Lesson notes on sand therapy lesson plan on correctional pedagogy (middle group) on the topic

Sand therapy is one of the areas of art therapy.

The “father” of sand games or sandplay is traditionally considered to be K. Jung and his followers. C. Jung developed the technique of active imagination, which is considered a theoretical basis. The emergence of sandplay began in the 20s with the development of Charlotte Bühler called the “world test”, which was successfully used as a diagnostic tool in child psychiatry.

In 1930, a new technique appeared, which was implemented by Margaret Lowenfeld, who founded the London Institute, and it was she who first placed toy figures in a substance. This technique was borrowed from the “world test.” Margaret’s wards created entire large-scale compositions in the sandbox and called them “My World.” Thanks to this, a new method emerged, called the “world technique”. This method was continued in the 50s by C. Jung’s follower Dora Kalff, combining “world technology” and the Jungian direction, and thereby creating sand therapy.

Dora Kalff's discovery was that sand pictures created by children can become a reflection of their thoughts and experiences. The use of this useful technique has been tested not only on young patients, but also on mature people.

Sandplay uses both non-verbal means (when creating a plot) and verbal ones (a story about a finished painting or inventing a fairy tale that reveals the essence of the creation). This method is actively used by art therapists, gelstatt therapy specialists, family and child psychotherapists, educators and speech therapists in preschools.

Features of the method

The method is suitable for all age categories. As soon as a person dips his palms into the material, his imagination begins to paint colorful pictures of a golden beach, the bright blue of the sea and white flakes of clouds slowly floating across the sky. Just as sand allows water to pass through, it also absorbs negative energy. The smallest grains of sand, only connected together in a certain way, allow you to create your own work. They symbolize life in which a person, by arranging events and thoughts in a certain way, gets the desired results.

A complex effect on the human psyche is achieved through tactile stimulation of the very sensitive nerve endings of the palms and hands. A state of meditation arises and nervous tension is relieved. Based on the images and symbols resulting from drawing, one can draw conclusions about the specifics of personal problems and identify human needs. Studying what is captured, we see a three-dimensional image of the inner world, unconscious problems and conflicts.

The goal of therapy is to develop self-acceptance in the child, teach him to trust and love himself.

Therapy goals:

• fostering a positive attitude towards life and oneself;
• fostering responsibility for one’s actions;
• training the ability to trust yourself and exercise self-control over your actions;
• treatment of excessive anxiety when planning actions and overcoming obstacles;
• development of self-confidence.

Stages of organizing sand therapy in kindergarten

Sand therapy is organized by teachers in kindergartens, psychologists and speech therapists. They use sand games for activities with children. At home, parents can organize a place where the child can play in the sandbox for his own benefit.

The main stages of organizing therapy include:

1. Preparing a child for sand therapy. He must have a desire to participate in the game.
2. The teacher must be able to conduct sand therapy, have a creative approach and potential.
3. Children must be healthy at the time of play. They should not have an allergic reaction to sand.
4. Preparing the play area: a box of sand, an animation table and toys.
5. Carrying out the game.

There are many options for sand games. A competent specialist will select the necessary methods that are necessary for the development of a particular child.

Sand can fascinate with its amazing possibilities. Notice how many different fantasies can be realized in a sand drawing. It’s safe to say that not only children, but also adults can enjoy spending time with sand.

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Principles of the method

Sand therapy is based on creating figures or images on a plane. Initially, you need to conduct testing by asking you to create your own image and describe it in words. The children's audience views this as a game, which is actually a powerful diagnostic tool and correctional technique. You can practice while listening to music or listening to a fairy tale, depending on the purpose of the specific procedure.

The method is used as an independent method or as an integral part of the following treatment areas:

• sand art therapy;
• psychology;
• speech therapy;
• development of speech, writing, counting, memory and attention;
• therapy aimed at developing self-awareness and self-respect;
• identifying negative thoughts and learning to cope with them;
• influence on several family members in order to correct behavioral disorders;
• child psychoanalysis.

