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If you can find the best water table for your toddler, then you are doing both you and your little one a huge favor in the long run. For them, you’re giving them a whole new world of imagination and sensory play that they can use outside where messes are far easier to clean up.
And for yourself, you’re getting a toy for your child that will not only help them learn along the way but also entertain them outside during the warm months, instead of being cooped up inside your home. It’s an easy win all around, but first, you have to figure out what kind of water table is best for your child. Do they want or need something that’s up on four legs like an actual table?
Or would they work better with something that’s at ground level for easier playing while they sit or lay on the grass? Is sand also an important part of the water table for your little one or would you personally prefer that sand isn’t brought into the mix at all?
There are many factors to consider when choosing the best water table for your toddler, but to help you make that decision and actually bit the bullet and make the purchase, these are easily some of the best toddler water tables out there, from a variety of different brands too. Some of them may come from the same brand, but at the end of the day, they are all unique in their own ways.
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- 1. Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table
- 2. Little Tikes Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark Play Table
- 3. Splish Splash Seas Water Table
- 4. Sand and Water Picnic Play Table
- 5. Aquaplay Start Lock Set Water Playset
- 6. Step2 Waterfall Discovery Wall Playset
- 7. Little Tikes Anchors Away Pirate Ship Water Play Table
1. Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table
The Step2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table works well with toddlers of different sizes and ages, thanks to its multiple tiers. Once they pour water into the top-tiered tub, they can watch the water rain down through the tiny holes in the bottom and collect in the larger tub on the bottom tier of the table.
There are also multiple water windmills that your little one can watch spin around as water trickles through them and since the larger tub can be filled with water, your younger toddler can enjoy splashing around in it with toys and small buckets that come with the table. There’s also a small springboard that can catapult small water toys back into the table.
- Child Age Range: The water table is recommended for toddlers and children from 18 months-8 years old.
- Where To Buy: You can purchase the table on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon or in-store at Toys ‘R Us and Walmart.
- The Best Part: With multiple tiers and different water play accessories, your toddler can use the table for years beyond toddlerhood.
- The Not So Great: When putting the water table together, it can be difficult to screw in the different pieces with a screwdriver even and adequately by hand.
2. Little Tikes Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark Play Table
Not only does the Little Tikes Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark Play Table promote sensory play, but it also helps your toddler hone their fine motor skills, which are important through their development.
It comes with a set of squirting water toys as well as a handled bucket to pour water over the various water windmills, and your child can drop the ball water toys down the funnel in the middle of the table and watch them roll around inside until they come out onto the table.
There’s also a ferris wheel of sorts on the side of the table that toddlers can use to turn and scoop up both toys and water over and over. At 31.5 inches tall, the water table is just the right size to allow most toddlers to be able to stand at it and have fun for hours.
- Child Age Range: The table is recommended for use by kids from 24 months-6 years old.
- Where To Buy: You can find it on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon or in-store at Toys ‘R Us and Walmart.
- The Best Part: The drainage plug is located in the right spot to easily drain and empty the water table once the water becomes dirty or filled with leaves after a couple of weeks.
- The Not So Great: After some time, you might find that the table often leaks in some place.
3. Splish Splash Seas Water Table
This may be another Step2 table, but that doesn’t mean it should be overlooked by any means. This because the Splish Splash Seas Water Table is a ton of fun for toddlers and children of all ages.
It comes with a set of 10 different accessory toys, including little people figurines to use on the sides into the water and the carousel in the water table. There’s also a bucket that stays connected to the table on a small hinge and can be filled up to be dumped as a small waterfall into another pooled part of the table.
Since the table stands on four sturdy legs, it’s the perfect height for toddlers and even older kids to enjoy the water and small island built into the table, and it’s also long enough for more than one child to easily play together while standing at it.
- Child Age Range: The table is designed for children from ages 1-½ and up.
- Where To Buy: You can find the Splish Splash Seas Water Table on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon or in-store at Target and Buy Buy Baby.
- The Best Part: The overall size of the table makes it easy for multiple children of varying ages to play at the same time and enjoy it together.
- The Not So Great: Although there is a version of this table that comes equipped with an umbrella to shield your toddler from the sun, this particular table does not.
