Bringing the beach to your garden with a sandpit is the ultimate way to get your kids outside, off screens, and engaging in sensory play.
But what do you do when your budding architect has built enough sandcastles to fill a kingdom and enough grand designs to wow Kevin McCloud?
If your sandpit is starting to look more and more like an empty lot, our creative sandpit play ideas can help to reignite your little one’s interest and spark their imaginations.
Before you know it, your backyard beach will be busier than Blackpool on a sunny day!
The benefits of sandpit play for kids
Before we dive into our favourite sandpit play ideas, let's look at why sandpit play is so beneficial for kids.
It encourages creativity
Sandpits provide a fantastic space for encouraging your child to use their imagination and think creatively. Activities like building sandcastles inspire artistic creativity, whilst shopping role play and pretend baking get kids to engage in imaginative play.
It helps develop motor skills
Sandpits are the perfect way to get those little fingers moving. Building, raking, digging, scooping, sprinkling, and throwing sand are all activities that challenge children’s fine motor skills. Introducing a sandpit can enable your child to improve their motor skills through goal-oriented play.
It’s a sensory activity
Outdoor play is a great way to help your kids explore and understand their senses. Playing in a sandpit is particularly useful for activating the sense of touch. Your child can explore different textures like dry sand, wet sand, and other textured items mixed in with sand.
Read What is sensory play? to learn more about the subject and find more ideas in our 12 sensory outdoor activities for kids.
It can build social skills
As with many outdoor toys, a sandpit is often used by more than one child at a time. As a result, it’s an excellent setting for kids to practise their social skills. Playing in a sandpit, children can learn to share, collaborate, communicate, and empathise.
10 sandpit play ideas for kids
When we see sand, our first instinct is to grab the buckets and spades and build a castle. However, the humble sandcastle can only provide so many hours of entertainment, even for the little builders out there.
But don’t worry; we’ve thought outside the (sand)box to bring you these 10 creative sandpit play ideas for kids of all ages!
1. Beachy baking
To bake a delicious cake, you’ll need flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, eggs, and milk—or a sandpit!
Encouraging your kids to make cakes or pies using sand and water is a great way to fire up their imaginations. You could use baking equipment like tins, bowls, spoons, and cake cases and put a cherry on top with foraged decorations like twigs, stones, and shells.
Just make sure your child isn’t tempted to lick the bowl clean!
2. Sand sensory bin
Sand alone is an excellent material for sensory development, but making your sandpit into a sandy sensory bin can double the fun.
Bury a variety of texturally and visually interesting items, such as pine cones, cotton balls, or toys, in the sand for your little one to discover and interact with. Gamify your sensory bin by describing each item to your child and challenging them to find the item that matches your description.
3. Sandpit safari
If your child loves all things wild and wonderful, why not encourage them to build a tiny sandpit safari park?
Populate your park with small animal toys. Then, work together to find each creature’s habitat and recreate it using twigs, leaves, flowers, shells, and grass. This is the perfect activity for making learning fun and creative.
4. Sandpit city
If your child is more interested in the man-made world than the natural one, you can still bring their favourite toys to the sandpit. Let your little one build their dream city by digging roads, parks, and ponds, then gather toy buildings, figurines, and cars to bring it to life.
No toys? No problem! Add features like broccoli trees, playdough cars, and cardboard buildings to fill your tiny town. Just remember to take any perishable items out after playtime to keep the sandpit clean.
5. Sand sketching
We all love drawing in the sand on days by the sea, so why not do the same in your personal slice of the beach? Dampen your sandpit to create a blank canvas, then let your kid explore their inner artist.
Make it into a guessing game and take turns to guess what the other is drawing, or find out which family member is the next Picasso with a sandy art competition.
6. Ice cream shop
This is the perfect sandpit idea for kids who love to play pretend, especially if you have a raised sandpit table like our Rebo Wooden Sandpit with Lid, Sand, and Water Picnic Table.
Set up an ice cream store by making cardboard cones and putting together jars of ‘toppings’ like bark flakes and petal sprinkles. Wet your sand and let your child run their ice cream shop, using a spoon or scoop to serve their creations. Introduce an educational element by paying for your ice cream and challenging your older children to give the correct change.
7. Sandpit camping
Whether it’s a blanket fort or a bed sheet teepee, kids love to make dens! Bring this classic childhood activity outdoors and make a secret hideaway in your sandpit.
Go on a forest hunt to gather materials like large branches and small logs, making sure an adult is on hand to do the heavy lifting. Then, help your child make a tree den using their sandpit as a base to anchor their building blocks.
This activity helps teach children problem-solving skills and develops their gross motor skills. Moreover, they’ll love to play for hours in the adult-free zone they’ve created!
8. Use more than sand
Introducing other materials to your sandpit to create a sensory paradise is the perfect activity to try when you’re planning to replace your sand.
Materials with an unusual feel, such as dried pasta, dried rice, kinetic sand, and aquarium gravel, can add textural interest when mixed into a sandpit. Kids love colour, so why not try dying your sand using food colouring? Let your child unleash their artistic genius with all of the colours of the rainbow!
After you’ve finished, replace the dirty sand with new, non-toxic play sand to restore your sandpit to its former fluffy glory.
9. Alphabet hunt
As parents, we’re always looking for ways to make learning fun. This sandpit alphabet hunt is the perfect way to mix playtime and education.
Hide alphabet letters in the sandpit, read out a word, and get your child to dig out all the letters they need to spell it. If you have more than one child, you could make it a race; if not, get your kid to race against the clock to complete the task.
Put a mathematical twist on this game by hiding numbers and symbols, then read out equations and get your child to write out and answer the sum.
10. Flooded fun
Introduce water to your sandpit to add an extra element of fun.
Let your child discover different textures and what happens when sea and sand mix. Wet sand provides creative opportunities, allowing children to make shapes, objects, and dips like puddles and rivers. You could use household objects like guttering or tin foil to create canals and race homemade boats downstream.
Sandpit play for days with Outdoor Toys
Now you know how varied sandpit play can be, you might just be tempted to invest in one! Our table sandpits are perfect for roleplaying ice cream stores, baking up a storm, or learning through play. Meanwhile, our grounded sandpits make excellent bases for dens and getting messy with sensory activities.
Don’t let creepy crawlies invade your pit! Get a sandpit with a lid, or buy one of our lid add-ons to keep your existing sandpit clean.
And the fun doesn’t stop there; we’ve got more outdoor toys than you can shake a spade at! Check out our climbing frames, swings, and trampolines to turn your garden into the ultimate playground.
With 48-hour delivery and 0% finance on orders over £99, there’s no better place to shop for sandpits, garden toys and more!
FAQs about sandpit play
Why is sand good for sensory play?
Sand’s unique texture makes it an excellent material for sensory play. Children can experiment with dry, wet, cold, warm, and sand mixed with other materials to develop their sensory perception.
At what age can a baby go in a sandpit?
As all children develop at different rates, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. However, most kids aged around 18 months and above are ready for their first sand pit experience.
It's around this time they'll start to find the idea of sand play fun and exciting. Just being in the sand can be a great developmental activity for babies, and older kids will enjoy learning through sand play activities.
How safe are sandpits?
All of our sand pits are safe for young children to play in. They're made from high-quality wood, ensuring stability and strength.
However, it’s important to keep your sandpit clean to ensure it remains a safe space for kids, so make sure to check out our guide on how to clean a sandpit next.