Before I review the Step 2 Waterwheel Play table, allow me to digress….Right up there with favorite memories of playing in my next-door neighbor’s sand box on a Florida summer afternoon is playing in our backyard pool. The water was so refreshing and a fine escape from the heat of the day.

Then I grew up, had my own kids and am currently depriving them of the chance to cultivate fond pool memories.

Fortunately, now there are water tables like the Step 2 WaterWheel Play Table . The star of this unit is the elevated “pool” which holds 4 gallons of water. More than enough for my 5 year old to completely soak his little sister and give her diaper that lived-in look.

This outdoors toys is elevated to keep kids out of the dirt and mud, however, not too elevated that the little sister, aged 14 months, cannot participate.

Let’s take a look at the water wheel. It’s an ingenious contraption composed of a large funnel mounted above a wheel which will spin when water is poured into the funnel. This is very entertaining for children of all ages. They have a burning desire to see how long they can keep water in the funnel and the wheel spinning.

Thankfully, to keep the cups in you kitchen cupboards where they belong and out of the backyard Step 2 has included a cup and two sailboats. The two sailboats are a great idea for the family, like mine, which requires that siblings do what they do worst… share.

And when one gets their greedy grubby hands on bo...