It’s not complicated: kids + sand + toy trucks = hours of independent playtime. But a new playspace is taking that childhood pastime to the next level.
Opening on April 1, Little Diggers in Des Peres (13347 Manchester) is billed as “your neighborhood’s largest indoor sandbox.” It’s made for kids who just can’t get enough digging, dumping, and building. With a mission of promoting hands-on sensory play, the playspace will feature specialty sand, a rigorous cleaning process, and a health-forward café with locally made coffee.
“We’re very passionate about helping kids thrive with the physical world around them,” says Little Diggers co-founder Hannah Bowers, who started the Ohio-based company with her husband, Zach, in 2023. “We believe that there’s so many lessons learned when you are engaging with that physical world that you don’t get in a digital-first reality. And so that could be something as simple as playing with our trucks and funnels and pouring sand, but it could also be playing with our tower blocks and building a structure in this sandbox of whatever you can imagine.”
Here’s what to know before you go.
The Space
The new Little Diggers location will be filled with a variety of custom-produced toys and materials designed to help feed imaginative and problem-solving skills, including the company’s signature sand. “The sand comes from the Bahamas,” Zach says. “Not only is it beautiful and feels great for that reason, but it’s also one of very few a non-silica-based sand types, making it healthier to be around for longer periods of time.”
Little Diggers also prides itself on cleanliness, with the Columbus location rated the cleanest place to take kids to play in the area. “My friends and I have this running joke, Hey, you’re going to go to that playspace? Have fun, but you’re gonna be sick for three days after,” Hannah says. “That’s something we didn’t want to replicate in our concept, so we have strict protocols. We use all kids-safe cleaning mechanisms, and we are in that sandbox every day trying to make sure that it’s aerated. There’s nothing that’s been forgotten or left in the sand. And anytime there might be an accident or something, we have really strict protocols on how we sanitize and remove and make sure that the area is clean before any kids get back into it.”
One of the biggest draws is The Sand Stacker, a toy inspired by a stack conveyor, which features a low hopper to load sand, a hand-cranked conveyor belt to transport it to a larger hopper, and a lever to release the sand into a dump truck below.
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As parents of three kids, the Bowers say they know what’s needed for a seamless visit with little ones. That starts with ensuring that the layout and seating allow for full visibility at all times, and it extends to stroller-spaced aisles and affordable, health-forward food and drink options.
“You’ll see local coffee on tap and then our snacks, which are really just a value-add for the experience,” Hannah says. “We try to keep our snacks reasonably priced in a way that allows parents to enjoy the holistic experience and so they’re not feeling like they’re getting nickeled-and-dimed or spending a lot of money on snacks. Instead, it just adds to a better experience that keeps the kids and parents happy. We also try to avoid a lot of the foods that can be triggering for behavioral challenges: dyes, nuts, etc.”
“And everything is delicious,” Hannah adds. “Our kids have taste-tested all of the things, so we can guarantee that they are all good.”
The Hours & Prices
Little Diggers will be open daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m. It operates on a no-reservations, non-membership model, and it offers a rewards program in which families can earn a free hour of play for every three hours they spend.
The pay scale starts at $12 for one child for a half hour, with discounts for additional siblings and reduced rates for extended time periods. Parents are allowed in the sandbox with their kids, and up to two adults are free with a child admission. On Monday afternoons, Little Diggers offers a playtime for kids with sensory sensitivities or special needs, during which the sandbox age restriction of 7 and under is expanded.
Construction-themed birthday parties and private events are also a large part of the Little Diggers business. Families can book a two-hour private party room with its own sandbox, and plates, utensils, sticker sheets, juice boxes, and construction hats are all included. “And then you would cater in whatever food you may want to have to the space itself, but we’ve tried to take care of every other aspect of the birthday parties,” Hannah says.
The Background
Little Diggers grew out of the Bowers’ desire to fill the business gaps that the pandemic left in their community. They agreed that open-ended play should be the goal of a communal playspace.
“It gave us the opportunity to create an environment that really fostered kids to be able to explore, problem-solve, fail, try again, and then figure out the next thing in a safe space,” Hannah says. “It’s really important to us that our kids have more than just an entertainment opportunity, that they have a hands-on experience to take what’s in their head and turn it into reality.”
The Bowers see that goal realizes time and again. “A big piece of feedback we often hear is, ‘I don’t remember the last time my kids had been this occupied for this long,’ and it’s because they are so fixated on on what they’re doing,” Zach says.
Collaborative play is another motivator for the couple. “Kids become best friends within five minutes,” Hannah says. “They’ve got a team, and they’re like, ‘You pour the sand here, and I’ll crank the handle over here.’”
The Bowers decided to expand to St. Louis after opening a series of locations during the past several years. “My family lived about two-and-a-half hours outside of St. Louis for a while,” Hannah says. “As a teenager, we made frequent trips to the area for everything from the library to the shopping. It’s a community that, for me, is one that represents family, and I still have a lot of friends with families who now live in St. Charles. So it’s kind of been a no-brainer spot for us to bring a sandbox here.”
The Bowers hope to one day have locations in all 50 states. “The broader goal is…to see how we can continue to encourage and inspire this type of play among kiddos,” Zach says. “And it’s not just digging in the sand—there’s so much more you’re set up to do… Instead of the risk of kids becoming do-it-for-me type kids, we want kids to have their own agency and ability to problem-solve.”
