water table INDOORS??

[betsydenny]

We live in a small NYC apartment and have two water obsessed kids. They love to play in the sink and will for hours. Currently they stand on our wobbly chairs but that makes me nervous so I am thinking about alternatives. I am toying with the idea of getting a water table for our kitchen. I know most of you are learning tower fans, but $30-40 for the water table is sounding better to me than the $150 for the tower.

Has anyone tried using a water table inside? I would put down towels of course. Are there any other things I should think of other than this huge thing taking up much of my kitchen? I just know they will play with it for hours. and worse case scenario it goes to live at Grandpa's.

Obviously I just want water- no sand. There are two on Amazon that look ok. The just water one looks best. Does anyone have one that they do or do not recommend?
TIA for any input!
Betsy

[Beth568]

My DD loves to play with water, too, but we don't really have room for a separate table. I either let her stand on her stepstool in front of the bathroom sink, or I take a 15 gallon plastic storage box, fill it about halfway with water, and let her either play with it on the kitchen table or the floor. I put a cheap vinyl tablecloth on the floor under her chair and on the table top, and I have big towels around, and it works quite nicely. And, best of all, when it's out of sight, it's more or less out of her mind, so I don't have constant requests for her to play in the water.

And some days when we're stuck inside, I just pop her in the tub and let her play. If she gets to wear her swimsuit, she thinks it's the best treat ever! :D

[o_mom]

Could you put the table inside a plastic kiddie pool? We have the Step2 Waterwheel table and it would fit in a pool well, since it is round. I know it would be more storage issues, but it would keep the water from escaping under cabinets and such.

[luckymom]

I got this to use inside in our kitchen, it's an inflatable water play center. http://www.kidsurplus.com/intg02179.html My son loves it. I put a big beach towell under it, and use it in our kitchen on the tile (preferably on a day when i need to mop the floor anyways...) I got mine at our local toy store.




Have fun!
Lucy

[betsydenny]

OOH, that is cool! Tell me about inflating and deflating it. ALso, could you give me some rough measurements for it (2ftx2ft or 4ftx4ft?)

that looks like a good compromise between a massive(in my tiny apartment) but fun water table and just a big bucket or rubbermaid container (which is where I was headed next before I saw this!)

Does your DS climb into it? I feel like mine would.

Thanks so much!
Betsy

[luckymom]

Inflating it does take some time, you don't need a pump for it, but all the little buildings and lighthouses etc have their own plug, so although each only takes a breath or two, it takes a bit - maybe 10 minutes or so for me to inflate. I don't know about deflating it, because I have a place to keep it in the basement already inflated. The box says it's a 38 inch square. To fill it, I use a big pitcher, and only fill it just enough to cover the bottom enough for the boats to float by. My son is just 18 months, he doesn't try to get in, but he does like to try and scoop water out of the pool and pour it on the floor - he did this at the sink as well. To empty it, I just scooped up the water with the pitcher and dumped it in the sink.

Good luck
Lucy