Playground?

[Blackcat31]

I agree

Uugh. I didn't think about the cats/litter box aspect. Yuck.

Wow, that is a bummer that you guys have an issue with neighbor cats.

We have a leash law here that includes cats. We have several neighbors with cats but none of them roam free.

I have a 14 foot x 14 foot sand box that is THE most favorite thing played with outside. I don't have to cover it because I don't have to worry about cats.

We also get washed sand for free from our local sand/gravel pit. The only catch is they won't load it for you and you have to do it yourself.

[midaycare]

Wow, that is a bummer that you guys have an issue with neighbor cats.

We have a leash law here that includes cats. We have several neighbors with cats but none of them roam free.

I have a 14 foot x 14 foot sand box that is THE most favorite thing played with outside. I don't have to cover it because I don't have to worry about cats.

We also get washed sand for free from our local sand/gravel pit. The only catch is they won't load it for you and you have to do it yourself.

I'm not sure if I would have an issue with cats or not. We live on 7 acres, so I'm not overly concerned about it. But we do have a lot of wildlife on our property. I wouldn't want any of them to poop in it either.

[Jack Sprat]

I agree

Disagree...Our sand box is huge, can't remember exact measurements but, it took 22 tons of sand to fill it. The neighborhood cats don't mess with at all. I do check it every morning and in almost a year haven't found a thing. It was by far the cheapest thing to have for covering. I believe we spent $250 on it. I don't mind the sand everywhere, we empty shoes etc outside. I thought about wood chips but, those hurt to sit on I think.

[Chellieleanne]

This makes me wonder if there are laws here about play equipment and padding. I have to do my research! Right now since I only have a slide and ride on toys I just have foam mats covering the cement. However I am not licensed yet either so it isn't a huge concern of mine either. I know at the parks around me they just have this squishy foam stuff that gets ripped up easily down to the cement which is maybe 4" and leaves little chunks every where. Where I lived previously they just had the climbing structures on the cement I think(at the daycare I worked at) no padding at all, then a separate sand box. A lot of the parks were converting from sand to wood chips though.

However I would probably choose wood chips. I hate sand, it makes such a mess! However it wouldn't be worth the hassle to me. I would just as soon get rid of large play equipment.