How to enhance your sand area

Sand trays/tables/pits have become an expected thing to see in many early years settings. This is because o a huge wealth of learning to come from children’s natural enjoyment of playing in the sand. Not only is it great for mathematics but also communication and language skills and even early writing skills. There is a great article here exploring all the benefits of a sand area and why so many settings should encourage sand play.

Although sand pits have become very common they have also become very standardised with an area full of posters, labels and brightly coloured plastic moulds, spades and buckets. Whilst the children do enjoy playing with these the novelty can sometimes quickly wear off. These types of toys can also lead to an area looking overwhelming and unorganised, putting some children off using the area and missing out on all the great benefits.

Getting the most out of a sand pit area can be incredibly easy as the main attraction is the sand.

Ways to improve your sand area

• Communication friendly – All early years settings should be communication friendly environments. This can sometimes mean losing some of the bright colours on displays and posters and also removing things that are hanging from the ceiling. Does the sand area need to be filled with posters with questions such as ‘is it full?’ This will all come through practitioner engagement and is much more beneficial.
• Organised – Is the sand area organised or are all the resources jumbled together in one box under the sand tray? Filling a shelving unit with open wicker baskets for each set of resources is a really lovely way to make the area more engaging and calming. The children can then easily see and access the resources that interest them.
• Variety – Does your sand area have a variety of resources? Adding multiple sized digging tools, different sized containers, open-ended resources such as large stones, funnels, colanders, sieves.
• Be original – Could you have a totally original sand area completing avoiding plastic toys? Would this be something your children would be more attracted to? You could use wooden and metal tools and containers instead. Using resources similar to what you might find in an heuristic area or a more realistic home corner.
• Small World – Could you on occasion add small world resources to your sand area to create new interest and additional elements of learning. These could maybe be added as enhancement boxes

Heres some simple resources to get you started

• Wooden Bowls of all sizes
• Wooden Scoops
• Wooden Spoons
• Metal measuring spoons
• Metal Colanders all sizes
• Metal pots and pans – Small role play ones can be great if you’re limited for space
• Metal cooking utensils

Why not share pictures of your sand area with us?