PVC pipes are one of the many things I didn’t know about before I became a parent. (Other things I didn’t know about: the Wiggles, projectile vomiting, excavator names, the words to every single Disney song, and how happy I could be sitting for hours doing nothing but rocking a baby. But that, as Kipling would say, is another story.)

It turns out that PVC pipes make great toys for kids—a bin of plastic pipes and fittings can keep a young child busy for ages. You can also use PVC pipes to make a “car wash” for kids. I first saw the Kid Wash idea in Family Fun magazine. We stayed pretty true to their design, although looking at the photo from when we first put together the Wishy-Wash, as our kids named it, it looks like we decided not to do the swinging “door.” (Do you see 3-year-old Will running in the background? Oh, my heart!)

PVC pipes are easy to find at places like Home Depot or Lowe’s, but if you can’t find the lawn chair webbing, you could always add more pool noodles to the design. You could also put the whole thing on top of a slip ‘n slide, to make it extra exciting and less muddy.

I have to admit that I handed the project over to Tim so I can’t remember how easy or difficult it was. He’ll have to let us know. Our Wishy-Wash could use a little rejuvenating, but considering that it’s in its eighth summer of entertaining kids, it’s holding up awfully well!