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If there is a small child in the house, you cannot do without a playground. Not every parent can build a swing or slide, but you can install a sandbox in the yard. And you don’t have to spend money purchasing expensive materials. A sandbox made from car tires will cost parents absolutely free. Alternatively, you can find a large tractor tire. Then you won’t have to design anything. All you have to do is fill the tire with sand. But first things first, and now we will look at different options for making a sandbox from old tires.
Why are old tires often used to make children's playgrounds?
Residents of large cities rarely face the problem of organizing children's leisure time. The installation of playgrounds is carried out by the relevant companies. In the private sector, parents have to independently arrange a place for their children to relax, and in order to somehow save their budget they resort to various tricks. Wooden sandboxes look beautiful, but a good board is expensive.Resourceful parents adapted old car tires for these purposes. Sandboxes made from tires have their advantages over their wooden counterparts:
- Old tires will be free, which means parents won’t spend a penny on making a play area.
- If the parent does not have the skills to make shaped sandboxes from tires, you can get by with one large tire.
- You can build a sandbox from car tires very quickly, and you don’t need many tools.
- Tire rubber is much softer than wood. Parents can safely leave their child to play without fear that he will hit the edge of the side.
- Small car tires are easy to cut. From them you can make many figures that decorate the sandbox.
- Unlike wood, tires do not rot. The sandbox can be exposed to rain, scorching sun and severe frost for years.
No matter how many advantages are listed, the main point is the safety of the child. The rubber is soft, and the likelihood of a child getting injured when playing in the sandbox is reduced to zero.
Sandbox placement guidelines
Before you rush to make a sandbox out of tires with your own hands, you need to think about where to place it. It is clear that a small child should always be supervised. For these reasons, it is worth placing the playing area in a clearly visible area. However, there is another problem - the sun. Constant exposure of the child to rays will provoke sunstroke. Plus, on a hot day, the tire will get very hot and give off an unpleasant rubber odor.
There are two ways to solve the problem with the sun:
- If there is a large tree in the yard, a tire sandbox can be installed under its crown. The child will play in the shade all day, but at night the sand will have to be covered to prevent foliage from attacking it. For these purposes you will have to build a lid. The question of choosing such a place may not be suitable if the tree is a fruit tree. This is due to a large number of pests, such as caterpillars. They will fall on the child. In addition, the tree will be sprayed periodically, and contact of sand with poison is dangerous for the baby’s health.
- When a sunny area is the only suitable place to install a tire sandbox, then the design will have to be slightly improved. A small mushroom-shaped canopy is placed over the tire. The size is enough to shade the playing area. The simplest canopy can be made from a beach umbrella.
Having decided on the location, they begin to make a sandbox from tires.
What you need to make a sandbox
There is an opinion about the toxicity of tires, as if they are dangerous to health. However, in terms of harmfulness class, tires are in the same place as vinyl wallpaper, which covers the walls of almost every home. If we approach this issue scrupulously, then the most toxic substances are emitted by old, heavily worn tires. When choosing tires, you need to pay attention to this nuance. The less wear the rubber has, the safer it is when used even in the sun.
Tires will fit any size. Small tires will have to be cut into segments and then stitched into one large frame.A large tractor tire can be used as a ready-made sandbox. You can find such goodness at a nearby landfill or by visiting a tire shop. It is better to give preference to tires without visible damage, as well as those smeared with fuel oil or oils.
To make a sandbox you will need a piece of plumbing insulation or a simple rubber hose. They are used to trim the cut areas on the tire. Rubber cutting is performed with a sharp knife and a metal file.
When making a structure from small tires, you will need bolts and wire to sew the workpieces together. The play area should delight the child with bright colors, so you need to prepare several aerosol cans with waterproof paints.
Three options for making a sandbox from old tires
Now we will look at three options for making a sandbox out of tires, but regardless of the chosen model, several basic requirements must be met:
- A small hole is dug under the sandbox. This will prevent the tire from moving to the side. If you are using a large tire, you can use the indentation to adjust the height of the bead so that it is easier for your child to step over it.
- Before filling the sand, geotextiles or black agrofibre are placed on the bottom. You can use film, but then it needs to be slightly holed in places so that rainwater does not stagnate, but is absorbed into the soil. The lining will prevent sand from mixing with the soil, and will also prevent weeds from sprouting.
- The finished structure is filled with clean sand. It can be river or collected from a quarry.
Taking these requirements as a basis, we begin to manufacture the sandbox.
Single large tire design
There is enough space for one small child to play in the sandbox from one large tractor tire. An example of such a design is shown in the photo. The playing place is made according to the following principle:
- On one side of the tire, the side flange is cut off with a sharp knife close to the tread. As a last resort, you can leave a small curved edge.
- The rubber hose is cut lengthwise and put on the cut site near the tread. It can be secured with glue or stitched with copper wire.
- If the sandbox is expected to move around the site, it is not buried. Plywood or other moisture-resistant and durable material is placed under the tire. The lining will prevent sand from spilling out while the tire is moving.
- The finished structure is decorated with multi-colored paints. On the side you can attach additional elements from small tires that imitate the figure of a turtle, crocodile or other animal.
To prevent yard cats from staining the sand, you need to take care of a light cover.
Sandbox in the shape of a flower
An adult child or if there are several children in the family will need more space to play. You can increase the size of the sandbox using small tires from a passenger car. Using a hacksaw, the tires are cut into two equal semicircles. At the cut site there will definitely be nylon threads and a metal wire in the form of a wire sticking out. This all needs to be cleaned out so that the child does not get hurt.
The resulting half rings are painted from spray cans with paints of different colors.When they are dry, the blanks are laid out on a flat area in the shape of a flower, and each segment is stitched with wire or bolted together. Near the resulting sandbox, you can make chairs and a table from thick stumps.
Figured sandbox on a frame
A frame will help give the sandbox an unusual shape. This concept means the manufacture of a board from any material. It must bend well so that the sandbox can be given any shaped shape. The finished frame is dug into the ground and the top trim begins.
Small car tires are cut into three equal pieces. The blanks are cleaned from the protruding court, after which they are painted with multi-colored paints. The dried elements are placed on the end of the installed frame, and the side shelves are secured with bolts on both sides. An example of a round shaped sandbox is shown in the photo.
The video shows a sandbox made of tires:
Conclusion
Each version of the considered sandbox can be supplemented with various amenities at your discretion. This refers to the installation of a roof, umbrella, benches and other devices.
