Review: Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table, worth £59.99

Review written by Toddle About VIP Club member, Sophie Holford. I was really pleased to be given the opportunity to review the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table as my daughter loves water play – and with all the fantastic weather we’ve been having, it has been the perfect summer to try it out! The water table requires full assembly, which I had anticipated, but hadn’t quite realised how many bits would need putting together. The instructions felt a bit cryptic at times, and when we made a mistake it was quite an effort to take pieces apart again. Some sections, especially the hose that runs from the pump to the centre – which still looks more squashed than it should – were a bit tricky to connect, and others like the pipes and u-bends fall apart very easily. However, with a bit of teamwork during nap-time, and without falling out too seriously, my husband and I managed to get it all up and running.

Bright and colourful, the Fountain Factory Water Table didn’t disappoint! At two and a half years old, my daughter is very much at the lower end of who it is aimed at as she has neither the strength nor inclination to keep pressing the pump that is required to flow the water and work most of the functions, so this task fell to mummy! As this involves water, obviously any child playing with it would need strict supervision, so working the pump wasn’t a huge problem. Nevertheless, with a group of older children, this toy would really help encourage teamwork and turn taking. To start with, I wasn’t too convinced about the packaging’s claim of the Fountain Factory promoting STEM learning; however, I was very impressed at how quickly my daughter worked out that turning the switches would alter the direction of the water flow. She was quite easily able to manipulate different sections to get the water to do what she wanted according to her imaginative play. I’m not sure that the combinations are endless, but we were able to alter the pipe work somewhat, which is great for developing motor skills. Overall, I would recommend the Fountain Factory Water Table, as long as you have outside space for it. Whilst it claims to be for indoor use as well, it is very messy –pumping the water creates a lot of splashes, and some of the attachments spray water far beyond the edges of the table! We have had great fun with it so far, and hope this continues along with the good weather. Purchase from www.littletikes.co.uk