REVIEW // Step 2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table

Troy has been absolutely obsessed with playing in the sink since we got him a bigger step stool that allowed him to reach the water. It's been a long winter in Ohio, and I have been less-than-patiently waiting for the warm weather. With Troy's second birthday coming up, we knew it was the perfect opportunity to get him the Step 2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table. It turned out to be an even better purchase than we expected!

Product: Step 2 Rain Showers Splash Pond Water Table (MSRP $69.99)
Where to find it: Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc
Grade: 4.5/5
TL;DR: My kid loves this table.

Just add water!

We planned to get Troy this water table for his birthday, but we opted to purchase it early because he was desperately in need of outside toys. He immediately took to it, but upon putting it together, it got cold, and we couldn't add water. He still had plenty of fun without water.

Speaking of putting it together, the process is pretty straight forward, and should be easy, but the lack of pilot holes made this much harder than it needed to be. We opted to skip screws all together after the first couple were a nightmare to screw in. It's almost certainly less safe that way, but so far, so good. I do not recommend ignoring manufacturer's instructions, and I can not stress that enough.

After a couple of weeks of playing with it sans water, we finally had a day in the high 70s, so we added water, and some Munchkin Little Boat Train bath toys ($5.99 MSRP) that we already had from bath time. He went nuts! He was splashing and dumping the water everywhere and kept handing me the bucket to dump in the top part... overall he was just having a great time. The only part that was difficult was peeling him away when it started to get cold out.

The table came with plenty of toys, but since I see this being our summer entertainment, I added the Munchkin boats, and have a few other items in mind. The additional toys are totally supplementary though, and not necessary.

The only con to this table is assembly. The lack of pilot holes made it a huge pain in the butt, and I didn't have the hand strength to do it due to my rheumatoid arthritis. I actually damaged a part because it required team work, and between my hand pain and Daddybot's impatience, things got messed up; it does not affect use so far. The price is pretty good for what you're getting, and I think we're going to get a couple of years of use by storing it inside during the winter (which will be easy; it's compact, and it could easily be disassembled).