It all began in late September as a question to the children . . . would you like to have a sandbox at school? 100% YES! And then came the million dollar question. . . would you be willing to work on it? Most everyone agreed to trade work for a sandbox. And so it began . . .

The first task was to transfer the pea gravel from the new sandbox area to the middle play area. The children filled buckets and wheelbarrows and within a week or so, working during their outside play time, had all the rocks removed.

We were soon to discover that was the easy part. Now the process of excavation was to begin. We were not prepared for the dirt, turned cement, under the pea gravel. The children were introduced to the pick ax as Mr. Ty worked to loosen the dirt so the children could shovel it. And then we were blessed with the rain. It did it’s job to soften the earth . . . but still, work slowed to an almost standstill.

That is until . . . Mr. Mark arrived with a truck full of timber, tools and a man-sized wheelbarrow. Once again there was renewed interest and eagerness to trade work for a sandbox.