In this play space critique, we’re looking at play sinks. Such sinks are delightful additions to outdoor play spaces since they serve as anchors for water, sand, mud, and other sensory play.

We’ll look at six play sinks. I built two of them and snapped photos of the others in my travels. All six are custom-made, most use recycled materials, and four are built to have working water faucets. Similar sink setups would be easy and economical to construct in both center-based and family child care settings. Let’s take a look.

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I built this one. It’s huge. Each section is about eight feet long. The sinks porcelain-covered cast iron. Garden hoses can be attached to the spigots to provide running water. The frame’s made of kid-safe pressure treated lumber. The finish wood is mostly cedar. The program I built it for wanted lots of counter space for mud pie making.

There’s also lots of storage for all those awesome loose part underneath.

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This one’s smaller. It’s solidly built and has a great look. I think this was at an Australian program. The removable totes make sense. They can be popped out for easy filling and cleaning. If you give something like this a go, I recommend using these Rubbermaid utility totes (Affiliate Link) or something comparable –they’re super heavy-duty and will stand up to lots of play.

The bar with the hanging utensils is a good idea. If you give this a go, make sure the bar is plenty strong. You could build something a bit more durable than this bar with galvanized pipe and fittings. It could use a bit more counter space. Space for setting containers while scooping and pouring.

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I built this one too. For a toddler playground. Those log slices are over 30 inches (ca. 76 cm) across. It’s plumbed for running water. The but of hose on the tap was intended to make it easy to fill containers and spray water around.

I cut the lollipop-looking cutout on the right with a router. It’s angled, so water will drain away in a cute little stream.

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I think these last three play sinks were all in Australia, too. This one is so simple–a recycled bathroom sink plopped into a large planter. If I recall correctly, there was a larger water/mud play area nearby. This was meant–I think–as a supplemental sink. Used both for sensory and dramatic play.

The way it’s nestled in amongst the plants is really inviting.

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So many play sinks. This one appears to be a stainless steel recycled sink stuck on top of some sort of ceramic recycled sink to form a double-decker sink . It’s plumbed for hose water–you can see the connection underneath.

Construction couldn’t be simpler. Level the ground a bit. Plop down some concrete blocks. Add the sink. Done. There’s a wooden work surface on the right. And look at that collection of loose parts!

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And finally–a couple tires, a junk shop sink, and it’s time to play.

So simple. But you can tell it gets used. This proves that play sinks (and play spaces in general) don’t have to be fancy to be fun and functional.

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The Play Sinks Wrap-Up

I think the prime takeaway is that if you want a play sink, it’s 100 percent doable. Not only doable, but easily doable and inexpensive. I’m sure that we’ll circle back around to look at more play sinks if this series of posts continues for any length of time.

Have thoughts on the photos–or thoughts on our thoughts? Share them in the comments. You can also reach out to share photos for future critiques. You’ll find more play space critiques here.

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