Features of sand therapy for children

Sand therapy is also suitable for adults, but the use of sand therapy has its own characteristics in games:

1. Does the teacher understand the child’s psychological problem?
2. It is important to set communication boundaries with children.
3. A more natural game, which is unusual for adults.
4. Children are engaged in more dynamic and active games.
5. The main stages of the game: chaos, struggle, outcome.
6. Complete absence of abstract paintings.
7. The preferred predominance of fairy-tale characters, animals, and cartoon characters in the game.

Method capabilities

Sand therapy in kindergarten will allow you to prepare your very first lunch and build your first house. Being a reflection of the inner world, sand therapy provides the following:

1. Creates a natural, comfortable environment for the child’s creativity, which stimulates his creative activity.
2. Revives abstract images, makes it easier to understand the addition of letters into words, numbers into mathematical operations.
3. Gives children the opportunity to “live” the situation together with the heroes of fairy tales.
4. Provides a transition from reality to a fairy tale, makes it possible to check the correctness of the choice of solution in a given situation.

Children with speech disorders have complex emotional disturbances, which is reflected in the inconsistency of emotional reactions to a specific situation. This complicates contact with peers and leads to hyperactivity or inhibition. This gives rise to the need to include a wide variety of methods in working with children. It has been proven that sand therapy allows you to develop communication abilities, teaches you to express and understand yourself and your feelings.

Sand therapy for preschool children

For babies, this therapy is a fun way to touch soft-touch material. It helps children develop mentally and physically, giving them the opportunity to prepare for school.

For children, playing in the sand helps:

• learn numbers and letters;
• distinguish between left and right sides;
• correctly navigate the seasons;
• train memory, vision and hearing;
• develop imagination.

It is better to start such therapy at the age of 3, but it can be done earlier, when the child stops putting everything in his mouth.

Indications for therapy

There are the following indications for sand therapy:

• experiencing an age crisis;
• inability to put into words your experiences;
• presence of psychological trauma;
• inability to make decisions independently;
• delayed psycho-speech development;
• emotional inhibition, “stinginess”;
• psychotherapy for various addictions;
• reducing tension;
• development of all types of sensitivity;
• normalization of muscle tone;
• broadening one's horizons;
• increased anxiety, emotional lability.

The relevance of sandplay is very high at the present time. Through tactile sensations, not only speech and cognition develop, but also children get rid of unmotivated aggression, the teacher begins to understand his students better.

Psychotherapy with sand is not common in kindergartens and schools everywhere, but soon this technique will be mandatory for all educational institutions with the provision of special equipment. It is important to use this method in working with children with disabilities, mental retardation, visual impairment, cerebral palsy, and people with disabilities. It is enough just to give such children the instructions to build, and they will already begin to create entire universes.

Contraindications

Psychologists do not recommend sand therapy in children's educational institutions for children with the following conditions:

• attention deficit, hyperactivity;
• epileptic seizures;
• psychiatric illnesses;
• increased anxiety;
• obsessive-compulsive neurosis;
• dust allergic reactions;
• lung diseases;
• skin diseases and hand injuries.

Psychotherapists use the method with children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

How does sand therapy work?

The main effect of sand therapy is that it helps fight psychological trauma by transferring it to the sand. Feelings of control and interconnection over one’s internal sensations and desires begin to form. A child, playing in the sand, expresses all his experiences and fears, frees himself from traumas that do not develop into psychological trauma.

Interesting read:

“Call me kindly” – speech therapy game

Integrated speech development lesson for children 5-6 years old using eidetic elements

Equipment for classes

The following devices are used for therapeutic play:

• a waterproof box, the walls of which are painted blue and the bottom is blue;
• special sandbox that changes color - tablet;
• clean sand, which must be moistened during certain games;
• a set of figures symbolizing buildings, people, animals, cars;
• symbolic objects that will represent wishes made, treasure chests, treasures;
• fairy-tale heroes - good and evil;
• religious items and souvenirs;
• natural objects - shells, twigs, cones;
• home stuff;
• bolts, screws;
• plastic letters and numbers, geometric shapes.

After testing, educational games for preschoolers begin according to their needs, age, identified disorders, and cognitive disorders.

