Updated on
August 11, 2026
Sand Tray Therapy in Schools: Techniques and Evidence
How teachers and teaching assistants use sand trays with withdrawn learners, the techniques that work, and what the evidence does and does not support.
Sand tray therapy is a structured method. A child or young person builds a scene in a shallow tray of play sand, using small figures. They then explore that scene with a trained practitioner.
Margaret Lowenfeld created the original World Technique in 1929. Dora Kalff later reshaped it into Jungian Sandplay Therapy (Lowenfeld, 1979; Kalff, 1980). The two are not the same, and the difference matters in schools.
Sandplay therapy is Kalff's non-directive Jungian model, and it needs clinical training. Sand tray therapy is the wider family of approaches, and parts of it sit comfortably within pastoral work (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011).
A Year 4 learner who will not talk about a death in the family may bury a figure, build a wall around it, and say nothing for ten minutes. That is information. What a school is allowed to do with it is the question this article answers.
Key Takeaways
- Sand tray therapy provides a powerful non-verbal avenue for learners to express complex emotions and experiences that words often fail to capture: This expressive modality allows the unconscious mind to communicate symbolically through the creation of miniature worlds, offering a safe space for learners, particularly those who are withdrawn or traumatised, to process their inner world without the pressure of verbal articulation (Kalff, 1980). Teachers can notice when a learner returns to the tray and pass that observation on; interpreting the symbols themselves sits outside a teacher's remit and belongs with a qualified practitioner.
- Sand tray therapy offers a contained and safe environment for learners to process traumatic experiences and develop durable emotional regulation skills: By externalising internal conflicts and anxieties within the sand tray, learners can gain a sense of control and mastery over their experiences, which is vital for healing from trauma and managing difficult feelings (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). This process can lead to reduced behavioural issues and improved focus in the classroom.
- Sand tray therapy effectively taps into learners' innate capacity for self-healing and psychological integration, supporting genuine personal growth: By engaging with symbolic play in a safe and non-directive manner, learners can externalise internal conflicts, explore different aspects of their identity, and integrate fragmented experiences, leading to greater self-awareness and resilience (Kalff, 1980). This process supports learners in developing healthier coping strategies and improved social interactions within the school environment.
- Incorporating sand tray principles can significantly enhance a teacher's understanding of learners' internal worlds and build a more empathetic classroom culture: Observing a learner's sand tray creations provides invaluable insights into their emotional state, social dynamics, and cognitive processes, which helps staff shape pastoral support and decide when to refer (Turner, 2005). Clinical interpretation of those scenes belongs to a registered play therapist, not a class teacher. What the school gains is a calmer learner and an earlier, better-evidenced referral.
Sand tray therapy involves several theoretical models (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). Its core ideas guide the process, (Turner, 2005). We present case studies that show its advantages for the learner (Carey, 1999).
Ammann (1991) showed that the psychology behind Sandplay Therapy needs proper study. Turner (2005) and Homeyer & Sweeney (2011) found that it changes learners in powerful ways. Bradway & McCoard (1997) suggest it reshapes how a learner makes sense of what has happened to them.
Sand tray work lets learners use sand and items to represent their lives (Ammann, 1991). This helps express challenges, relationships and goals in a safe space (Turner, 2005). Research by Homeyer and Sweeney (1998) shows it supports emotional growth.
Sand therapy gives learners a way to show what they feel, which builds self-awareness. It can bring hidden feelings to the surface, so a child can grow and heal.
It works with one person, with couples, and with whole families (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). Carey (1999) found that it helps learners with complex needs speak freely.
Sandplay theory needs more study. Allan (1988) greatly influenced it with Jungian ideas. Kalff (1980) linked it to child development. Turner (2005) showed how learners can use it.
