ToysmithZen Garden ,Medium

When my students approach my desk, they inevitably want to touch and play with the things on it, which sometimes is a problem. This Zen Garden was my solution to this problem. Its so predictable and sweet; a student will stand at my desk, pick up the little rake and start drawing in the sand and say to me, "Miss, what's this thing for?" I always smile and reply, "Just what you are doing right now." A few have made me laugh as they continue to draw and design in the sand and say, "Well that's dumb." To which I reply, "You're STILL doing it, aren't you?" :-)I think there is something primal about playing with sand and it has brought joy to my classroom - to my students who now have a little toy and to me because they now have something they should be touching on my desk, and of course the smiles they give me when they do play with it!Is this the best one out there? No, not really. It is a little cheap. One of the legs came off, but I glued it back on. Also, its not very deep, I have to keep the whole thing in the tray that it came it to prevent sand spillage all over my desk - fortunately the box it came in has a nice black cardboard tray that doesn't detract from its appearance. This bottom is also helpful because the wooden garden itself isn't 100% level. The sand is very fine, so it leaves a powder residue around the frame - I use a small make up brush to brush this sand back into the garden.So, no it is not the best one out there, but it does do what its supposed to do and between the rocks and two garden tools it comes with (which have held up well so far - 3 months of use), it is a nice starter set at a decent price. Also, the book that contains the meditations is lovely and a nice part of the set.I had some pretty tumbled rocks I had from when I taught science and replaced the plain brown ones with them and it looks great.

For the price, this is a nice starter garden. Mine came very neatly packaged with two layers of molded plastic to contain the sand pouch, rocks, rakes and booklet on top of the tray. The sand was actually double bagged, so there wasn't any leakage at all. The box it comes in is very nice and sturdy, and I've been keeping my garden tucked inside of it, rather than leaving it out. (I have a very curious cat, so it's safer that way!)The tray is thin and small, but seems fairly sturdy and has nice feet to raise it up, and there's plenty of sand to fill it up to all the edges. The rakes are probably not meant to last forever, but they're comfortable and cute and do the job. The stones are rather plain and too similar to each other for my tastes, but they're better than nothing. I plan to replace them eventually, but for now it's just nice to have a few to play around with and experiment.It is on the small side, so if you're like me and really want to have space to rake the sand, it's not the best. I tend to only use two or three rocks at a time, so I have more space to play in the sand. I will likely get a larger set at some point in the future, but this set is definitely a good starter kit. I am really enjoying it as a meditation tool and am overall pleased with it. It will definitely fit the bill for my needs for the time being, and that's all I could ask of it at this price point.

After hearing yet another "your cubicle is too empty" I decided to spice things up. Long time fan of all things Japanese it was either a zen garden or ikebana but that's too much of a hassle.This thing was pretty cheap and believe me, the pictures don't make justice to the product, it's larger and nicer than it looks. I got the wooden tray, two bamboo rakes and six stones, all together with a meditation book. The included sand can be hit or miss: my opinion (and my cubicle buddy's) is that it looks like ashtray sand. I replaced it with sand from one of my favorite beaches. and by the way, you receive a bag with a lot of sand, don't use it all or overfill the tray because it will leave a sandy mess on your desk.Pros-Pretty sturdy, decent quality.-Large enough to make different arrangements.-My friends write their names or leave messages like 'stop playing with the sand' , which always make me laugh.-Everybody says it's awesome. They will stop by to play with the garden.-Helpful when you feel overwhelmedCons:-One of the rakes, the one shaped like a hand feels pretty fragile so I keep it in a drawer.-Included sand looks like ashtray sand. Also has a lot of really smal sand particles that look leave a white mess

My 9-year-old ordered this zen garden with her hard-earned lemonade stand $. After reading the reviews on this product and others, we decided to take a chance on this one despite comments about problems with the bottom of the sand tray. The product came packaged very nicely in a well-made, decorative sturdy box. I liked that it had small wooden "feet" with cork pads - won't have to worry about scratching up my daughter's dresser. All the extra pieces (polished rocks and 2 rakes as well as a Zen Meditations book) were included as advertised and there was plenty of fine, white sand (we only needed to use 2/3 of it). Like other reviewers, we found that the bottom of the sand tray was slightly bent/warped and pulling away from the frame on one side (uploaded pics on product page). A bead of hot glue along the inside of the frame did the trick and we haven't had any problems keeping the sand from "leaking" out. My daughter has been playing with it on and off since it arrived yesterday morning and really enjoys it. For $14, this was a good deal...for anything more than $20 I would think twice only because of the slight problem with the frame.

Not happy at all with quality

Well packaged and came with everything as described. The box itself has feet so it's raised which is nice and has a tight seal. I ordered the smaller size which is perfect for coffee table, desk or kitchen island. All in all great product and value.

I bought this on impulse for myself but it would make a nice little gift for someone. It comes with several accessories and is of a decent size, not too big and not too small.

Recommend as gift

I was satisfied with this product. I read reviews about the bottom being cheap, flimsy cardboard but it wasn't. It's still a little pricey for what it is, but overall a good product!