In the future, you can include interactive, developmental activities and only then - projective games and exercises.

Stages of sand therapy

There are three main stages of sand play:

1. “Chaos” - there are no differences between the figures, that is, it is not clear who they are: animals, heroes, plants, fairy-tale characters. This means that the baby is anxious and restless.
2. “Struggle” - the child clearly divides toys into good and bad, and there are many more evil ones. This period is called the child’s internal struggle; in this case, good characters should be added to his game’s plot.
3. “Exodus” is the stage that means complete calm and harmony of the child.

Sand therapy fully develops the child and eliminates neurological problems. It is also just a pleasant and useful time spent with your own child.

Requirements for a teacher

Starting the game, little hands come into contact with a unique universe. It is necessary to create a friendly, trusting environment, take into account all the nuances of the voice, its timbre, and observe the following important parameters:

• Alternate the way of conveying information – concreteness and imagery. It must be remembered that the use of abstract statements reduces the power of suggestion.
• Create the illusion of choice - during the lesson a non-existent alternative is offered.
• During the game, use a movement in a circle, which symbolizes a person’s constant return to himself, combining his past and present into a single whole for harmonious development in the future.
• During the lesson, conditions are created for the child so that he is not afraid to actively participate, ask questions, and offer his own solutions to issues.
• Don’t forget to create difficulties, obstacles, and teach children to overcome difficulties during class. Develop the habit of fighting and winning.
• Draw children's attention to the fact that sand paintings are easily built and destroyed; old events are replaced by a new interesting life.
• It is necessary to change the material periodically. Depending on the task, use sand of different temperatures and humidity. Teach your child to distinguish between dry and wet, prickly and smooth, hard and soft.
• At the end of the lesson, summarize, praise and talk about upcoming games to maintain interest.

Sand therapy for preschool children develops fine motor skills of the hand, stimulates blood circulation in the brain, accelerates mental processes, and normalizes psychological reactions. It is necessary to connect color therapy techniques to this process, since they are powerful signals for personality development.

Sand therapy in child development

Thanks to sand therapy, you can develop the following skills in your child:

1. Motor. The child learns to pour sand into a bucket, jar or bottle with a narrow neck.
2. Descriptive. Preschoolers draw animals, plants, equipment, etc. in the sand.
3. Develop speech functions and phonemic hearing. Children draw letters in the sand, which helps teach them how to pronounce and automate sounds.
4. Development of mental abilities, memory and attention.
5. Development of fine motor skills of the hands. Every finger is involved in the game, which will have a beneficial effect on the overall development of the child.
6. To correct breathing. Sand acts as a means for breathing exercises.

Playing in the sandbox helps the child perform actions with sand: dry and wet. He learns its properties and learns to establish a cause-and-effect relationship. In the process, creative abilities also develop - the child comes up with new images and makes them out of sand.

Game techniques

What is needed for sand therapy at home

If parents want to organize sandplay at home, then for this they will need:

• pallet;
• sand;
• Miniature figures;
• Pebbles, plants, etc. to create a certain landscape.

Depending on the objectives, sand therapy can take place in the form of games aimed at:

• development of phonemics;
• correction of sound pronunciation;
• literacy training;
• educational games;
• family sand therapy;
• projection games.

The lesson includes the following plan:

1. We introduce the child to the sandbox, explain that the blue side symbolizes the sky, that you can create any type of terrain: mountains, deserts, and by spreading the sand - the blue sea.
2. We give you the opportunity to hold in your hands a collection of geometric shapes, animals, and household items.
3. The figures that the baby chooses symbolize his condition today. The most important thing is to ask him to tell you what he thinks about the selected figures.
4. We carefully observe the baby: how he enters the situation, with whom he identifies himself.
5. We teach the child to be careful with materials.
6. We formulate the topic at the beginning of sand therapy, conduct the classes according to the plan, and after its completion it is important to draw a conclusion about the work done, put all the used objects and toys in their places, and clean up after yourself.

Games to develop auditory attention and memory

• Games aimed at increasing vocabulary and constructing detailed phrases.

