Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

One question you need to ask is do you want one side sand and one side water, or do you want two sides with mud? You should decide otherwise your kids will decide for you. Seriously though, we have a 1, 3, and 5 year old and all three enjoy this. I'd say that ~8 years might be the upper limit at which point kids might start to get bored... UPDATE: I'd still stick with ~8 years as the upper limit, ours are now 3, 5, and 8 and it's clearly the younger two that enjoy this the most. We're not on about our 5th year with this.... I'd recommend not filling the sand side up all the way as the kids enjoy it just as much with only an inch or less of sand. Also you end up buying sand less often this way - it seems universal that they DO NOT want to keep the sand on the table. Note that there is a water drain ONLY on the "wet" side so you may have to bail the "sand" side out when they start moving the water around. It came with a few boats, bridges, etc. Naturally, Hot Wheels and other toys will end up here. Consider adding a few empty yogurt cups, plastic utensils, etc to the mix. It's amazing how much fun and unstructured play they can have with these. The umbrella is a nice touch as our deck is very sunny. If you don't need it for this toy you can still use it elsewhere as it's basically a beach umbrella with a shorter stick. The original umbrella is in a matching color, though if you need a replacement it seems Dollar stores sell one that is identical except for color. UPDATE: We bought another umbrella at Harbor Freight - same style except it tilts for better sun protection. My one complaint is that the top tends to collect water. It's designed to drain, but the top will sag, particularly because kids like to sit and stand on top. I put an empty yogurt container over the umbrella hole before I put the lid on and it helps prop up the top enough for (most of) the water to run out. UPDATE: After ~5 years outside it had collected some algae and mildew on the lid and sides, but a quick blast of the pressure washer this spring cleaned it up and now it looks as good as new! Otherwise very sturdy just like all Step 2 products. If you've found this review to be helpful or have questions/comments, please let me know!