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Those big plastic balls like in ball pits have got to be cheaper than that...

I bet 30 or 40 of these http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267575 would fill it right up for around $500...

I've heard of beans, rice and cornmeal for indoor sandboxes but they might not be practical for outdoor. I'd check craigslist for good deals on landscaping leftovers or call small towns nearby to find out if there are quarries or sand suppliers you could get a better deal from.

Maybe you should fill it as you can with those 50 lb bags at Toys R Us. They're around $5/bag, and I imagine the kids would happily scoot it around as needed and play with $50 worth. That'd still be a LOT of sand, and if you needed more, you could add $5 or $10 worth as you wanted.

I just used a landscaping calculator and put in the exact dimensions, along with filling it 8 inches deep, which will be more than plenty. Lowe's has play sand for approximately $4/50lb bag...$3.68 at our local store to be exact. $150 would fill the sandbox according to those measurements. Hardly $5000. It came out to 45 bags by the way. But definitely shop around. I think sand is totally doable, just not from where ever you received that quote! For $5000, you better be able to pan for gold in it!

turn it into a vegetable garden for them.

Kiran - I urge you to recheck your math on that one! By my calculations you'll need approximately 1 cubic yard of sand (a little less actually). You'll save money by not buying sand at a homecenter - instead look around for a landscape supply company that sells mulch, gravel, sand and soil by the yard (they usually deliver too). My local yard
http://www.mtscottfuel.com/ROCK%20&%20SOIL.html sells sand for $32 per cubic yard or will deliver it for $85. Rent or borrow a pick up truck for the afternoon and have a wheelbarrow and a shovel ready and you could have a great sandbox!

You could look into subdividing the sandbox, and only filling part of it. The other part could be used for storage for other yard toys, or a place to take shoes on and off, or for adults to sit. The vegetable garden idea sounds really neat.

74x64 feet or inches?

Call your local landscape company.

Last summer I had enough leveling sand (the same kind you'd need) to even out the turf under an 18' swimming pool for about $125. You just need to be sure you either have clearance for them to pull into your yard to dump or wheelbarrows to make quick work of the transfer.

I wouldn't go buying individual bags of sand. Buy bulk.

We have a huge area of our yard filled with pea gravel. My boys love to dig in it.

i agree on subdividing; pea gravel, sand; small pool or tub of water; garden........? i also agree that is an unbelievable quote. i would not go with that company.

I just had my 8 foot square sandbox filled for $90 delivered from a landscape contractor. However if you really do have a 74 FOOT by 64 FOOT sandbox, I would say no thank you. That thing is too dang big! You'll lose the kids in there! There are city parks smaller than that.

I thought that you weren't supposed to use landscaping sand because it has something in it (silcates?) that are bad for kids to breathe in. So sand labeled specifically as "play sand" is preferred because its composition is different. Anyone know about this?

I'm guessing it's 74 feet by 64 feet, since the question describes it as "huge". I have a hard time imagining someone describing a 6'2"x5'4" sandbox as huge.

What a neat idea to divide it!

Is it really 74 feet by 64 feet?

I don't think a 6x5 FEET sandbox is huge either.

I thought that you weren't supposed to use landscaping sand because it has something in it (silcates?) that are bad for kids to breathe in.

Silica is a natural element. The exposure warnings about breathing in fine silica dust particles are for construction workers who use sandblasting, for example, at construction sites . Playing in sand is not the same thing.

From the Berkeley Parents Network:
Silica is not inherently carcinogenic. Small particles are. Any inhalable materials-- smoke, silica, asbestos, even hay-- can lead to lung cancer if inhaled regularlly over many years. Sand consists of large particles of silicates and aluminosilicates (0.05-2 millimeters). Inhalable particles are in the 0.0001 millimeter size range. The percent of inhalable particles, silica or other, present in ANY bag of sand is not likely to be large enough for concern.

How would one transport a sandbox 74 feet by 64 feet?

pretty sure it's just the 6x5 foot sandbox she's referring to... when compared to the plastic tub sandboxes, 6x5 is huge. but there's no way it's gonna cost 5k to fill it.

this has to be the biggest sandbox of all time. i totally want to come over and play in it. it's like an adults party sandbox!

I'm imagining midnight runs with a truck and shovel to local playgrounds.... he he he!
Try explaining THAT to the police!

Let's have beach party!

can't be 74 feet X 64 feet, that's a house!

I gotta say, suck it up and invest in the sand. You're making wonderful childhood memories for your kids, and that sand will last for years. Heck, I still messed in our [admittedly smaller] sandbox well into my teens. I really, really loved that sandbox, and so did all my friends.