Anyone done a dirt play area?

[hillview]

I am wanting to do a "dirt box" for DS (3 years) to dig in (and his brother who is 10 months will no doubt be joining him at some point soon). We have a smallish yard -- 30x40 feet. Anyone done this? Any recs on size? What to use to box it out (wood? Brick?)? Assuming I can just put soil down? Any special soil to not use etc?

TIA!
/hillary

[hellokitty]

Wow, you are a way cooler mom than I am. I get annoyed if my kids even play in a sandbox and are covered in sand from head to toe. We had a neighbor who used to have a dirt area for their son to play with. I don't think that they even boxed it out. They've since then moved and cleaned up the dirt area before they moved, so I can't see exactly what it looked like. However, I figure it wouldn't be hard to box one out if you really wanted to.

[elephantmeg]

under our playset we're doing 1/2 sandbox (using a covered turtle sandbox) and 1/2 gravel pit. We're framing it a little better and putting down landscape fabric. I like the idea of dirt-maybe we'll do some dirt with the gravel....

[fortato]

I would box it out, that way your DC would know that it's not ok to dig in the other parts of the yard.

Also, I would dig out about a foot of dirt from the area, you never know what's buried in there- (we dug out a space for Jack, and found rocks, glass, and some other fun stuff that he didn't need to be digging up.)
Buy top soil from a landscape place- it's cleaner and bug free- although, it won't be for very long, but you can't really avoid that.

[Tondi G]

you could also do pea gravel. I've heard it's lots of fun to dig in without all the mess.

[BeachBum]

Is there a real reason you want to do dirt and not sand? We have a built in sand box that DS zooms truck and such in. We let him use water in there too so he can "build" humps and stuff. Granted it doesn't stick together quite as well, but it's still fun.

DS plays in his just about everyday. The sand tracks quite enough mess in side, I couldn't imgaine dealing with real dirt.

Our sandbox is about 5ft by 4ft. I would consider it a very large sand box. (We took out a flower bed and just fit the sandbox in it's spot) We've had 4 or 5 kids in there without it seeming crowded. It is boxed in with wood and the sides have a board turned the other way on the top so it makes a seat around the edge. I'm not sure how deep the sand is, but he hasn't dug to the bottom (less than a foot I'd guess)

We keep a little rake in there, but don't have a lid. I pretty much check it (for critters, and poop) before I let him play. I've never found either.

[khm]

We're redoing our backyard extensively. Changing the grade, moving a retaining wall out to give us more flat yard, etc. So, at the moment we've got a mostly dirt yard. And, boy, do they love it!! We have neighbors over all the time to play in the dirt. There are terraces, ramps, etc.

Our yard it very, very wooded. So, even after the above project is done, they'll have dirt to play in.

You could build something for them now that could later be used as a planter or garden. That would be a nice 2 for 1. :)

[KrisM]

Why not sand instead? Just curious.

We have a big sandbox. It's made with 4x4 cedar and is 8 ft. by 8 ft. overall. We have had many kids in it at once.

I'd probably not use bricks to box it out because I'd be worried about injury on the bricks. Rounded corners on wood look safer to me.

[rlu]

we have a dirt area here at our house and at my folks for DS to "garden" in. My mom is a huge gardener and she dedicated a small area for him to dig around in while she works in the yard. She also has him help her when possible, of course, but he really likes having his own dirt area. At neither location is the dirt area boxed in, its just a specific area in each yard that is set aside for him.

He also has his own set of garden hand tools to work with.

I think a dirt area is a great idea - we do have a sand box for him at both places as well.

[hillview]

Thanks all! I am thinking of dirt as it seems easier than dealing with sand all over the back yard (am I insane?). It also seems like more fun to dig in etc. and when DS is done it turns into a planter. I know it will be dirty but also maybe a little less tracked all over the house.

Keep the good ideas coming!
Thanks!
/hillary

[hellokitty]

you could also do pea gravel. I've heard it's lots of fun to dig in without all the mess.

Kind of, it's still pretty messy. We have a huge area that is pea gravel where our swingset is, since our lot was sloped, we had to level and box out an area. The kids love playing with the pea gravel but a few issues are:

-if the kids wear sandals, the pea gravel is constantly getting into their shoes.
-younger kids eat it
-kids put it in their pockets and you find it in your laundry machine
-it is extremely dusty, their clothes and shoes are dusty after playing, it's been 2 yrs and it is still very dusty, I thought it would start to settle after a while.

BUT, it is still less annoying than dealing with sand or dirt/mud. My kids do love playing with it and they are always finding cool looking rocks and showing them to me.

[brittone2]

We have a sandbox, and then our entire play area is pea gravel (sandbox sits in the play area as well). The pea gravel is 10 inches or so deep. DS and DD (and every other kid that visits) love playing in the pea gravel. DS has one of those sandbox excavators that he uses in it, and both kids use the gravel with shovels, buckets, various "diggers" and dumptrucks, etc.