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Sand And Water Play at School – Stimulate young minds

Nursery sand and water play

Whether for the nursery children or in early years primary school, Sand and Water Play at School offers far more than just fun. It’s easy to simply dismiss it as playtime but it has tremendous value in childhood education. This article explores the benefits of Sand and Water Play at School and how the children in your class can benefit.

Sand, Water and STEM

Learning can sometimes be a challenge when a child finds something dull or of little interest. With the introduction of Sand and Water Play at School, you can create activities of educational benefit without persuasion. Basic, early learning of Science, technology, Engineering and Maths (also known as STEM learning) can be achieved through such play.

Early STEM education

Children can broaden their vocabulary as they learn words to describe the textures of different materials. Allow children to touch and feel different textures such as moss, soil, sand, woodchips, shells and smooth pebbles. Ask them to close their eyes and use their sense of touch. Is it smooth or rough? Is it heavy or light? Without peeking, what do they think it is? Guessing games are always fun. Sand and water play combined with different elements of texture can make way for creative thinking and imagination. This type of play helps a child to better understand the early concept of weight, measurements, building and construction. Additionally, it is a great way of helping a child to learn the difference between solids and liquids.

Ideas for Sand, Water and STEM teaching

Here are some top ideas for fun teaching with Water and Sand

  • Treasure hunt – allow the child to dig and feel for buried treasure. When they find something you have buried, ask them to describe it.
  • Make a shape – Ask the child to use a spade to make a three-dimensional shape in the sand like a triangle or square.
  • Build a castle or pyramid – Spark creative and constructive thinking with this fun activity
  • Decorate the castle or pyramid – Use shells or little pebbles and light their imagination. They could even make a little flag in class to fly on the castle.
  • Count the mounds – create mounds in the sand and get your children to help count them with you.
  • Find a letter – Bury letters in the sand. When the child finds one, ask them what the letter is. The think of something at the beach or in the ocean that can help the child visual the letter with an image. For example, ‘W’ – Whale or Waves, ‘F’ – fish or fishing boat.
teachers and children in nursery - sand and water play in schools

As children play with a sand and water tray, they also apply and develop early maths skills. By using measuring spoons, cups and containers of different sizes, children learn to measure, weigh and calculate how many scoops it will take to fill the bucket, for example. Or how many jugs of water will be needed to fill the water tray. All that digging, scooping, sifting, pouring, building and cleaning up can take up a lot of energy. Sand and water play is a fun and hugely enjoyable way for children to develop their gross motor skills and hone their hand to eye coordination and manual dexterity.

Add elements into Sand and Water play

By adding elements to the sand and water, children can use their imaginations and engage in role-playing. As they build an extravagant sandcastle, they can imagine being the soldiers protecting its walls from enemies. Or by adding pretend fish to the water, they can be a great fisherman. Creative play improves children’s ability to understand new concepts and enables them to connect with their environment. Sand and water play promotes social interaction as they learn to share and take turns. Communication is supported as children talk to each other, sharing ideas and fully participating in the joy sand and water play brings.

Yet as well as being ideal for group play, sand and water play can also be extremely calming and restful, so it is an ideal activity for children who are a little hyperactive, those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and those with other disabilities.

The benefits of sand and water play are wide-ranging.

Colourful sand and water play tubs for nursery group activites involving sand and water
Titchy 3 tub waterfall for sand and water play
Discover sand and water table allows children to explore and discover sand and water in the nursery

We have a massive range of Sand and Water play stations for your nursery. Our most popular Sand and Water activity categories are:

Or explore our full range of Nursery Sand and Water stations and accessories.

Originally written 4 March 2021