Psychological Theories Behind Sand Tray Therapy
Weinrib (1983) linked sand tray therapy to Jung's unconscious. Bowlby (1969) and Erikson (1963) showed attachment shapes learner emotions. Jung (1921) found play reveals patterns, helping learners recover. Use it as a starting point for professional discussion: identify the learner's current need, record evidence from more than one lesson, and agree the next classroom adjustment with the SENCO or family.
Sand therapy uses several psychological theories. We will now look at these frameworks. Sand tray work, like Play Therapy, uses diverse traditions to help the learner (Turner, 2005; Homeyer & Sweeney, 1998).
Psychodynamic Theory
Sand therapy draws on psychodynamic ideas, which look at what goes on below the surface (Jung, 1956; Kalff, 1980). Like Person-centred and Mindfulness-Based therapies, it offers the learner a sense of safety. Thinking strategies can strengthen the process. Scaffolding helps learners take part fully.
Sand therapy also suits inclusive settings, and you can pair it with Lego Therapy to build skills. Learners make scenes that show their thoughts and feelings. This gives the inner world an outside shape they can look at, rearrange and step back from (Ammann, 1991).
Jungian Analytical Psychology
Jung (1959) provided the theoretical base that Kalff later applied to sandplay therapy. His collective unconscious and archetypes help teachers understand sand tray work. Learners connect with powerful symbols in their sand trays. Jung thought healing happens when learners integrate conscious and unconscious thoughts.
Bowlby (1969) set out how early relationships shape later ones, and Ainsworth and colleagues (1978) supplied the empirical patterns that followed. Sand therapy gives learners a safe space for emotional exploration. Gentle sand play helps insecure learners build trust. This approach aids learners who experienced trauma (Bowlby, 1988).
Developmental Psychology
Sandplay therapists draw on child development to understand learners. They look at how a child uses symbols in play (Erikson, 1963). They also look at how well a child manages feelings and thinks things through (Piaget, 1936).
This helps them spot delays, or signs of past trauma (Bowlby, 1969). In therapy, learners revisit earlier stages and build new skills.
Core Principles and Techniques
Ammann (1991) found that Sand Tray Therapy creates a sense of safety. The therapist stays neutral, and play with symbols brings unconscious feelings into view. Use it as a starting point for professional discussion: identify the learner's current need, record evidence from more than one lesson, and agree the next classroom adjustment with the SENCO or family.
Homeyer & Sweeney (1998) say the key skills are watching closely and reading very little into it. Turner (2005) notes that therapists watch, and trust the learner to heal.
Kalff (1980) highlighted sand therapy principles, which teachers need to know for sand play. Ammann (1991) and Turner (2005) showed sand play helps learners in education and therapy.
Creating the Free and Protected Space
Researchers such as Kalff (1980) believe 'free and protected space' is key for sand therapy. It means both a safe setting and a supportive attitude from you. Physical space needs boundaries, while psychological space needs acceptance. This lets learners explore feelings without judgement, according to Turner (2005).
The Role of Silence and Observation
Learners create scenes in sand therapy using silence, and therapists watch (Ammann, 1991). This process allows unconscious thoughts to emerge, as Turner (2005) noted. Therapists create a safe space, trusting the learner's self-healing abilities (Kalff, 1980).
Symbolic Language and Metaphor
Sand therapy's small objects let learners show feelings. Animals can mean instincts; houses, the self (Kalff, 1980). Bridges are conventionally read as transition (Ammann, 1991), though a sand tray miniature carries the meaning a learner gives it rather than a fixed one, and reading the inner world from a catalogue of symbols is where classroom practice most often goes wrong. Teachers need theory and intuition to grasp each learner's symbols (Turner, 2005).
Applications in Educational Settings
Carey (1999) found sand tray therapy helps learners facing challenges. Allan (1988) and Ammann (1991) state it supports learners managing feelings and improving learning. Schools use it for pastoral care.
Sand therapy works in UK schools. Ammann (1991) and Turner (2005) found it helps learners with academic or emotional issues. Their research shows it improves learner well being and learning.