4. Sand and Water Picnic Play Table
The Sand and Water Picnic Play Table by Svan bring together two things most toddlers love – water and sand. The entire design is a mini picnic table with a removable top that you can take off to reveal one side as a sand table and the other side as a water table.
There aren’t any accessories or toys that come with the table for water play, but with the best of both worlds for your toddler, they can use small buckets and shovels for both sides of the table and enjoy them both at any given time. And when your little one is done playing, you can replace the top and once again use the table as an actual picnic table for them.
Since it’s made of dark wood, the picnic table sand and the water table is aesthetically pleasing and will look good with your other outdoor furniture as well for when it’s not in use for playing.
- Child Age Range: Although there is no recommended age for using it, your toddler can likely start getting used out of the table from 18 months of age.
- Where To Buy: You can find the Sand and Water Picnic Play Table primarily on Amazon at the moment.
- The Best Part: When your toddler is done for the day, you get to cover the table top to prevent any bugs or leaves getting in the water, but it also enables your child to use the table as an actual table.
- The Not So Great: Although there’s a water and sand section, there aren’t any slides or waterfalls to entertain your little one.
5. Aquaplay Start Lock Set Water Playset
A water play table for toddlers might implicitly mean an actual table, but it’s hard to ignore the similarities between water tables and the Aquaplay Start Lock Set Water Playset since it also provides hours of fun for your little one.
With a series of doors that act as dams, your child can learn about the flow of water and the cause and effect as it flows throughout the table. The playset can be either set on the ground or top of a table of your own, so while it’s not a table on its own, the fact that it doesn’t have legs actually means that you can take it with you to entertain your child on vacations or away from home too.
- Child Age Range: Your toddler can start using the Aquaplay Start Lock Set Water Playset from the age of three years old.
- Where To Buy: At the moment, you can find it primarily on Amazon.
- The Best Part: With the playset, you can permanently turn any tabletop into a water table.
- The Not So Great: It can be difficult and time-consuming to put the playset together.
6. Step2 Waterfall Discovery Wall Playset
This may be another option if you’re looking for a toddler water table that isn’t quite a table, but the Step2 Waterfall Discovery Wall Playset is generally the same idea.
Instead of being a flat table on four legs, it’s a double sided water play center that enables more than one toddler at once to pour buckets of water into the top. You can watch it trickle down through each spout, water heel, and funnel until it reaches the small pool of water at the bottom.
Of course, this means that there’s no way to use this indoors at all, but it also makes for a unique water play experience for your little one, and it comes with a set of 13 accessories to play with.
- Child Age Range: The water is recommended for toddlers aged 1-½ years old and up.
- Where To Buy: It’s available on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon or in-store at Target and Walmart.
- The Best Part: The Step1 Waterfall Discovery Wall Playset has two different sides for water play so more than one child can play at once, all while learning about the way water moves.
- The Not So Great: The different parts, like the wheels and funnels, may feel a little loose than others and fall out of their intended spots.
7. Little Tikes Anchors Away Pirate Ship Water Play Table
Although it’s targeted at toddlers, kids of any age can find fun in the Little Tikes Anchors Away Pirate Ship Water Play Table, which really taps into the imagination to have fun with a water table that looks like a pirate ship.
It even has a stringed anchor that can be cranked down and then pulled back up into the table and a squirt cannon that can be used to squirt water onto the table. Speaking of which, in addition to the interactive parts that allow for water play, the pirate-themed water table also comes with buckets, scoops, and pirate-themed toys for hours of fun.
- Child Age Range: The table is perfect for little ones from 24 months-6 years of age.
- Where To Buy: It’s available for purchase on the manufacturer’s website and Amazon or in-store at Buy Buy Baby.
- The Best Part: There are a ton of pirate-themed accessories and interactive parts of the water table.
- The Not So Great: Unless you tightly and adequately secure the drainage plug, it may leak in a steady slow stream.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right water table doesn’t have to be a big serious matter, by any means, especially as there are clearly so many to pick from for your little one.
But since it’s a toy that involves interactive play and their imaginations, it’s still an important but recreational toy to have around, especially in the spring and summer months when outdoor games should be encouraged.
Whether you go with a water table with more than one tier to it or opt for something simpler, your toddler is bound to find hours of enjoyment in water play that stimulates so many senses for them. And what’s more, your little one will likely be able to get used out of it for years to come.
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