Any type of sand play goes down a treat in this house, so I decided to create a ‘castle themed’ sand play for Oliver. This is such an easy activity to set up, is easy to clean away and is perfect for outdoor play too.
You will need:
- A tray
- Gemstones (I used coloured glass pebbles)
- A sieve
- A wooden spoon
Step 1: Pour sand into the tray
Step 2: Mix in some gemstones
Step 3: Lay a sieve and a wooden spoon on top of the sand
Step 4 (optional): Dot some gemstones on top of the sand
Oliver got this activity straight away and started digging for treasure. He dug around for the gems without sieving the sand, instead using the sieve as a bucket to collect the gemstones in. We took it in turns to use the spoon to dig holes and cheered every time we found a gemstone.
Because Oliver has been struggling with learning his colours, I decided to use different coloured gemstones. Every time we found one we talked about what colour it was and then linked the colour to something else, for example we linked green to the leaves on trees. We also talked about different textures, like the sand being rough and the gemstones being smooth. Because there were different materials within the activity we also talked about the spoon being wooden, the sieve being metal and the gemstones being glass. So despite the activity being very simple, there were a lot of different elements to talk about.
Similar to the Royal Treasury activity, this is one that I can repeat if we ever do a pirate theme, meaning I can reuse the gemstones again.
Note: All messy and sensory play activities must be supervised by an adult. I nor Our Fairytale Adventure hold any responsibility for any damage or injury caused while taking part in this activity.