Supporting Vulnerable Learners
Most people assume sand tray work simply replaces talking. That is only half the story. Running both hands through cool, heavy play sand gives a steady stream of touch. After several years of screen-heavy learning, that physical grounding does real work before a child places a single figure.
Porges (2011) describes how repeated, predictable sensory input helps a learner shift out of high alarm. Only then can they think and speak at all. On that reading, sand trays are a calming tool first and a way to express feelings second.
This matters for the order you work in. A learner who arrives upset will not manage a talk about a death in the family, but they will put their hands in sand. Homeyer and Sweeney (2011) and Turner (2005) both report gains for children and young people with limited spoken language. Better emotional regulation is the most likely reason for those gains.
Integration with Social-Emotional Learning
Learners explore feelings using sand trays, which supports social-emotional work. They build scenes to process friendship issues, family changes or school stress. This hands-on method often works better than worksheets (Carey, 1999; Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011).
Collaboration with Educational Psychology Services
Schools often work with educational psychologists using sand therapy. This teamwork gives useful insights into learners' feelings and helps plan lessons. Sand tray work may show things about a learner's thoughts that usual tests miss.
Case Studies and Evidence Base
Sand Tray Therapy helps many learners, research shows (Carey, 1999). Studies find it improves emotional control and trauma work (Homeyer & Sweeney, 1998). Research gives key insights into how it works best (Kalff, 1980; Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011).
Sand therapy helps many learners (Carey, 1999; Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). Turner (2005) also shows support through cases.
Research on Trauma Recovery
Carey (1999) found sand therapy helps traumatised learners manage feelings. Using sand trays can improve behaviour and mental wellbeing. The nonverbal method helps learners who find talking difficult.
Effectiveness with Autism Spectrum Conditions
Sand tray work suits some autistic children and young people, though the evidence is thinner than the enthusiasm suggests. Lu and colleagues (2010) found that sandplay increased spontaneous creative play in autistic children across a school year, working with a small sample and no control group. The tactile, visual format removes the demand for immediate speech, which is the most likely reason staff report lower anxiety during sessions. Treat that as a reasonable hypothesis for your setting, not an established effect.
Long-term Outcomes and Follow-up Studies
Carey (1999) found sand therapy benefits are lasting. This has been linked to hands-on emotional healing (Kalff, 1980). Turner (2005) showed learners process feelings via symbolic play. Homeyer and Sweeney (1998) suggested creative expression helps understanding.
What to set up in your school next term
Sand tray therapy lets learners show how they feel without using words. Lowenfeld (1979) and Kalff (1980) set out the psychological theory behind it. It works well in schools and in clinics.
Homeyer & Sweeney (1998) showed it can reach feelings that are hard to talk about. Ammann (1991) found it helps learners who have faced trauma or who struggle to communicate.
Research suggests that sand therapy supports learner wellbeing. Homeyer and Sweeney (2011) reported success across a range of groups. Schools are now taking more interest in it too (Turner, 2005).
Before you buy a tray, check the governance. Ask any outside practitioner for current registration with BAPT or PTUK, a DBS check, named clinical supervision and a written referral protocol. Then record on paper where their work stops and your ELSA or pastoral provision starts.
Your own staff can offer sand trays as a way to help learners settle and feel grounded, without claiming to interpret what a child builds. That is both cheaper and safer than an unregistered therapy offer. Set that boundary in writing this term. After that, decide whether the SEND budget justifies a registered play therapist for the few children and young people whose EHCP reviews would genuinely be stronger for it.
Further authoritative guidance on Jungian psychology: APA Dictionary of Psychology on analytical psychology, Society of Analytical Psychology introduction to analytical psychology, NHS overview of talking therapies, EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit on social and emotional learning.
Limitations and Critiques
The evidence is weaker than most school-facing accounts admit. Roesler (2019) reviewed the sandplay therapy research and found it was mostly single case studies and small designs with no random allocation and no active control group. In most of those studies, the therapist doing the work also judged the results. That combination invites reporting bias.
