If only the pit didn't have sand

We gave Henry this tub filled with sand for his second birthday. At first he wouldn't go near it because it actually had sand in it and this sand made him "diiirrrty". He would sit beside it and Twinings Tea his fingers in the air so that they wouldn't have to touch the sand while he played with his trucks. Just recently he's started to get a little more friendly with it. He won't sit in it yet or put his feet anywhere near the sand but he will actually move his trucks around. He still attempts to avoid having to touch it but at least now he doesn't start thrashing around as though he's got a thousand bullants eating away at his flesh.

I attempted to make the experience more enjoyable for him by adding some of his plastic road pieces, building tunnels and adding some ginger leaves to create a more realistic "machines that destroy old forests" scene. I then got in and covered myself in sand, got his matchbox excavator and made machinery noises while pretending to dig and load up the dumptruck. He watched me intently, told me not to get "all diiiirrrty" and then had a go at it himself. The above photo is the result of me acting like a 2 year old so that I might teach my son how to act the same.