In the springtime, sand is Aiden’s favorite sensory toys. He had buckets and shovels but that’s not all he likes to play within his sandbox. There are lots of fun things you can use in your sandbox. Here are five other things you should have for your child’s sandbox.
If you don’t have a sandbox you can use pretty much anything that will hold sand. We use a heavy-duty 15-gallon tub for our sandbox at we got at Walmart. It holds one bag of sand and is more than enough for Aiden. If you’re interested in a regular sandbox I highly recommend one with a lid. Even if you don’t have cats (yes they do think it’s a litter box) there’s always rain to worry about and a soggy sandbox quickly becomes a huge mess.
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Why Should You Have a Sandbox?
Unless your child likes to eat sand, there’s no wrong way to play with sand. It’s full of imagination and endless possibilities. Build a sandcastle or dig a hole to the center of the earth. Even the destruction of the creations can be educational.
Learning Through Play
Independent play is all about your child’s freedom to make choices. It’s how your child learns. When Making the Most of Sand Play your child learns a lot about the world.
If you want to stimulate learning you can ask open ended questions.
How does this work?
What happens if…?
Help you child think about what they’re doing with the sand and experiment to learn something new.
Social Play
The sandbox offers the opportunity to develop teamwork. Be it creating the tallest sandcastle or digging to the depths of the earth.
Kids can learn to share or listen to and follow directions, to lead or learn from others expertise.
Physical Development
Even for really young kids, sand can be a great learning and sensory tool. Sand can be cool, hot, wet, or dry. Sand can be an inside or outside toy. Add a few fun objects for playtime and creations are endless. Visit Sensory Play with Sand for some fun ideas too.
5 Types of Toys to Play With
When it comes to playing with sand you can add just about anything. Here are our top five types of toys we love to play in the sandbox.
Cooking and Kitchen Sand Toys
Create delicious imaginary food with cooking and kitchen stuff. Get plates, cups, spoons, bowls, muffin tins, pots, pans, strainers, or spatulas from the thrift store or dollar store and get cooking.
Aiden loves making dinner.
Little Toys
Dinosaurs, bugs, action figures, and matchbox cars can be buried treasure or live in the castles or trenches. These are cheap and so fun for imaginary play. You can get all kinds of little toys in the party favor aisle at Walmart or on Amazon.
Building Toys
A couple of toilet paper tubes, mint tins, small boxes, and yogurt cups and add them to your sandbox toys. You can build a town or make an obstacle course for matchbox cars. The best part about these toys is they’re free!
Construction Toys
Construction toys are perfect for a sandbox. Turn the sandbox into a construction site with bulldozers, dump trucks, and excavators. These are some of our favorite toys for the beach too.
Related post: THE BEST BEACH TOYS FOR SUMMER VACATION
Rocks and Shells
When building a sandcastle you must decorate it. Either gather some rocks and shells or buy them for your sandbox.
5 Fun Must-Have Toys for Your Sandbox
These are some of our favorite ways to play in the sand. What are yours? I’d love to know. Is it on our list or did you find something else fun to play with in the sand?
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Resources:
[1] Making the Most of Sand Play
[2] Sand Play: Nature’s Etch-a-Sketch
[3] Sensory Play with Sand