Sand tray therapy may well work. The published record simply cannot yet tell us how well it works, who it helps, or whether it beats other options.
The theory behind it draws a separate objection. Kalff (1980) built on Jung's archetypes and the collective unconscious. Those ideas sit awkwardly next to what we now know about how thinking develops in the brain.
A toy bridge stands for change because the theory says so, not because anyone has measured it. Staff who are asked to accept archetypal readings are accepting a way of reading, not a finding.
Culture adds to this problem. Most sets of miniatures come from European and North American symbols. A learner whose home, faith or family is missing from the tray has fewer ways to show it.
Staff may then log that silence as avoidance, when the right figure was simply not there. Roesler (2019) finds the same one-size-fits-all assumption in archetypal interpretation.
The sharpest risk in schools is a professional one rather than a theoretical one. Homeyer and Morrison (2008) trace the lasting confusion between play as a form of therapy and play as an everyday activity. When unqualified staff interpret a traumatised child's tray, that confusion stops being academic and becomes a safeguarding matter.
None of this makes the method worthless. Staff who understand the limits of their role can use it to help learners settle and to spot who needs referring on. Used that way, sand tray therapy is still one of the few routes by which a child who cannot yet speak about something can show it instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sand tray therapy in an educational setting?
Sand tray therapy uses sand and toys for learners to build scenes. This expressive method lets learners show thoughts and feelings safely. They can communicate complex emotions that words can't easily capture (Lowenstein, 2013; Homeyer & Sweeney, 2016). This helps learners when talking is difficult (Turner, 2005).
How can teachers implement sand play in the classroom?
Learners can explore sand play in a quiet corner, using a tray, clean sand, and toys. Staff create a safe space for free building without instruction. Teachers watch carefully for patterns and themes (Ammann, 1991; Turner, 2005).
What are the benefits of sand tray therapy for children with special educational needs?
Sand therapy gives learners with special needs a tactile space. It helps them process experiences at their pace. This can reduce anxiety and improve focus (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011). Sand play also supports emotional regulation (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011).
What does psychological research say about sandplay therapy?
Symbolic play helps learners recover emotionally. Jungian ideas and attachment theory both support this view. Approaches that do not rely on speech let children and young people work through trauma at a pace they can manage (Homeyer & Sweeney, 2011).
Reviews of the evidence are more cautious. Roesler (2019) found that most studies were small case designs with no random allocation. So read claims that sand tray therapy cuts classroom incidents as promising rather than proven.
What are common mistakes when supervising sand tray activities?
Let learners create sand scenes without your input. Teachers, don't interrupt creative play or prompt figures with questions. Allow natural expression, as this is therapeutic (Ammann, 1991).
References
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment.
Further Reading
For further academic research on this topic:
- Sand tray therapy research
- Play therapy effectiveness
- Homeyer, L. E., & Sweeney, D. S. (2011). Sandtray Therapy: A Practical Manual. New York: Routledge. This comprehensive manual provides detailed guidance on implementing sand tray therapy techniques across various populations and settings.
- De Domenico, G. S. (2002). "Sandtray-worldplay and Jungian psychology: Theoretical and practical considerations". Journal of Sandplay Therapy, 11(2), 23-41. This paper explores the theoretical foundations linking Jungian analytical psychology to sandplay therapeutic practice.
- Kalff, D. M. (2003). Sandplay: A Psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche. Cloverdale, CA: Temenos Press. A seminal work by one of the founders of sandplay therapy, providing foundational understanding of the approach.
- Mitchell, R. R., & Friedman, H. S. (1994). Sandplay: Past, Present and Future. London: Routledge. This collection examines the historical development and contemporary applications of sandplay therapy across different theoretical orientations.
- Turner, B. A. (2005). "The handbook of sandplay therapy research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches". International Journal of Play Therapy, 14(2), 87-102. This research review examines methodological approaches to studying sandplay therapy effectiveness and outcomes.
