Sandboxes are a source of a lot of fun, particularly for the younger kids. Liven up their experience by creating a real treasure hunt and other ideas for their play in the sand.
Treasure hunt
Dig in and bury a few small toys for your child to find in the sandbox, make sure to remember how many you hid. Explain about treasures and finding them. Let your child either dig them out or use a colander to sift the sand for the treasure.
Decorations
Build sand castles with the buckets; decorate with anything you can find in nature. Grass and leaves are handy but will leave the sand a bit mucky. Shells from the beach and stones are ideal, they can easily be dug out of the sand.
Water
It may get mucky, but water is the easiest way to play with sand and your child will love it. Water works best with dry sand, as it changes its colour and texture, but can also be used creatively for small rivers, lakes and general mucking about. Have a larger bucket of water your child can get water from.
Do you have any great tips to share?