Sand play is much more than just fun for young children.   It provides opportunities for sensory learning, development of motor skills, creativity, and the development of social emotional skills during play.   The sand box and its toys can play a powerful role in aiding a young child to explore their senses and develop their curiosity in some of the most productive ways imaginable.  Children often use their own creativity and imagination to make their very own sand creations without any interference or support from adults. Children use the sand toys and tools to make villages, castles, and entire cities with total freedom of thought and creativity.  Their creations are always perfect in their own little eyes, and therefore serve as great self esteem and confidence builders.

Playing in the sand helps a child grow emotionally as well by teaching them the patience involved in making their creations as well as the negotiations necessary when things don't turn out as they planned.  This builds their confidence and helps a child learn how to constructively plan and be flexible with changes when necessary.   Sand play offers children an enjoyable experience which is rewarded by the feeling of their accomplishments.
Sand play encourages a child to socialize in positive ways as they share, communicate, and cooperating with their friends or siblings at play. They also learn to resolve conflicts that frequently arise when children play together,

Sand play also supports early science and math reasoning skills.  During play kids learn some basic concepts like how gravity affects their little towers when the sand dries out as moisture evaporates. They may learn some basic physics principals as they engineer a bridge without the proper support structure or a tunnel that collapses as a result of lack of supports. They learn about weight, size, volume, and a host of other emergent math and science skills.

While sand play offers the child endless opportunities in the areas of physical and intellectual development, the best thing it offers is fun.   Since the dawn of time, kids have been playing in the sand.  Some things can’t be improved on, it just doesn't get any better than good old fashion sand play!