By the age of three, a person can pronounce basic words correctly. Some children speak unclearly, swap syllables and letters in words, and place stress incorrectly. If he does not pay attention to speech problems, by the age of 5 he realizes that he is speaking incorrectly and begins to feel embarrassed about it and withdraws into himself. You can arrange speech games in the sand. To do this, children draw letters, learn to form syllables and pronounce them loudly or quietly, in a chant, in a whisper.

Having placed different figures in a container, we teach the child to name the animals, write - what letter its name begins with, and what sounds these animals make. You can play tic-tac-toe.

• Educational geographical games on the sand.

After simple games with building houses, rivers, seas and boats, we begin to develop spatial thinking. For classes, a map of the world or continents made independently in the form of a puzzle is suitable. To do this, you need to purchase two identical geographical maps in the store and divide one into 4-6 fragments. We give the child a sample card and offer to put together a puzzle. Gradually we begin to fold continents and oceans. Then we complicate the game by making a “sea” at the bottom of the sandbox, spreading the sand. During the game, we pronounce the names of countries, their capitals, and find out who lives there. For example, in France the capital is Paris, and the French live there.

For each country we select characteristic vegetation and animals, placing palm trees, elephants, and crocodiles in the sandbox. We explain what a tropical climate is and why birches don’t grow there. You can travel to the North Pole by first making a supply of salt, polystyrene foam or cotton wool for snow.

• Fantastic games with transformers on the sand.

We imitate the life of other planets, the lunar landscape, Star Wars, which will be especially interesting to boys, will help them realize their desire to be a superhero, teach them how to fight and win.

Depending on the age of children, in addition to geographical and fantasy games, there are the following types of educational games:

• historical;
• find logical pairs;
• learn to eliminate unnecessary things;
• take a tour of the city;
• count objects, build logical series;
• learn to navigate: what is - above, below, right, left.

Actions of the teacher when organizing sand therapy

When organizing sand therapy, the teacher should:

• prepare a place for sand therapy. This should be a quiet corner where there is no noise and fuss;
• purchase a box that needs to be painted blue or light blue. This coloring has a beneficial effect and calms the psyche. Pure white sand is poured into it;
• A box of toys is placed near the box. They should be small in size so that the child can create a model of the game. The set must include figures of people and animals;

Note! During sand therapy, the child chooses exactly those figures that symbolize his internal state at the moment.

• create comfortable conditions for gaming activities;
• support children's play, help them experience various situations;
• evaluate children's behavior during play and draw conclusions.

To practice sand animation you need:

1. Buy a table with a glass top and add lighting from below. Install low edges along the edge of the table.
2. Pour clean river sand onto the surface in such quantity that you can draw pictures on it.

During therapy sessions there should be a calm environment conducive to therapy. You can turn on calm music. The teacher observes the progress of the game and, if necessary, prompts the child with a scenario.

Projective games

The peculiarity identified by S. Freud of attributing one's feelings and desires to external objects is very helpful in working with children. The child is asked to do the following:

• describe the existing images in the sand and endow them with some qualities;
• create a single whole from disparate parts hidden in the sand;
• come up with a story or fairy tale with characters and objects from existing figures in the sand;
• draw a non-existent animal, and others.

It must be remembered that projective techniques cannot be unambiguously interpreted; they are socially and situationally determined and are aimed at studying the child’s personality as a whole. Given that these techniques are not sufficiently standardized, they are used for diagnosis and treatment by psychotherapists.

Sand therapy includes a wide variety of individual and group games and activities. Illuminated boards or sand of various colors are actively used. This will help the child express his existing emotional state.

A series of games and exercises with sand from the book “Miracles on the Sand” by T. Zinkevich - Evstigneeva contribute to the development of tactile-kinesthetic sensitivity, fine motor skills, creative imagination, and help in understanding one’s external and internal world.

Here are some games:

• Hand impressions. With the help of this exercise, the baby learns to evaluate sensations. The teacher or parent shows the student a print of his or her palm
• on the sand, the patient repeats the same. The hand is pressed and plunged into the pan.

