A well-equipped sand area is a popular and busy feature in a nursery. When planning for this area, it is important to remember that children should have experience of both wet and dry sand and that learning outcomes will differ according to the consistency of the sand and the resources provided.
RESOURCES
Aim to provide:
- a large, deep sand tray at an appropriate height for children to work at. They may choose to work in a standing position or at floor level
- smaller, individual trays
- a large, shallow tray (for example, a builder's mixing tray)
- bags of play sand
- sweeping brushes (long and short handled), dustpan
- a removable shelf (to fit across the sand tray) that children can place equipment on as they work
- buckets of different sizes
- other containers, some with lids
- tools, such as spades, spoons and scoops
- natural objects and materials, such as cones, shells, pebbles, gravel, twigs and driftwood
- small-world equipment, for example, sets of people, wild and farm animals, vehicles, insects, reptiles and dinosaurs
- baking and cooking equipment, such as bun tins, pans and bowls, recipe cards, ladles, fish slices
- numeral cards
- sun hats if necessary
Dry sand
- funnels
- sand wheels
- colanders, sieves, salt shakers, flour sifters
- jugs, teapots, cups
- plastic tubing
Wet sand
- jugs
- trowels, hard hats
- found and natural objects for imprinting, for example, tree bark, leaves, potato mashers, buttons, cotton reels, clay modelling tools, shoes or boots and toy cars (sole and tyre tread patterns)
ORGANISATION AND LOCATION
- The position and organisation of the indoor sand area should leave room around the tray for children to work comfortably. If there is plenty of space, both wet and dry sand can be provided on a continuous basis. If space is at a premium, only one tray will be available and the consistency of the sand will vary. Consider also how and when to offer children opportunities to add water to sand and change the consistency themselves.
- It may be useful to agree a maximum number of children for the area and introduce a monitoring system. For example, if four tabards are available for children, they will know that the area is full when all these are in use.
- Sand on the floor can be a hazard and the area should not be used as a thoroughfare. The floor surface should be easy to sweep. Children should be taught how to sweep up spilt sand and expected to contribute to the maintenance of the area by taking responsibility for sweeping up their own spillages. Swept up sand can be collected in a bucket and sieved and washed for re-use.
- Store resources to encourage self-selection and independent tidying up and label baskets or boxes with photographs and words. Some objects can be templated (using silhouette cut-outs) on to horizontal surfaces or hung against templates on a wall. Where a few items are graded in size, templating offers opportunities for discussing size.
- Display space can be used to support children's interests. For example, display photographs of building sites and construction work alongside photographs children's 'building work' in the sand area.
- It is good to have spare bags of sand and frustrating and demotivating for children when the sand barely covers the base of the tray and they want to dig and fill buckets.
- Extra resources that can be used to motivate children, enhance experiences and support their interests should be easily accessible to adults. Labelled, stackable boxes are practical. Enhancements may include resources such as, 'treasure' that can be buried in the sand for children to find, a whisk and washing-up liquid to make 'whipped' sand.
Outdoor provision
The outdoor area offers opportunities to work with sand on a larger scale, enabling children to move sand around. Half pipes and lengths of plastic guttering used to pour dry sand from one level to another fascinate children and they also enjoy using diggers to transport sand. A plastic builder's tray can be used to mix pretend cement (sand and water) and, if wooden bricks, sections of wooden planks, trowels, spades and hard hats are available, children will build walls and lay patios with great enthusiasm!
EXPERIENCES
In this area, children might enjoy
- handling and exploring wet and dry sand
- mixing water and sand
- digging, filling and emptying containers with sand using hands and tools
- making sand 'castles' and other 3D sand shapes
- making marks in sand using fingers and tools
- imprinting into wet sand using a variety of objects
- burying and uncovering objects
- making arrangements of objects in sand
- building and playing with small-world environments, for example, roadways, jungles and towns
- pretending, for example, to bake, cook and serve meals
- making shakers using containers and filling them with materials, using shakers to beat rhythms and make music
LEARNING
The learning that might take place in this area includes:
- comparing the properties of wet and dry sand
- the changes that take place when water is added to sand, and when wet sand dries out
- exploring capacity, weight and volume and understanding and using the language around these concepts
- exploring 2D and 3D shape and pattern
- using numbers and counting in play
- developing imaginative play and storymaking
- exploring roles
- representing and revisiting real experiences
- making predictions, talking about ideas and solving practical problems
- working co-operatively and collaboratively, taking turns
- selecting appropriate tools for a task and having autonomy over the direction of own learning
- refining fine motor skills and developing control when manipulating objects and tools
- exploring sound and discriminating between different sounds.
LINKS TO EYFS GUIDANCE
- UC 1.1 Child Development
- PR 2.3 Supporting Learning
- L&D 4.1 Play and Exploration
- L&D 4.2 ActiveLearning.