Prices starting at £500 for up to 20 trainees

Sandtray Play Training for Schools

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Supporting emotional regulation, communication and storytelling in primary schools.

What to Expect
❋ Practical Strategies for Schools

Learn simple, effective ways to introduce sandtray play within the school day. The training focuses on approaches that can be used with individual pupils or small groups using accessible materials.

❋ Experiential Learning

Staff will experience sandtray play themselves through guided activities. This helps build confidence in facilitating sandtray sessions and understanding how children use play to express thoughts and feelings.

❋ Understanding Children’s Play

Explore common themes that emerge in children’s play; such as nurturing, mastery, safety, power and problem solving. Helping staff recognise what children may be communicating through their sandtray stories.

❋ Supporting Emotional Regulation

Discover how sandtray play can support pupils with emotional regulation, communication and storytelling, particularly those with SEMH needs, anxiety or behavioural challenges.

What is Sandtray Play?

Sandtray play is a creative and sensory approach where children use sand and miniature figures to build scenes and tell stories.

Rather than needing to explain their thoughts or feelings directly, pupils can use the sand and objects to represent ideas, experiences and emotions symbolically. This can be especially helpful for children who find it difficult to talk about what they are feeling.

Through building and storytelling in the sand, children often begin to work through and make sense of their experiences. They may repeat themes, solve problems within their stories, or create scenes that reflect feelings they are trying to understand.

The tactile, sensory nature of sand can also help children feel calmer and more settled, creating a space where they can explore thoughts, emotions and experiences at their own pace.

In school settings, sandtray play can be used with individual pupils or small groups, supporting emotional wellbeing, communication and narrative development in an engaging and accessible way.

Foundations of the Approach

  • Early 1900s – H. G. Wells
    Described children creating imaginative worlds with miniature figures in Floor Games, highlighting the importance of storytelling and symbolic play.

  • 1920s–1930s – Margaret Lowenfeld
    Developed the World Technique, allowing children to create worlds using sand and miniature objects to express their inner experiences.

  • 1950s – Dora Kalff
    Expanded Lowenfeld’s work into Sandplay, recognising how symbolic play can support emotional processing and psychological development.

  • Mid 20th Century – Sylvia Ashton-Warner
    Emphasised the importance of children expressing inner emotional experiences through storytelling, imagery and creative expression.

  • Late 20th Century – Garry Landreth
    Developed child-centred play therapy, highlighting the value of symbolic play and the importance of the adult’s supportive role.

  • Contemporary Educational Practice – Sheila Dorothy Smith
    Demonstrated how sandtray storymaking can be used in schools to support children’s academic, social and emotional development.

This training draws on these foundations to provide practical and accessible strategies that school staff can use to support pupils’ emotional expression, communication and storytelling.

Sandtray play draws on a long history of work exploring how children use play, storytelling and symbolic expression to understand their experiences.

This training is informed by the work of several influential thinkers and practitioners in child development and play-based approaches, including:

How Sandtray Supports Pupils

Sandtray play can support pupils to:

  • express thoughts, feelings and experiences safely

  • develop emotional awareness and regulation

  • explore ideas and experiences through storytelling

  • build narrative and language skills

  • gain confidence in sharing their thoughts

This approach can be particularly helpful for pupils who experience:

  • SEMH needs

  • anxiety or emotional overwhelm

  • communication difficulties

  • behavioural challenges linked to emotional needs

What Staff Will Learn

Participants will learn:

  • how sandtray play supports emotional expression and regulation

  • how storytelling through play can develop narrative and communication skills

  • how to introduce sandtray activities with individuals or small groups

  • practical facilitation skills for supporting pupils’ storytelling

  • how to observe themes and patterns in children’s play

  • guidance for setting up a simple sandtray space in school

The training includes experiential activities, allowing staff to experience sandtray play themselves and reflect on how it can be used with pupils.

Training Details

Full Day Training
6 hours – £850

Half Day Training
4 hours – £500

Training includes up to 20 staff members.

Discounts are available for cluster bookings or multiple schools.

Training is delivered in person and can be adapted to suit the needs of your school or staff team.

Optional Sandtray Starter Pack

Schools can choose to add a Sandtray Starter Pack to their training booking so staff can begin using sandtray activities immediately.

Starter packs include:

  • sand tray and sand

  • miniature figures

  • natural materials for storytelling and creative play

  • bespoke guidance and recommendations for introducing sandtray in your school

Starter packs available from £195.

Who This Training Is For

This training is suitable for staff working with primary-aged pupils, including:

  • teachers

  • teaching assistants

  • SENCOs

  • pastoral staff

  • nurture group staff

  • wellbeing or SEMH support staff

About the Trainer

I’m Charlotte Harper, a person-centred counsellor working with adults, children and young people in both private practice and school settings. In my work with children, I regularly see how play becomes a powerful language for expressing thoughts and feelings that can be difficult to put into words.

Through this training, I support school staff to introduce sandtray approaches that help pupils explore emotions, build stories and develop communication in a safe and creative way.

When I deliver training, I aim to create a warm, reflective and experiential space where staff can explore the approach for themselves. My hope is that participants leave feeling confident, inspired and ready to introduce sandtray activities within their own school environment.

Book Your Training

If you would like to book training or discuss how sandtray play could support pupils in your school, please get in touch.

Please let me know your desired date for training, number of staff in attendance any other information you’d like me to know.

  • “Charlotte delivered a thoughtful and inspiring training session. The approach feels accessible for school staff while still being grounded in a deep understanding of how children communicate through play. I left with practical ideas we can start using straight away to support emotional regulation and storytelling with our pupils.”

    SENCO Teacher

  • “This training was incredibly engaging and practical. The experiential activities really helped us understand how powerful sandtray play can be for children who struggle to express their feelings verbally. We left feeling confident about how to introduce sandtray into school and could immediately see how it would benefit many of our pupils.”

    Teacher

  • “The training gave me a completely new perspective on children’s play and behaviour. It helped me understand what pupils might be communicating through their play and gave me simple ways to support them using sandtray activities. I’d highly recommend this training to any school.”

    Teaching Assistant