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Water Table

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Brand: Natural Playgrounds Company
Toxicity: child friendly wood preservative
Age Appropriateness: 3-10 years

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If you don’t have a pond or a stream on your playground, a water play table is a perfect option, especially this large one, which is a fabulous, one-of-a-kind water play element, perfect for a Natural Playground!

This table is big enough at 4’x4’ that an entire class can gather around for group play, which encourages communication and socialization, or getting a lesson from you about water.

Water also offers many learning opportunities and benefits. It’s one of nature’s simplest, manipulatives which can be scooped, measured, poured, splashed, dripped, dipped, carried, weighed, and studied.

Obviously, kids can float almost anything in the water, including boats, leaves, sticks, pieces of wood and origami figures, so they’ll learn about buoyancy. Anything that doesn’t float will sink to the bottom, thus teaching children about density and weight.

Or, as you can see from the center photo below, one schools placed a duck in the water so kids could look under clear table to watch the way in which webbed feet are used for propelling birds and animals through water.

Also, because water always seeks the lowest level, it will flow off of things such as spoons, containers, and pitchers when they’re tipped, cupped hands, pine cones, rocks, sticks, and so on, so children will also learn about gravity, and the properties of fluids: how they move and settle.

Playing with water also promotes hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Further, as children splay and splash the water, droplets will appear on surfaces everywhere, and will act as tiny magnifying glasses, which can lead to other, completely different kinds of learning.

The clear bottom is a fabulous benefit, because it may magnify or otherwise distort anything on the ground, such as shoes and legs, or toys, or grass, or any number of other things, which can be fun, entertaining, and a great lesson about lenses.

This huge table designed for the outdoors, is made with indestructible, clear Lexan and kid-friendly treated lumber. Table holds approximately 80 gallons of water, and there is a large drain hole with an easy to remove plug for drainage. A hose can be attached to direct the drainage water where you want it (a garden, a stream).

Can be set on the ground or installed permanently (instructions included), and can be mounted at any height. Holds a maximum of 800 gallons, although obviously, you don’t have to fill it up to use it!