Playing sand activities for babies, your little one learns about the properties of sand and the ways he can manipulate it. You baby can play either on his own or together with you.
Play with sand anywhere you want – in the garden, on the beach, at home. In order to play a home you need to prepare sand – sift it, and then ignite in an ordinary home oven. You should take lots of sand and, having treated it, pour it into a large box.
Now let’s start playing!
First of all offer your baby to greet the sand, to put his hands on it, to make a path, to walk with fingertips, to touch the sand with each finger of the left hand and of the right one then.
Also you can press the sand with the fists, touch it with the inside and back parts of the hands as well as rub the sand between the fingers and palms.
First of all, take different sandbox toy forms. Show them to your baby, let him touch and examine them, tell your little one about their color and shape. Then hide the toy forms into the sand and let your baby find and get them out. Tell the child that the sand is dry and show how it flows through the fingers. When all the toy shapes are found tell the baby once again that the sand is dry.
The next step: divide the sand into two parts and pour some water onto one part together with the baby, and the other part leave dry. Show the baby how to fill the sandbox toy forms with wet sand, how to compact it with the fingers. Put the toy forms on a tray or table sand down and take the forms off. The sand will have the shapes of toy forms and tell the baby that he has “baked the buns”! Then show your little one whether it is possible to “bake the buns” with the dry sand.
You can also “bake the buns” by yourself and offer your little one to trample them – he will like this activity very much!
Hide the toys
Take different toys, hide them in the sand and ask the baby to find and get them out. Then let the baby hide the toys and you find them.
Another variant of the game: hide your arm in the sand, move it there for the baby to see how the sand surface is changing and your baby needs to find your arm. As soon as he touches your hand it should jump out of the sand and say “peek-a-boo”! Let your baby do the same with his arm or leg.
You can also hide a hand, dig each finger one by one and call their names.
Play the game “how animals walk”. One finger – jumping bunnies, three fingers – a running dog, a fist – an elephant. Show the baby your own traces: mother’s feet leave big traces, baby’s feet – little ones.
It is raining
Wet your hands and shake the droplets onto the sand.
Dig little holes together with your baby using hands or scoops. Then play with the holes: take a toy mouse and imitating its squeak put it into a hole, let the mouse thank the baby for her “house”. Make “houses” for other animals and teach the baby about the size of the holes: big and little.
Paint little stones golden color and bury them in the sandbox, then “wash” them, sifting the sand through a sieve. You can paint coins and search for the treasure.
Other ideas of the games with sand
Pour the warm sand on the baby’s arms and legs.
Perform different activities with the fingers: fingers walk, run, jump on the sand, “play the piano”, etc.
Draw pictures on dry and wet sand with the fingertips.
Immerse the fingers into the wet and dry sand and examine the holes you will get.
Walk barefoot on warm sand.
Pour the sand into a bottle and listen to the noise it makes when you shake the bottle.
Pour the dry sand onto the wet sand through a funnel.
You should know
– Touching sand with the fingers your baby develops his fine motor skills.
– Sand helps develop baby’s creative mind and imagination.
– The child learns how to communicate with his peers when playing with other kids, and warm relationships with parents are being developed.
– You can perform some of these activities even with the youngest babies.