effect of labels that really should be heeded – those that appear on truly hazardous materials.
Yet without the label, manufacturers face liability. 229 Courts have held there may be no duty to warn of the danger of silica with a sophisticated user. 230 Most persons, however, using sand for non-occupational purposes (e.g., to fill a sandbox) would probably not be considered sophisticated users. 231 A consumer may then attribute a development of lung cancer to filling the sandbox rather than to years of smoking, and subsequently hold the manufacturer or distributor liable for the lung cancer. There would be no differentiation to the consumer between the risk of cancer from a bag of sand and the risk of cancer from years of smoking. 232 Manufactures will risk liability for adverse health effects that will be attributed to crystalline silica instead of to their true sources.
Problems remain, however, even if a manufacturer provides warning labels on products containing crystalline silica. The bold, simple warning labels 233 that California requires will obviously cause alarm in many people. 234 The alarm is unfounded because the label fails to provide further information about the amount or conditions of exposure that actually cause the risk.235
———-
Because your blog is so popular I feel similarly to the previous poster who mentioned that there were so many comments on this post from parents who now are suffering from supreme parental guilt for not knowing all of this ‘new’ information about play sand. Perhaps you could include a link to some of the other places on the internet that have a bit more technical information.
I truly am glad that you made the decision that was right for your family, that’s what we all strive for, right…but I can’t help but think a lot of people are going to now make a decision based on what you have shared with them which isn’t entirely the full story. — again…not that that is your responsibility…but I figured if you were going to address the play sand issue again, you might want to consider that.
The full article can be found here: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1282&context=pelr
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the info! In no way do we mean to make anyone feel guilty about the choices they make! We want this to be a happy and casual place, which is why we share everything diary-style as it happens. In this case we shared our play sand experience, from the articles that literally came up when we googled the subject to the decision we made for our family. Our post is basically just a stream-of-consciousness recap. Our hope is always that others will do their own research and make their own decisions that work for their family, whatever they may be! I’m sure there are hundreds of articles out there with a range of suggestions and recommendations.
If I’m interpreting the information you pasted above correctly, it’s comparing finely ground play sand with silica to heavier and more granulated beach sand? Perhaps this is an older understanding of things (1999 was 13 years ago) since the more recent things I’ve read say beach sand is safer than play sand with silica since it’s not as fine and chalky (aka: it’s not as easy to inhale). I think that’s why many recent recommendations suggest wetting it down (to avoid that chalky dust). In your previous comment you mentioned being “vigilant about keeping it from being too dusty”, so I assume you’re hip to this already! Haha. Good luck with everything and thanks again for the link!
xo,
s
chyenne says
Obviously you guys have rocks now, but should you ever change your mind…. Here in the Great Northwest (OR) We sometimes use dryed corn or hazelnuts. The hazelnuts are really popular at our local pumpkin patches! Just a thought for anyone else looking to make a “sand box”
Cheers!
YoungHouseLove says
LOVE that idea! We thought about corn but worried critters might want to eat it. Hazelnuts sound so fun!
xo,
s
Allison W says
What the………….????!!!!! My 18 month-old twins have been playing in the cancer sand for a couple of months now! That just burns my biscuit! They should be banned from labeling it as “play” sand. Time for us to switch to pea gravel too (which I bet they’ll like better anyway). But baby girl is still known to squirrel away acorns and rocks in her mouth from time to time…. (sigh)
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry Allison! Maybe yours isn’t the bad kind? Either way I hope they love the pea gravel- Clara woke up this morning and said “change diaper, then rock box” – haha. She’s addicted!
xo,
s
Rachel @ The House of Burks says
This is a fantastic idea. We actually have an area on the side of our house that we will be hardscaping in a few weeks, and I’ve been racking my brain on how to make it a fun place for ALL of us and not just a quiet place for the adults to sit. This might be the answer to my query!
Nicole says
You guys are such proactive parents! She looks so cute and happy in the video.
Allison W says
So such luck. Even worse, I just checked one of our extra bags….big, bold letters: IDEAL FOR SANDBOXES (and then the itty bitty cancer warning underneath) Dang.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, so sorry Allison! Some folks have said they have luck wetting it down to keep it from being dusty (that’s when it’s dangerous, when it can be inhaled) but if your little one doesn’t like wet sand (or it’s too messy for your tastes) safe sand or pea gravel could save the day!
xo,
s
Melinda says
You were mentioned in The Washington Post today!
http://live.washingtonpost.com/home-front-0419.html
LOVE YOUR BLOG!
YoungHouseLove says
Ahhh! That’s so exciting! They’re so sweet over there. Love our “local” paper!
xo,
s
MJ says
We built our little guy a “rock box” last fall, although he calls it his “gravel pit”. The pea gravel has worked out great and, thankfully, doesn’t carry the crazy warnings that the play sand does. Hope Clara enjoys her rock box as much as our Grayson enjoys his! :)
Autumn says
What a great idea! We had a sand box at our last house, which my kids loved, but I hated the mess! We may have to do a rock box!
holly says
you guys are good parents. good on you for making the switch! and good news that the sand you did have wasn’t the one with tremolite. tremolite is a type of asbestos. and yes, it is naturally occurring, but that doesn’t make it good!
great post.
Alex says
So we have a similar “rock” box in our back yard that the previous owner built. Would be a total score to not have to build it ourselves but we dont have kids! We are trying to fogure out what to fill it with (we scooped out all the sand because it was old and grossly buggy). Have you found that the pea gravel keeps it from holding water? We just dont want to end up with a standing water disater in bug prone DC. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
You know, we haven’t had it long enough to tell you for sure, but people put pebbles in the bottom of planters for drainage, so I’d imagine they’d be great for things draining out of them!
xo,
s
Erin aka TheSavvySeeker says
Wow! Great post…never would have thought that a sandbox would have dangers to it…thanks for sharing!
Paula says
I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the health hazards of sand, but I DEFINITELY know how I feel about the sand-makes-a-huge-mess-and-gets-tracked-in-the-house hazards of sand, so this is an amazing alternative. I totally want my own rock box now.
Sherry, how is the pollen in Richmond? I am in NW Georgia and it is FINALLY gone it seems – the windshield was totally clear this morning. So if yours isn’t gone, the end may be in sight!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, the pollen is still here! We no longer have a thick haze of yellow but we have giant tumbleweeds of those brown wormie things that ball up and look like hairballs! Haha. Can’t wait for a few more weeks when we hopefully catch up with you southern folk!
xo,
s
Krysten says
It sounds like you guys came up with a great solution. If you ever decide you do want sand, you might check out this site that sells silica-free sand and offers great info on where how to check out local sand sources:
http://safesand.stores.yahoo.net/
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! We have heard about them from a few folks (some with good reviews and one person who said they had a terrible experience with them). Always nice to know there are other options though!
xo,
s