Sand Play
Sand play is fun for children and it can bring so much pleasure and at the same time children learn and develop skills. children enjoy touching, feeling and exploring the wonderful textures of the sand. If you don't have sand or prefer to use something else then you can replace sand with something else that has similar texture such as semolina. Mix soft and coarse semolina to resemble texture of sand.Age: 2 - 5 year olds
Equipment: Sand tray - wet /dry, apron, spade, bucket, sieve
Site: indoors and outdoor on ground level or table top
Health & safety: supervised
Sand play promotes the following areas of child's development:
| Areas of development | Description |
|---|---|
| Physical | Develop fine motor skills through manipulating tools, pouring, filling, stirring,
pushing, pulling, digging, patting, moulding, drawing etc. Develop hand/eye co-ordination e.g. pouring sand into containers, making sand shapes using moulds Use a range of equipment with increasing skill e.g. balance, sand wheel, sieves Be aware of the space in the sand tray and be able to share it with others |
| Personal, social and emotional |
Build self esteem through their achievement of creating patterns or making something with sand Learn how to work independently Make friends, taking turns and sharing equipment as part of a group Learn to respect others� ideas Expresses feelings of joy |
| Language and communication |
Learning to speak: Talk about their experiences with the sand Asking questions about the sand Learn vocabulary that describes sand as rough, smooth, soft, sticky, wet Extends vocabulary associated with sand play e.g. pour, fill, empty, full, spade, bucket, scoop Develop pre-writing skills such as making patterns and marks |
| Early Experiences in Science & Technology |
Explore the properties of dry/wet sand � compare Look at similarities, differences, patterns in dry/wet sand Use their senses to observe changes in sand e.g. adding water to dry sand Select appropriate equipment for different types of sand play Use building skills |
| Early mathematical experiences |
Explore various mathematical concepts e.g. capacity, size, weight Pouring dry sand into a variety of different sizes of containers Learning to count Understand and use mathematical language such as names of shapes. Comparing weight such as heavy, light more or less |
| Creative / expressive art |
explore 3D forms using a range of moulds explore shapes and textures associated with wet/dry sand experience different colours and textures of wet/dry sand use sand for line drawing and pattern making create and explore sound using shakers of sand, gravel, pasta |