Water Wheel: TRU Review

With the sun blazing in the sky today, it feels appropriate to post this review of the Step2 Water Wheel Play Table.

This item came separately to the main box of products to review, and thankfully after The Boy's birthday because we had actually give him the Step2 Sand and Water table as his present! He was absolutely beside himself as daddy opened up the packaging to the Water Wheel Table, he really was desperate to get into it and tried to help as much as possible.

As with many of the Step2 products, assembly is extremely easy; the three sturdy legs just push up into the holes and click into place. That is the biggest bit of assembly required! The water wheel table (suitable for 1year +) is a large round table which sits very nicely at waist height (for my two year old) off the ground. It isn't height adjustable, however what I would say is that Boy Cousin plays with it alonside The Boy, and he is five and very tall. I also think that for younger or shorter children, you could remove the legs and have them sit on the floor to play with it.

Accesories that come with the table include a water wheel (obviously!), a blue cup that rests on the top of the water wheel to control the flow of water, a pouring cup and two small plastic sailboats. It is bright and colourful and very attractive. The water play area consists of two pools of water, one higher than the other, and they are connected together on one side by a slope which the boats can travel down. The water wheel is on the opposite side to the ramp so in theory a boat can be placed on the top pool, water poured into the water wheel and then the boat travels down the slope.

I've tried the table out now for the last three weeks with a variety of children; Boy Cousin, The Boy, Fiery Girl Cousin and my baby and toddler group. These children have ranged in age from just 1 year old to 5 years old. All have loved playing with it and have gravitated towards such a simple toy. This is an excellent recommendation by itself.

There are a couple of small points to make about the Water Wheel Play Table:

• The 1 year old boy who played with it had great difficulty not knocking the water wheel out of position; it rests in place and really could do with a clip or catch of some sort to prevent it from coming out of place.
• The boats take on water incredibly easily and capsize. They also don't flow down the ramp easily because the top of the ramp is a little bit too high for them to glide over, unless you fill the table to capacity.
• Filling the table to capacity will make it extremely difficult to empty because there is no plug! As I've mentioned, we' ve got the Step2 sand and water table and there are plugs in both halves. This makes it easy to collect the water in a bucket and dispose of in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner. Emptying the Water Wheel Table is tricky and invariably wastes water.
• There is no cover, which is something that Step2 supply on other products. This means that the toys need removing over night, and the table can get quite dirty.

These things would make the Step2 Water Wheel Table a '10/10', and easier for parents to use with their children. As it is at the moment, I'd give it a '8/10'. Initially I'd have said a '7', but The Boy has not stopped playing with it, so I'll be generous!

The Step2 Water Wheel Play Table is available from Toys R Us at the moment of the bargain price of £34.99 (was £44.99) and is suitable for children 1 years old +.

We were provided with this product for review purposes. Our opinions are honest and our own.