CoolSand Natural 5 Pound Refill Pack - Including: 5 Pounds Moldable Indoor Play Sand, Storage Container and Inflatable Sandbox

So I have to say, when I purchased this, I was a bit skeptical of how well this was going to work. Let me say that this is one of the coolest things I have managed to find. So first this package deal was totally worth it. All of this comes very nicely packaged into the actual bucket that holds the sand. When you get into it, there is a little guide and some steps you can take if the sand is too dry or if you accidentally get it too damp. In my case I was able to get right to being played with no issues. It comes with this wonderful little blow up play area for the sand, which is a great idea. As luck would have it when my boys got to play with it, the weather was quite nasty outside for 2 days. I blew up the play area and let them play with the sand in the middle of the living room floor ( carpeted ) and what little mess there was, was very easy to clean up. The sand itself is pretty cool to play with and truly does not go everywhere. My boys got about 3 hours of play out of it, between plastic dino's and army men in the sand, this was a great thing to have indoors on a rainy weekend with very little to no mess. Also there are two bags of sand that comes with this and we have yet to open the second bag.

I actually bought both the 2 lb. pack and the 5 lb. Kinetic sand packaged set that has both a bucket and a plastic inflatable sandbox. My first purchase was the 2 lb. pack as I wanted to see if my 3 year-old grandson (who is almost 4) would have any interest. However, this activity is for his visits here at our home and since he loves playing with this sand so much, I reordered the 5 lb. packaged set as a ‘surprise’ gift for the holidays for him to take home. This kinetic sand is reminiscent of all the fun I had when I used to play with modeling clay a million years ago when I was a kid. However, this is even better, and it’s easier to work, as it does not harden, and it doesn’t break into little bits when working to model an object. This looks very similar to brown sugar, however, it is NOT sticky, and it does NOT stick to anything other than itself. Our hands remain clean and dry and without any sandy residue. Clean-up is a breeze and since it does not stick to anything we just pour it right back in the bag. It’s squeezable, and conforms to any shape, and allows my grandson to get creative as he pinches the sand to add some little details, and it’s just a fun and different thing to play. In addition, the sand comes with simple suggestions for maintenance due to the different humidity levels within our environment. This is a fool-proof way to keep the sand in perfect condition and just takes a few minutes to correct if the sand gets a little hard or too soft. This is a quiet activity from his other toys, the remote and friction cars, his ‘sports’ toys, the electric train, and other dancing, musical, bubble blowing and flashing lighted playthings. In addition, it’s much more fun than playing with his building blocks. I only bring out this kinetic sand when his one year old brother is napping, so this is a special time reserved for just my three year old grandson and me. Therefore, there is a second and unexpected advantage. My grandson now keeps very quiet while his brother is napping because he knows that I will put the kinetic sand away when his brother is around. I’ve told him that it’s not suitable for a one-year old and only appropriate for a ‘big boy’ like him, and that makes him feel a little special. As a personal recommendation, since I did buy both sizes, I would suggest that the 5 lb. package is a much better deal. There are two separate bags of the kinetic sand to equal 5 lbs. and this is more than twice as much. In addition, it comes with a bucket AND a 24” plastic inflatable tray with handles. When finished playing, the tray deflates and fits back in the bucket. Therefore, this packaged set contains everything, the sand, the tray to contain the sand, and the storage bucket, an all-inclusive set. Consequently, the 5 lb. package is a much better deal, as the last pound of sand along with the bucket and inflatable tray are basically free.

I bought this sand as a birthday present for my son who is turning 4. It's not his birthday yet, so the kids haven't had a chance to play with it, but I have played with it a little to verify it was good and to see how much I needed to fill the sand table that is also part of the gift. CoolSand appears to be great quality, though admittedly I have not played much with other brands. The sand does not stick to hands, it molds great, it is soft, and it is inexplicably fascinating when you gently pick it up and slowly let it fall back down. I am hoping that it makes a fun indoor activity for the kids in the winter. I wish it was less expensive, as it will take 3 of the 5 lb buckets to fill the sand table I bought, but it is less expensive than the other brands, so I guess that is just what it costs.

This stuff is REALLY cool! I would definitely recommend buying it, it's worth it! I plan on actually buying more. My kids, especially my oldest, has so much fun with his construction toys in it. Only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, is because although the sand material is amazing, the packaging was... well, crap. It was crap. The pictures I've included are when I opened the amazon box. One bucket was missing a lid AND an orange clamp that keeps a lid down. And both buckets were horribly broken as to be unusable with the sand. It was ok though, because I had purchased a separate storage container to keep all the sand in anyways so that my boys had enough space with the sand to play with their vehicles, and when they were done, I just close the lid. The sand has yet to dry out and I bought it awhile ago, even if I leave the lid off all day. I talked to my mother in law, who has bought the same type of stuff, and she's had hers for about 4 years now, she uses it to occupy the kids in Sunday school. I can't tell you if the inflatable sandbox part works, as I haven't even opened that part, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was crap too. Just know that when you purchase this product, you're basically buying the sand, not the other stuff that comes with it. STILL, it's worth it, and like I said, I'll be buying more to fill our storage container more for the boys.