Frequently Asked Questions

  • It's built to actually work. Most beach toys break the first time a kid puts real weight on them. Ours are made from food-grade silicone. Sturdy enough to dig wet sand, soft enough to be safe on little hands, and they won't snap or crack after a season at the beach.

    The bucket is the largest silicone beach bucket on the market, with dual handles for balance and a patented wave-cutout lid that doubles as a sand sieve (and, it turns out, a decent frisbee).

    The tools are designed for actual sculpting, not just scooping. The trowel, shovel, and cutting tool are shaped after real artisan tools, so kids and adults can build sandcastles with detail you genuinely can't get from a plastic set.

    The color is intentional. We picked sun-glow orange because it's the most visible color on a beach — easy to spot from across the sand, and easy for a kid to find their own bucket in a crowd.

    Designed and engineered in the Okanagan, where we test every prototype on the same lakes that inspired the set.

  • Local pickup (Kelowna / West Kelowna): you can grab your order at Baked by Cindy, our local bakery partner (and yes, my wife's bakery). Skip the shipping cost, say hi, grab a pastry while you're there.

    Retail: we're working on getting Erth Play into shops around the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland. If you own a store and want to carry it, email us at hello@erthpd.com — we'd love to chat.

  • Everything you need for a serious day of building:

    • Dual-handle bucket — the largest silicone beach bucket on the market (3.5L), with two handles so it's easy to carry when full of wet sand or water.

    • Wave-sieve lid — doubles as a sand sifter and a lid for packing up. Also flies pretty well as a frisbee.

    • Shovel — for digging and scooping, with a reinforced spine that won't bend under wet sand.

    • Trowel — for sculpting, smoothing, and packing walls.

    • Carving tool — for adding detail: lines, textures, windows, whatever your kid (or you) wants to carve into a castle.

    Five pieces, all silicone, all fit inside the bucket for the walk back to the car.

  • Designed for kids ages 3 and up. Like any beach toy, it should be used with adult supervision — never leave a child unattended near water.

    The playset complies with ASTM and CCPSA toy safety standards.

  • Yes. The silicone holds up in both fresh and salt water — sandy lake beach, ocean shore, backyard kiddie pool, all fair game. Just give it a rinse with fresh water when you get home to keep it looking its best.

  • Right now, just one: sun-glow orange. We picked it because it's the most visible color on a beach — easy to spot from across the sand, and easy for a kid to find their own bucket in a crowd.

    More colors may come down the road. If you'd like to be the first to know, sign up for our newsletter.

  • A lot more than you'd expect from a beach toy. Some of what people have built with it:

    • Big sandcastles — the 3.5L bucket holds enough sand to make a real centerpiece, not just a sad lopsided lump.

    • Sculptures with actual detail — the trowel smooths and packs walls, and the carving tool draws lines, windows, scales, whatever your kid is into. Real sculpting, not just patting sand.

    • Deep digs and moats — the shovel has a reinforced spine for getting through wet sand without bending.

    • Sifting for shells and beach treasures — the wave-cutout lid doubles as a sieve. Surprisingly meditative.

    • A frisbee, when you're done — the lid flies.

    It's just as fun in a backyard sandbox or by the lake as it is at the ocean. And when you're packing up, the tools fit inside the bucket and the lid clicks on top — one thing to carry back to the car.

  • The Erth Play Beach Playset has been independently tested by Intertek, one of the world's leading product safety and compliance labs. We're fully compliant for sale in Canada and the US.

    The results, in plain English:

    • All eight regulated phthalates: not detected.

    • All eight regulated heavy metals — including lead, cadmium, and mercury: not detected.

    • No PVC, no surface coatings, no scrapable paint (so nothing to chip, peel, or leach).

    • Passed mechanical and physical safety testing (drop, impact, tension, compression).

    • Passed flammability testing under ASTM F963-23.

    Standards we comply with:

    • 🇨🇦 Canada: CCPSA Toys Regulations (SOR/2011-17), Consumer Products Containing Lead Regulations (SOR/2018-83)

    • 🇺🇸 US: CPSIA 2008, ASTM F963-23, California Proposition 65 (lead and phthalates), Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Act (410 ILCS 45)

  • A few reasons, all of them practical.

    It's safer for kids. Silicone is soft and flexible, so it doesn't shatter into sharp edges the way brittle plastic does. Our Intertek testing confirmed that all eight regulated phthalates and all eight regulated heavy metals (including lead, mercury, and cadmium) were not detected in the product. No BPA, no PVC.

    It outlasts plastic by years. Most cheap plastic beach sets are designed to fail — flex, crack, snap, and end up in a landfill after a season or two. Food-grade silicone is genuinely durable: it doesn't get brittle in the cold, doesn't warp in the heat, and shrugs off wet sand, salt water, and rough handling.

    It doesn't shed microplastics. This is the part of the "eco" story that actually matters. When plastic toys break down on a beach, they shed microplastic particles into the sand and water. Silicone doesn't do that.

    It feels good to use. Silicone has a slightly soft, grippy surface that's easier on small hands than hard plastic, and we tuned the hardness in different parts of the set so the tools are stiff enough to dig and the bucket is sturdy enough to carry full of water.

    It's more expensive to make than plastic. We picked it anyway, because it's the right material for a toy you actually want to keep.

  • Honestly, it's complicated.

    Silicone is technically recyclable, but most curbside programs in Canada and the US won't take it. GoSili's free mail-in program is the most accessible option we know of for consumers.

    The bigger point: silicone is built to last for years. Unlike plastic, it doesn't get brittle, doesn't shed microplastics, and won't end up in a landfill after one summer.

    If your playset ever reaches the end of its life and you can't find a recycler, email us at hello@erthpd.com — we'd rather you send it back to us than throw it out.

  • Yes. We back the Erth Play Beach Playset with a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects.

    If something in your set fails due to a defect within the first year of purchase, email us at hello@erthpd.com with a photo and your order info, and we'll send you a replacement at no cost.

    If something breaks under normal use that isn't a manufacturing defect — please still email us. We'd rather hear about it and figure something out than have you stuck with a broken set.

  • Please see Returns & Refunds

  • Please see Shipping & Delivery