Top 10 ways to play with sand by Hayley Winter

Playing in sand is a great way to get children to work on their motor skills as well as a great resource to build new vocabulary into their everyday language.

A sand and water tray and a stable area of an Early Years setting

Playing in sand is a great way to get children to work on their motor skills as well as a great resource to build new vocabulary into their everyday language.

I like how the children have to use their problem solving skills to balance the pieces on top of each other and become real life engineers. Included in the kit there are also ladles, scoops, sieves and tweezers all support motor skills as well as hand eye coordination.

Wet and dry sand. This is a great sensory experience that many children will love exploring. Children will learn different concepts from playing with wet and dry sand.

Making sand moose. Mixing shaving form and sand together creates a moose consistency. Children can use this to make marks with or just explore the texture

Moon dough. This is created by adding sand and baby oil. It will make a dough that when manipulated it will feel like soft sand similar to kinetic sand.?

Coloured sand. Many people wonder how this can be achieved, but it’s actually really simple to create yourself! Mix a pot of sand with coloured powder paint.?

Add sand to a tuff spot tray to create a construction site. Sand can be used to enhance activities, for example, using sand to create a small world construction scene. Children can use the diggers and trucks to scoop up the sand and transport it around the tray.?

Making marks using sand. Fill a shallow tray with sand and provide children with different mark making tools eg different size paint brushes. Watch the children make various marks in the sand using the tools.?

Natural sand playdough. Many people forget about making this when in fact it is a great sensory activity. Mix flour, sand, water and oil together to create the dough.

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Moon mud. Mix sand, water and cornstarch to create this mud consistency.

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Sand paint. Why not mix sand with your paint to make gritty paint.?

Quick sand. This simple activity consists of sand, water and cornstarch. It is very similar to moon mud, but you can add some coloured paint.

Intentional language to use during sand play:?

Spade, Mould, Build, Sieve, Pour, Scoop, Fill, Empty, Push, Sprinkle, Full, Dig, Pat, Sculpt, Bury, Pivot, Rotate, Stacking, Balance, Tipping, Ladling??