Sand Play Ideas

Sand play is a great learning experience, and great fun too - with clever use of sand, children can learn to mould, build and act out sand-based adventures. Sand can be both a toy and a teaching aid if you know how to use it.

We've put together a few tips to help you make the most of sand play with your children. The children will learn all sorts of things, and have a great time doing it too!

The sand kitchen

Sand makes a great 'ingredient' in any play kitchen - whether it's dry and powdery or wet and malleable like dough. Try introducing other 'food' elements to the sand kitchen - dry pasta is a good one, and herbs or cut grass make for a great vegetarian option.

Get some old pots and pans together, and the children will be cooking up sandy delights in no time! All good fun, and they'll be learning about mixing ingredients at the same time. Why not think up some sand-based recipes for them to cook, and see what they come up with?

Red Monkey's Kitchen Units are perfect for some sand-based cookery!

Colourful sand

Give your sand play a colourful new dimension by mixing in a few tablespoons of powder paint with your sand. The colourful sand is a delight for the children, and can be used to teach them about colours, too.

See if they can match coloured sand with coloured objects - for example, filling a red cup with red sand. Or have the children colour the sand themselves, and see if they can get the hang of mixing colours together to create new ones. Perfect for both sculptors and budding artists!

Sand islands

Sand can be used to create great play-scapes for acting out stories and role-play scenarios. Damp sand can be used to create all sorts of fantastic environments - flatten it down to build roads, dig tunnels and caves for creatures to lurk in, or build mountains for characters to roam over.

Try turning your sandbox into a scene from a favourite children's book, then drop in some toys and let the children act out the story. You could even print and laminate pictures of your children's favourite characters, and bring the story to life right there in the sandbox!

Whatever you choose to do with it, sand is one of the most versatile gateways to creative play. If you're looking to add some exciting sand play opportunities to your play area, why not check out some of our great sand play products?

Written by Tom for Red Monkey Play. For more play ideas and great play products, visit www.redmonkeyplay.co.uk.