Sand fun
We visited Nana and Grandad’s house last week and luckily the rain stopped for a bit. We grabbed the opportunity to get out in their garden. The children loved running round the garden to burn off that energy which had built up over a wet half term. Their garden is very large, so this was fantastic for them.
They investigated the bottom of the field, the views, the bushes. They love running in Nana and Grandad’s garden, it’s just one big open space…..a childs playground! 
After all that running, they spied the sandpit, which we hadn’t played with for a long time. The lid came off and the children dived in (well, not literally)! They dug around, they transferred sand from one place to another. They filled buckets, they attempted to make sand castles. They found buried treasure and generally had loads of fun exploring the sand for themselves.
As expected a lot of the sand spilled out onto the ground, but instead of just scooping it straight back up, BB started playing with it there, by piling it up and making sand pies etc. As soon as the girls saw what BB was doing, of course they wanted to join in too, hence a large proportion of sand ended up outside the sand pit!
With the sand on the ground and patted down, it made the perfect conditions for sand drawing. Boo drew lots of pictures in the sand. I thought her alien was fantastic! 
Next, Boo asked me to write her name, so I grabbed the opportunity for some writing practice with the children. We tried writing letters and names. It was very easy for the children to write in the sand. They enjoyed using the different medium for writing, rather than the usual pen and paper. It was definitely good fun.
I think with children, they will learn when they want to learn, not when you want to teach them. If they are exploring, asking and questioning, you can grab the opportunity to show them and guide them. This works for us, the kids felt inspired to learn some letters, therefore, they loved their practice writing session in the sand. It also meant we all had a lovely afternoon in the garden together, perfect!
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I think you are so right about learning when they want to. School always seems to have such a tight check list. Lovely to spend more time outside. It does look like a wonderful garden to run around in. #SavouringtheSeason
Their garden is amazing! Unfortunately we are not close enough to use it that much
Grandparents’ place look amazing, what lucky kids! We used to write and draw in the sand.. now that I read your post I’ve realised that we haven’t done it for a while. My older daughter just started school a month ago, so looks like the perfect time to write in the sand again.
Great, hope you enjoy some sand fun
Ah looks like great fun! What a fantastic garden for them to run and play in! Good old sand play too, can’t go wrong, lots of fun to be had!
#savouringtheseason
It is great….a kids paradise
What a wonderful time they had! Boo tends to want to build with her sand, but it’ll be interesting to see whether she chooses to write and draw in it more this year as her interests in these areas have grown hugely since last Summer when she spent hours in her nanny’s sandpit
Kids are constantly changing how they play with things as they grow up, learn and develop, love watching that
Fun in nature’s playground with the added bonus of sand! You can have so much creative fun with sand and it’s many uses. Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.
You can and natures playground is definitely the best!
Big gardens and sand pits – perfect
#LetKidsBeKids
Definitely
Oh wow Karen that space looks absolutely perfect for the kids. Such great sand play too, sounds like they had a lot of fun with that. Lovely post, thank you so much for sharing with #whatsthestory
It is a fantastic garden for kids, shame we don’t get to go there too often
What a great thing to have sand in!!So cute and looks like a lot of fun was had in that sand too! Love the sand drawings. I need to get my two outside and playing. We have been hermits and not taking advantage of the weather. Lovely pictures.
Thanks, it’s great to get outside for a bit after all the wet weather
Great garden for them to run around and be free in as children – and then some creative play in the sandpit. Great combo. #whatsthestory
It is perfect for kids to run around in
What a fabulous garden for the kids to play in. I love leaving them to their own devices and seeing what they come up with! #WhatstheStory
Thanks, yes, i like taking the lead from the children
Definitely with you on doing things in their own timing. I’ve found some of our most educational play has happened spontaneously! Thanks for linking up to #SavouringtheSeason