Review: Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table

(Gifted for Review) What is it about toddlers and water? As soon as my youngest could crawl she made straight for the cat’s water bowl to have a splash and the interest has never waned. Some children refuse to wash their hands, I struggle to get Little to turn the tap off. We were sent a Little Tikes Fountain Water Table to review and it's a great alternative to annoying the cat or running up our water bill. 

A side view of the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table showing lots of colourful and clear tubing
Toddler playing with a Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table


Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Play Table Review


The Fountain Factory Water Table is lots of fun. From the moment I started to assemble it my toddler wanted to start to play with it. When I put it in the garden filled with water she played for ages. I’m looking forward to having more sunny days when she can play with it for longer without me worrying her hands will get too cold.

A toddler standing back and looking at the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table
The bright and colourful water table is a good height for toddlers and preschoolers

I love the bright colours and all the different features of the water table, you can even move the pieces around for variety.  It’s large enough for children to play with together, but still entertaining for children when playing on their own . It’s a great height for my recently turned two year old although she has to stand on her tip toes if she wants to pour water into the funnel. My 6 year old is happy playing with it too although she is a bit too tall to stand comfortable, but she is outside the target age range of the toy.

Close up of a toddler trying to pour water into a funnel and getting splashed
Prepare to get wet

Looking down on the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table
There are lots of activities so several children can play at once


Features of the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table


Around the edge of the table top there is a pump, a pop up and a dump bucket. In the middle there is a central bubble tube with a funnel at the top and 3 valved tubes coming out at the bottom which lead to a spray hose, a sprinkle stick and a spout. There is also a boat, cup and funnel to play with. To use most of the functions you need to pump the water which makes it go into the funnel and runs down the central bubble column. Where the water goes next depends which valve you have open: it might come out the hose or spout which lets you fill up the the pop up or dumper bucket or it can come out of the sprinkler. The sprinkler has a spinometer and 4 sprinkler settings which you can easily change between by twisting the end of the stick.  If you pump hard and fast the water will shoot out the top of the funnel and down the spinners, or even splash you. There is a good chance you will end up doing all the pumping so that they can play with the water as it takes a bit of effort.

A toddler pumping the pump on the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table
Pump the water up from the tray and it runs down into the various tunnels

View of a toddler through sprinkler on the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table
Where the water comes out depends on which valves are open

On hot days you can set the table up so that water shoots out at the children playing with it or you can direct all the spouts inwards minimising how wet people get. Of course getting wet is part of the fun, but a waterproof may be needed on cooler days. 

When you have finished playing you can empty the water out through the drainage plug meaning you don't need to try and tip it upside down. The drain can be left open so rain water runs straight out too.

close up of pouring water from an orange cup into the dumper bucket
There are also various cups to tip and pour water

Assembling the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table


Like all the larger Little Tikes items the Fountain Factory Water Table requires assembly. If you have ever attempted to put together a Cozy Coupe or one of the houses then you will be happy to hear that the water table is considerably easier, but it still takes a while. The only complication I had was that they have changed part of the instructions to make assembling the pump easier, but both instructions are in the box so I partially assembled it the older, more challenging way, then had to backtrack a bit when I got stuck and found the updated instructions.

In total it took me 32 minutes from opening the box to completing assembly of the 32 pieces and that is with the confusion over the instructions and the help of a toddler. All of the pieces click into place apart from pop-up base which needs to be screwed in. Even if you don’t have a screwdriver handy you could assemble it all and just add that bit later. The fiddly bits are putting in the drain plus and attaching the pump tubing, but as they require patience rather than force I managed them on my own (I couldn't have assembled our Little Tike Cozy Coupe Dino by myself).

The Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table
Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table Received To Review

Storing and cleaning the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table


With it’s sturdy structure the water table doesn’t easily come apart and because of the way it clicks together there is a risk of damage if you try and take it apart, but we have removed the fountain section in the middle for storage out of season. 

(Update) When new the Fountain Factory looks bright and clean, but if your children are anything like mine it wont stay that way. After a few weeks ours got leaves stuck in the tubes as they decided to stick them in the top and not all of them were in locations I could take it apart to clean. Don't make the mistake of leaving water in it either as the tubes etc are really hard to rinse through. To keep it in good condition empty and clean after each use and if you want to keep water in it for several days in the summer then use some appropriately diluted pool treatment to stop growth of algae. While it doesn't look so good when it's a bit grotty it is still fine to play with and several years later ours is still played with.

The Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table is a great way to get children playing outside. It encourages STEM learning and is lots of fun. Little Tikes also do STEM toys for older children in their STEM Jr range.
 
***Disclosure: we were sent the Little Tikes Fountain Factory Water Table for review and all thoughts are our own. It is available to buy from a range of stores including Smyths, Very and Amazon (Affiliate link).***

9 comments

  1. Oh wow this looks incredible, I love water tables, but I have never seen anything as amazing as this.

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  2. Oh wow this is a pretty epic water table! xx

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  3. At 8 my son still loves a water table. It's the only thing that keeps him in one place for a while. I can't wait for the warmer weather for water play again

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  4. This looks amazing! You can beat Little Tikes for great ideas for kids.

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  5. Oh wow looks amazing i know my three would just love this!

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  6. Oh I love this! Jack (and Harry) would love one. It’s got so many elements to keep them amused which I haven’t seen before x

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  7. Hi guys I’m busy putting this up for my nephew (3yr old) can any one tell me what the little screw is for?? I cant see on the instructions what it’s for 😏 thanks x

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    1. Hi, Sorry only just seen this. it's for the blue bit at the bottom of one of the 3 bits that go round the outside (the pop up one)

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