First, the presenter describes his feelings. He tells his story about sand, what kind of material it is, soft or rough, how he feels small particles with his skin. Then follows the child's story about sand.

• Rain or waterfall. This game is a good way to relieve muscle tension and aggression. The teacher or presenter says that the waterfall has begun. The little person pours sand onto the back of the adult's hand, and then he performs the exercise for the baby.

• Creating patterns. Draw various patterns on the sand using fingers, fists, and brushes, and then tell what the child sees when he looks at them. This can include flowers, animals, branches, etc. This exercise has a positive effect on the psycho-emotional state of children.
• Hide and seek. The game helps in clarifying the psychological problems of the ward and helping to get rid of them. The preschooler is offered a choice of several objects, which he must bury in the sand, and then dig up and tell about all the hidden objects.
• Playing the plot. The psychologist invites the patient to create his own world using a choice of miniature figures. If the goal of sand therapy is to get rid of aggression, then the little person will choose negative characters and cause war and destruction, thereby relieving tension and calming his anger.

The role of sand therapy for children with disabilities

For healthy children, such games are simply useful and entertaining. The situation is different with children with developmental disabilities. Sand exercises are used to correct behavior, relieve tension and develop sensory skills.

Games in the sandbox are effective for kids with:

• ZPR;
• HIA;
• ONR.

Such children form their own character in the sandbox; the characters communicate with each other and carry on a conversation. This is how kids with developmental disabilities form their own character.

The sand literacy game is suitable for children with speech delays. It improves the correct perception of words, forms correct pronunciation, develops reading and writing.

Children with intellectual deficiencies should play with sand for about an hour.

This therapy treats neurological problems and is an active prevention of developmental disorders. Frequent play in the sandbox charges the child with positive emotions and frees him from negative manifestations of the outside world.

Psychologist's advice to parents: how to decipher the signs

From sandplay specialist Ulyana Naumova you can hear the following:

• The kid can make any buildings and in the ways he wants, adhering to three main rules: do not pour sand outside the pallet, do not destroy the buildings of other children if he plays in a group.
• Parents need to monitor what their child is building. For example, if he is building a house whose walls are very thick, it means that he has a desire for security, which he may lack, and wants to strengthen his internal boundaries so that everyone notices them and does not cross them.
• Power is a symbol of the fact that he has no boundaries, which is why there is no comfort.

• The appearance of candles or a fire indicates the baby’s lack of warmth and care. The presence of chaos in the child’s play space shows what kind of disorder is inside the patient or foreshadows the immediate start of change.
• It is also important to observe the little person’s play and ask him questions: why did this particular composition come about, what significance do all these structures have for him. With daily peace building, the baby’s behavior improves, sleep becomes stronger, anxiety and tension go away.”

Conclusion

Drawing with sand will help a child relax; it has a fascinating effect on viewers and artists. Sand therapy can be performed with music and allows you to solve many problems in diagnosis, treatment and development of cognitive abilities. In this case, almost all types of analyzing organs are involved in the process:

• vision;
• hearing;
• tactile sensitivity;
• sensory perception.

Sand therapy for preschool children allows you to develop speech, motor skills, hearing, sociability, creativity, creative abilities. In addition, it relieves stress, eliminates fears, helps express internal conflicts and experiences, and increases self-esteem. Sand therapy promotes the formation of self-esteem in a small individual and teaches him to understand himself.

Sand therapy methods in speech development

Speech disorders often occur in preschool children. Sand therapy is an effective tool for children's speech development. This method is novel and increasingly gaining popularity.

A speech therapist uses sand games in classes with children:

• "Sounds on the Sand"

The teacher draws an animal or object in the sand and asks the child its name. Then he asks to draw other objects whose names begin with the first sound of the word. Thanks to this game, the speech therapist helps the child automate a specific sound.

• "Remove the unnecessary"

The teacher draws 3 objects, one of them does not fit the logical chain. For example, circle, square and apple. The child must erase the excess and add the necessary drawing. Sand play promotes speech development.

• "Turn the letter"

The teacher draws a letter, the child must turn it into another.

• “Draw a letter, a word”

The preschooler draws with his finger the letters or words that the teacher pronounces. In the game you can use sticks or string with knots to write.

