Sand Tray Construction

A number of factors come into play when deciding how to build a sand tray that is suitable for sandplay therapy. The tray has to be large enough to contain sufficient sand to provide a base for the scene and enough space so the items that the user selects for displaying in the sand can be seen. It is important that the scene created in the sand tray can be viewed in its entirety without the need for the viewer to move their head. But practicality will place limits as to the sand tray size due to available space and the need to be able to move the equipment, as sand is quite heavy even when dry!

The sand used in the sand tray should be clean river sand and it is important the sand is kept clean, so ensure that the sand tray is covered when it is not in use. This will keep dust out of the sand and discourage any cats (should you have any) from using the nice dry sand for something else!

The trays Tara normally uses are mounted on a "trolley" so as to make them readily mobile. The dimensions are detailed in the drawing below:

The actual materials used have not been specified but you need to keep in mind that the resulting tray should be water resistant with the inside (especially the base) painted a light blue. Sandtray users may want to wet the sand and/or show "water" in a pool by exposing the blue painted base...

Tara has a number of additional sandtrays for use when she runs workshops. These trays are not mounted on legs with castors as in the diagram but consist of just the tray itself. These trays can be stored, stacked on top of each other in the bottom of a cupboard when they are not in use. Because these trays are used on the floor they were made a little bit wider. (When viewed from standing the scene is easily encompassed without moving the head) But be cautious about doing this as the trays then contain more sand which makes them very heavy. We normally use two people to position these trays.

Return to Sandplay...