Sensory play: Moldable sand – our new favorite material!

I’ve written over and over about how much I love sensory play and why it is valuable for supporting kids’ development. I’m always on the lookout for new sensory materials to engage my children’s senses. So I was intrigued when I recently learned about a new moldable sand product.

Unlike regular sand, this moldable sand is soft and stretchy. It is also fairly mess free, because it sticks to itself but not to your hands. I was so intrigued by what I read that I knew we had to try this stuff out for ourselves. And all I can say after playing with it is WOW! Moldable sand is officially my new favorite sensory play material!

I’m so excited to share our experience with Moldable Sand as part of a fun new series running from March 1 through April 9 called 40 Days of Sensory Bin Fillers. Sarah of Little Bins for Little Hands has gathered 40 different sensory bin filler ideas from 40 different bloggers and is sharing them all in one location. If you love sensory play as much as I do, or if you are simply looking for new sensory play ideas, be sure to hop on over to take a look at the wonderful ideas being shared.

Note: This and lots of other sensory play ideas can be found on my sensory play page.

For our first opportunity to play with moldable sand, I opted to set it out on trays for each kid. On each tray I also included a funnel, some measuring spoons, some small cups, and some silicone cupcake liners (see my notes about the cupcake liners at the end).

I dumped some of the moldable sand on a tray for all three of us – yes, I couldn’t help but try it out for myself! – and we all began to explore.

Moldable sand is made from a mixture of sand and polymers, so it has a texture unlike anything I’ve ever played with before. If I had to describe the texture, I would say it felt like a mixture of sand, oobleck, and play dough:

• It was less gritty than dry sand, and very moldable like wet sand without actually being wet.
• The way it would act like a solid one moment and then start falling through my hands the next was reminiscent of the texture of oobleck.
• It was soft and easily moldable like play dough, although it came apart easier than play dough.

We explored the moldable sand in all kinds of ways. QBoy made shapes, including this square.

We put the moldable sand into little cups, and discovered that it held its shape very well once popped out of the cup.

It could be easily formed into a ball.

It could also be formed into a peak.

And I decided to have some fun by building my own sand castle!

Best of all, moldable sand cleans up pretty easily because it is designed to stick to itself rather than to skin. I was able to clump all the sand together and get it easily back into the container. I don’t think I would ever be brave enough to let my kids play with real sand inside our home, but moldable sand was no problem at all.

The only material that our moldable sand stuck to was our silicone cupcake liners. But a quick rinse in the sink took care of this mess with no problem.

Did you enjoy learning about moldable sand? Want to learn about other sensory bin fillers? Make sure to stop by Little Bins for Little Hands to see all of the other sensory bin fillers that are part of the 40 Days of Sensory Bin Fillers series!

More sensory play resources

More sensory play posts from Gift of Curiosity:

• Fun with flubber
• Water beads and shaving cream
• Bubble dough
• Fun with oobleck
• Writing with shaving cream
• Watermelon oobleck
• Water beads and shaving cream

For more activities that will delight the senses, see my Sensory Play page and my Sensory Play Pinterest board.