Important! The speech therapist will select sand therapy individually for each child, which is necessary for him to produce sound and automate it.

MAGAZINE Preschooler.RF

Senchenko Valentina Viktorovna, teacher, MBDOU "Kindergarten No. 48" , Ryazan, Ryazan region, Russia

Perhaps, each of us has our own positive memories from childhood associated with playing in the sand - sea, river, or what is poured into sandboxes near the house. However, sand is not so simple. Seemingly simple games can be very beneficial for the mental health and development of children. Especially if these games are sand therapy.

Have you noticed that sand for babies has some magical powers? At a certain age, they begin to be attracted to it: children want to touch the sand, pick at it with a stick, play with toys, dig a hole.

First of all, sand therapy for children is an excellent opportunity for self-expression, the development of creative inclinations in a child, as well as a simple and effective way to learn to express their feelings, emotions, and experiences. Sand therapy classes under the guidance of a teacher or psychologist provide answers to many questions parents have regarding the inner emotional world of their child, allows you to uncover and see the true causes of conflicts, fears, and subsequently make corrections!

The creators of sand therapy are students of the famous psychologist and scientist Carl Jung. The therapy is based on the psychologist’s discovery of the fact that our unconscious communicates with us through symbols and hints, which often helps us recover from illnesses, cope with difficulties and resolve some difficult issues. Today, playing with sand is becoming increasingly popular. Sand therapy began to be actively used in kindergarten.

How it works? The paintings created on the sand by our hands are a reflection of the unconscious. They are like dreams, but you can also touch them. With their help, we bring out our experiences, internal problems, tormenting conflicts. A psychologist or teacher will help you look at all this in your picture, as well as realize what thoughts are disturbing you.

The sandbox is an excellent mediator for establishing contact with a child. And if he speaks poorly and cannot tell an adult about his experiences, then in such games with sand everything becomes possible. By playing out an exciting situation with the help of small figures, creating a picture of sand, the child opens up, and adults get the opportunity to see the child’s inner world at the moment, and during sand therapy it will definitely “flow out” onto the sandy surface. But this is far from the only advantage of sand therapy: it remarkably develops fine motor skills (sand, due to its structure, has a beneficial effect on tactile sensations and stimulates the nerve endings that are located in the fingertips), imagination, creativity, imaginative thinking and much more.

Working with sand is calming (especially for hyperactive children) - it seems to contain life-giving solar energy that recharges us with positive emotions.

Sand therapy is also good for preschoolers because when creating certain compositions, artistic skills are not needed, as in drawing. This means there is no room for disappointments, mistakes and self-doubt. During the “sand” lesson, children are relaxed, cheerful and inspired: they create their own world, and doing this is endlessly pleasant.

Sand therapy is akin to play, and in play a child learns about the world around him, overcomes difficulties, and learns to solve adult problems. The participation of a teacher or psychologist is important here, who will help the child find a solution and a way out of the current situation in a timely manner.

Sand therapy helps a lot in speech therapy. Children who have some kind of speech problems learn exercises reflected in the sand much faster. So, kids love to sculpt different letters, words, and letter combinations that are difficult for them. Children who have difficulty speaking overcome speech problems much faster, since sand affects the tactile-kinesthetic centers associated with those hemispheres of the brain that are responsible for the development of speech activity.

Older children can learn to write stories based on what they “drew” in the sand. This teaches them coherent speech, retelling skills, and this is really interesting to them: who doesn’t want to describe what kind of situation is depicted in the sand?

What do you need to play in the sand? But, in essence, so little is needed: Love, desire, kindness, So that Faith in Childhood does not disappear.

The simplest table drawer - Paint it with blue paint, A handful of golden sand will flow into it like a wondrous fairy tale.

A set of small toys Let's take it into the game... Like God We will create our own World of Wonders, Walking the Road of Knowledge.

