Does your offspring prefer sand cakes or sand castles? A self-made sandbox is the play paradise for your children in the garden.
This sandbox is equipped with a seat, a hanger for a basketball hoop and a self-made board and will delight your little ones. By the way, they can help a lot when shopping for the materials or filling them.
Do you have a lot of sun in the garden? Then this example with a roof is also a good solution for you.
Tools and Materials:
Tools:
- cordless drill driver
- Crosscut and miter saw
- 5-piece wood drill bit set, incl. 6 mm countersink wood drill bit
- Multi-sander incl. sanding sheet set
- Staple gun (incl. staples
Tools:
- scissors
- pencil
- carpenter’s angle
- screw clamps
- Paint roller with paint tray
- cartridge gun
- cutter
- Work gloves, safety goggles, hearing protection, face mask
- cover film
- stirring stick
- meter stick
Material list:
- 6 floorboards (tongue and groove connection) for the box, for example made of Douglas fir: 300 x 11 x 1.8 cm (LxWxH)
- 1 squared timber: 250 x 3.8 x 3.2 cm (LxWxH)
- 1 squared timber: 150 x 4.5 x 4.5 cm (LxWxH)
- 2 planks for the seat, for example made of Douglas fir: 300 x 14 x 1.8 cm (LxWxH)
- 10 floor boards for the sandbox lid (tongue and groove connection): 155 x 11 x 2 cm (LxWxH) each
- 2 smooth-edged boards for the sandbox lid: 300 x 9 x 1.8 cm (LxWxH)
- 1 floorboard for the side pieces of the lid, for example made of Douglas fir: 200 x 14 x 1.8 cm (LxWxH)
- 1 smooth-edged board as a “brake”: 150 x 10 x 2 cm (LxWxH)
- 60 wood screws: 4 x 35 mm (DxL)
- 12 wood screws: 4 x 45 mm (DxL)
- 2 hinges plus 20 matching screws: 4 x 35 mm (DxL)
- 2 eyebolts: 6 x 80 mm (DxL)
- line
- 10 washers: 4.3 cm (D)
- Chalkboard paint in black: approx. 175 ml
- Sheet metal, for example made of aluminium: 1000 x 600 mm (LxW)
- Installation glue
- 2 matching screws for the suspension: 5 x 60 mm (DxL)
- solid pond liner: 2.5 x 2 m (LxW)
- Sand for the sandbox
- basketball hoop
1.Measure and mark components
Put the pieces of wood for the individual components together according to their function. Then mark the required dimensions on the wood using a meter rule, carpenter’s square and pencil.
Tip: You can then use a piece of masking tape and a pen to mark the wood. This makes it easier to assign later.
For the front and back of the sandbox you need two of the following floorboards (tongue and groove connection):
142 x 11 cm (LxW)
142 x 9 cm (LxW)
142 x 8.4 cm (LxW)
The side parts of the Sandboxes are also built from three floorboards screwed together (tongue-and-groove connection). You need the following dimensions per side:
112 x 11 cm (LxW)
112 x 9 cm (LxW)
112 x 8.4 cm (LxW)
In order to be able to connect the floorboards to form a box, you also need ten squared timbers, slightly shorter than the height of the sandbox – in our case 28 cm long. The height results from the width of the three floorboards on top of each other.
You build the seat for the sandbox out of four planks. For a plank, make an angled cut (150 x 14 cm) at both ends. Then you saw two planks to a length of 115 cm, which only get an angle cut on one side. The rear wooden floorboard has the dimensions 120 x 5.5 cm.
For the lid you need:
8 floorboards (tongue-and-groove connection) measuring 155 x 11 x 2 cm (LxWxH)
1 floorboard (tongue-and-groove connection) measuring 155 x 7.5 x 2 cm (LxWxH)
1 floorboard (tongue and groove connection) measuring 155 x 4.5 x 2 cm (LxWxH)
2 smooth-edged boards as cross braces, each measuring 121.5 x 9 x 1.8 cm (LxWxH)
1 smooth-edged board: 107 x 7 x 2 cm (LxWxH) as a “brake” so that the lid does not fold over completely
You need 2 side parts to secure the lid made of a floorboard in the shape of a right-angled trapezoid: it is 3.5 cm long at the bottom and 14 cm on the opposite side. The height of the right-angled side is 60 cm, the obliquely opposite side becomes 61.5 cm. It is best to simply connect these points with the meter stick at the end.
2 squared timbers for the eyelet hole: 10 x 3.5 – 4 x 2.8 cm (LxWxH)
1 squared timber to hang up the basketball hoop: 45 x 4 x 3.5 cm (LxWxH)
2.Sawing and sanding wooden floorboards
After you have marked all the dimensions, you saw the wood. To do this, clamp the wooden strips in the chop and miter saw. Precise cuts are possible with this saw and miter and angle cuts are particularly easy. Alternatively, you can use a hand or table circular saw.
The planks for the seat or the frame of the sandpit are provided with an angle cut. This means: The planks are sawn in such a way that a right angle results when they are joined at the joints. Unlike the miter cut, they are sawn off straight – viewed from top to bottom. You saw the floorboards with the tongue and groove connection with a miter cut, i.e. the wood is sawn off at an angle over the entire width. The dimensions apply to the outer side, i.e. the longer edge of the boards.
Once you have sawed all the wooden floorboards and squared timber to size, sand all the rough saw edges smooth with the multi-sander. It is best to fix them to the work surface with screw clamps to prevent them from slipping.
3.Assemble sandbox with seat
Now the self-made sandpit is made from the prepared wooden floorboards: Put three floorboards together using the tongue-and-groove principle and screw them in the corners with squared timber to create a square frame. To make screwing easier, clamp the wooden strips and the squared timber with screw clamps so that nothing slips when screwing. Also pre-drill and countersink the holes.
After you have assembled the box, attach the seat. To do this, take the four wooden floorboards that you partially sawed to size with an angle cut. Put them together as shown in the picture and fix them with screws from above in the tongue and groove boards.
To secure the lid later, use a 6 mm wood drill to drill a hole in 10 cm squared timber, which you then mount on both sides under the seat of the sandpit – you can sink the eyebolts into them as soon as the lid is open.
4.Attach the pond liner to the underside of the sandpit
So that the sand box can also be filled with sand, the box has a bottom made of thick pond liner. First measure the area and cut the foil accordingly. Then you fasten the film to the edge of the underside with the stapler.
5.make board
You create a writable and magnetic surface out of thin sheet metal and black chalkboard paint. It is easiest if you buy the sheet metal in a standard size or have it cut directly at the hardware store. Sand the sheet metal so that the paint adheres better. Then carefully remove the dust.
Stir the paint with a stir stick and pour it into a paint pan. Then apply the paint evenly and let everything dry well.
6.Assemble the lid
Now you build the lid for the sandbox: First, put the floorboards together using the tongue and groove connection and then screw two wooden floorboards tight as cross braces. Then you fasten an eyebolt, which is tied to a string, in the middle, about 10 cm from the lower edge, on the trapezoidal side parts. To do this, use a washer and pre-drill the hole with a 6 mm wood drill bit.
The eyebolts serve as a pin: when the lid is open, the eyebolts are inserted into the holes in the seat – this prevents the lid from closing.
Then use the long wood screws to screw the finished side pieces to the lid of the self-made sandpit. Then you attach the hinges to the long side of the lid and to the frame of the sandpit with suitable screws.
Finally, attach the board to the inside of the lid with assembly adhesive and assemble the basketball hoop. Finished!
