I spent about an hour at our local Home Depot store in the PVC pipe section trying to figure out how to make my own crazy cool DIY water play stand and this is what I came up with!
I had several employees stop by to ask if I needed help but I told them I just needed time to think through my plan. Here is what I found out about building with PVC pipes.
Making a Plan
First you need a plan. I had a plan in my mind but it might have been better if I drew it out on a piece of paper before I went to buy my PVC. A simple sketch of what you are trying to build will help you stay organized and it might even help the employees help you accomplish your goal.
A Little Learning
Second you need to learn the difference between types of PVC connectors.  After about 20 minutes of trial and error, I started to figure out the difference between a “threaded” connector and one without threads.  I made sure none of my connectors were threaded as it changed the size of hole in one end of the connector.
Choosing the Size
Third you need to choose the size of PVC pipes you want to work with. I chose 3/4″ pipes which meant I only needed to look through the 3/4″ connectors. I chose 3/4″ for two reasons:
- One is so I could cut the PVC pipe myself with a PVC hand cutting tool that I bought (it can’t cut any thing too thick but is perfect for 1″ and smaller PVC pipes).
- Two is so the stand would be sturdy enough to stand up. Too thin of PVC pipe is a bit flexible so it needed to be thick enough to stand up!
Putting Things Together and Enjoying the Play
And finally, before you head off to the store to buy PVC pipes, be sure to bring a tape measure and measure your students! My first attempt at building my stand ended up about 6 inches too tall so I had to shorten all the legs.
My students loved exploring water through the DIY water play stand. I simple placed the stand over my water table and added a few funnels and pitchers for play.
If you have any questions about our DIY water play stand, feel free to leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer them. Â I really should have taken photos of each piece and the steps as I went along but honestly, I was just working from trial and error.
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