Our own backyard beach with the Step2 Play & Store Sandbox

I'm a Step2 Test Drive Blogger and I chose these awesome new Step2 sand toys to review this spring.

My kids could sit on a beach all day long.  Even when the water is freezing cold and there’s no way they will swim, they still like to sit on the beach and play in the sand with a few good sand toys.  While we spend a good deal of time at the beaches around us during the summer, right now our beaches are cold, windy, and kind of miserable to spend a day at.

So, what’s a beach loving family to do during the off season?  Build our own beach, of course!

We recently got a chance to review the Step2 Play & Store Sandbox and Sand-tastic sand toys and you would have thought we were at a beach with how much fun the kiddos had with sensory sand play right in our own backyard.  While it was only in the 50s here in Seattle and we were wearing jeans not swimsuits, we jumped at the chance to get into the sandbox to play.   

{Please ignore the long grass and the fact that we really could stand to weed – we've been much too busy building beaches, castles, kingdoms and cities to start our spring landscaping} 

Even the fact that we didn’t actually have sand wasn’t enough to deter my kiddos who loved just laying back in the sandbox and bringing all their toys in one by one.  It turns out there is a sand shortage and all the stores near us were completely sold out for the past few weeks, so we made do with a medium-sized bag of sand for now and are planning on filling the sandbox full as soon as the sand rolls into town. 

But, we certainly aren’t going to sit by and stare at the Step2 Play & Store Sandbox until then – even a little bit of sand is more fun than no sand at all! 

And, I must admit, the Step2 Play and Store Sandbox is incredibly fun.  With four molded “seats” built into the corners of the sandbox, I love that I have a place to sit and play without having to actually climb in myself.  But, even if I do climb in, I love the fact that there is plenty of room for me and my two kids, but is not so big that I feel like I’m losing my entire backyard/patio/etc. 


Since I’m always worried about safety and cleanliness with outdoor toys, I love that the lid of the sandbox fits on securely to keep weather out and keeps critters from making the sand their home.  I also love that the lid is domed so even the taller sand toys and sand castles can stand inside with the lid in place.  Knowing everything is going to be right where they left it and ready to play the next day makes it easier to get the kids inside after playtime, so I love that they can basically drop their toys and leave all sand construction as is.


And, you should see how much the kiddos wait by the backdoor for “beach time” each day, already excited about what kinds of structures they will build and what games they will play.  While digging in the little bit of sand we have is pretty fun on its own, I love that they also develop elaborate play themes as well in the Play and Store Sandbox.  One day they might be unearthing dinosaurs and digging tunnels and the next they are creating a castle fit for a king.

But, whether you have a castle builder, an explorer, or a mini construction worker, you will love the new Sand-tastic toys that take sand play to a whole new level.  With the addition of fun digging tools, sand molds, sand rollers, funnels and more as well as two characters apiece that can be placed in the vehicles as well as on the sand tools themselves, they really do have everything you need for hours of creative and open-ended play.


We received the Sand-tastic Construction Set and Sand-tastic Castle Set and I knew immediately which kid would claim which set.  But, what did surprise me is that they ended up playing well together with both sets, creating an elaborate story in which the kingdom needed to be rebuilt and they hired “the Boss” construction foreman to craft them a castle and village.


You can find the Step2 Play and Store Sandbox and these fun new sand toys by Step2 directly on the Step2 website, Toys ‘R Us, select local retailers, and on Amazon.  The Play and Store Sandbox retails for $49.99 and the Sand-tastic Playsets retail for $12.99 each.

Thank you to Step2 for letting me test drive these items as part of the Step2 Test Drive Blogger program.  As always, all opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.