Do you know that when your children play in the sand, they are learning and developing some critical skills? The unstructured sand offers an open-end play opportunity for children. Whether dig in the sand, shape it, sift it, pour it, or bury it, Sand play provides children the freedom to explore and create. Below are some benefits of sand play and the skills they can develop and practice.
Sensory exploration
Infants or toddlers exercising tactile senses while touching and manipulate different types of sand: dry sand, wet sand, sticky sand, sand foam..etc.
Promote physical development
The movements like dig, pour, sift, scoop, encourage kid’s large muscle development. When they manipulate the sand toys, their fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination also improve.
Develop social skills
Whether indoor or outdoor, children seem to gather easily to play sand. This provides a great chance for them to communicate, work, and share together, which is good for their vocabulary expansion. And they learn how to compromise while facing real problems, it helps the empathy development.
Build mathematical concepts
Playing sand with measuring spoons and cups, containers in a variety of sizes and shapes can introduce kids’ mathematical concepts like more/less; big/small; empty/full; high/tall; heavy/light.
Boost creativity and imagination
Sand play offers endless creative possibilities for children. They can build sandcastles, dig tunnels, build a bridge, construct roadways, use the sand accessories to mold the wet sand into different shapes. Make patterns with the color sand or write in the sand, kids can engage with sand play in so many ways.
Now you know that there are so many ways that toddlers can benefit from playing sand. You don’t have to take your little one to go to the beach to explore the sand. Here are some cool homemade sensational sand play ideas to keep your kids busy while developing and practicing some important skills.
6 Sensational sand play ideas
- Sticky sand sensory play– It only takes 3 ingredients: Sand, Flour, and vegetable oil, Mix them and your kids can explore lots of sensory fun!
- Sand foam– Pour the sand into a container and mix with the shaving foam, a lovely sand foam is done. The smooth, slimy, grainy texture that makes for a great sensory activity that kids will love!
- Sand paint– There is a new way of paint that children of all ages will love. Add sand into Poster Paints or Kids Paint, children can paint with a new texture, and that process of exploration will be fun enough.
- Construction site sensory bin: Fill a box with kinetic sand, dry beans, construction vehicle toys, endless pretend play fun for kids.
- Color sand– Grate the colored chalk into the sand and mix, and you’re done. You can fill the clear squeeze bottles up with the colored sand. Then find a empty large area for your kids to create their open-ended art. So easy to make and a great way for kids to develop color recognition skills.
- Sand slime– Combine sand with the liquid starch, clear Elmer’s Glue, Explore the awesome sand slime.
Sand is a great material for kids to explore and enjoy the endless fun. Welcome to share your fun sand play ideas below.