To organize sand therapy you will need:

• Sand box (sandbox), size in centimeters: 50x70x8. It is believed that this size of the sandbox corresponds to the volume of the field of visual perception.
• Sand (regular, but sifted, clean)
• Water
• Collection of miniature figurines

The sandbox for sand therapy can be wooden or plastic. The main thing is that it has fairly high sides (so that the sand does not spill out) and a bottom painted blue. It will symbolize the sky or water, which makes it easier to play and create your own picture.

Classes are conducted using a large number of small figures and special sandboxes with dry or wet clean sand.

During classes, children love to travel to a fairyland with the Sandman, the keeper of the magical sandbox. Every time, sitting around the sandbox, the children listen to the Sandman's story about a new interesting game.

A classic sand therapy session begins with the psychologist giving the task to create a picture of his mood and the child choosing the most attractive toys for him.

It is important that they be varied and allow the child to involve different aspects of life in his games. These should be figures of people (preferably of different ages, different nationalities, professions, categories), both real and imaginary. Animal figures – domestic, wild, mythical. Some symbolic objects like mirrors, eggs, butterflies. Toy buildings and furniture: houses, churches, towers, castles. Connecting toys: ladders, ropes, stones, grains, beans. Cars, planes, trains, boats. Vegetation: trees, twigs, flowers, bushes. Various things: buttons, feathers, coins.

After which these same figures are placed in random order on one of the trays with sand. You can place them however you like: in one row, in a circle, at different ends of the tray, and so on. The figures can be connected by drawn “paths” (connections between objects), “traces” made by fingers, or they may not be connected by anything at all - everything is as the child wants to do it.

The therapeutic effect is achieved already at the stage of placing toys. When the picture is completed, the psychologist will be able to interpret what is bothering the child at a given period of time, and will also help him find a way out of a difficult situation during the game.

Calm music can be played in the practice room, or complete silence can reign, depending on the mood of the group and the age of the children.

In kindergarten and school settings, not only a psychologist can use a sandbox, but also teachers who can conduct educational games in the sand. Developmental exercises on the sand are more effective than standard teaching methods.

It is thanks to independent drawings in the sand that the child quickly masters letters and numbers, masters the concepts of “right” and “left ,” temporary concepts of day and night, and seasons. With the help of constructions in the sand, you can develop visual-figurative thinking, perception and memory. In the sandbox, tactile sensitivity and fine motor skills of the hand develop powerfully.

While playing on the sand, the child becomes interested, he tries to do it correctly, beautifully, accurately and, most importantly, quickly.

Children often cannot clearly articulate or name what is happening to them. By constructing various stories, a child can play out various difficulties in his life. For example, difficulties in communicating with children, indecisiveness or your own fears.

Playing with sand is a kind of self-therapy for a child with the help of a psychologist. The child is the master in the sandbox and, experiencing this feeling, he becomes internally stronger because he can change his pictures, stories, relationships and moods.

In games on the sand there are wars, a struggle between good and evil, but the child always knows that good will win! And this experience is very important for his future life.

In sand therapy, children gain inner freedom and confidence that no one will judge them and will accept them for who they are. First on the sand, and then in real life!

The goal of such therapy is not to change and remake the child, not to teach him any special behavioral skills, but to give him the opportunity to be himself.

What are the benefits of playing with sand?

• Develop perception, thinking, memory, attention, speech, self-control and self-regulation skills, creative thinking, imagination and fantasy;
• Form the child’s ideas about the world around him;
• Develop fine motor skills and eye
• Calms and relaxes, relieving tension;
• Develop a sense of success and self-confidence (that's how I do it!)
• They help you to understand your outer and inner world.

Along with the high effectiveness of the method, sand therapy also has contraindications. Not recommended in cases where:

• The level of anxiety of a child (adult) is very high;
• There are allergies and asthma to dust and small particles;
• There are skin diseases and cuts on the hands.

Forms and options of sand therapy

1. Game methods

Didactic gaming workshop using a sandbox is used for the little ones. Scientists have proven that sand absorbs negative energy, calms, and fills with harmony. This is why it is so useful for children to play in the sandbox.

A series of games based on the book by T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva “Games in fairy tale therapy” , aimed at developing tactile-kinesthetic sensitivity and fine motor skills of the hands, creative imagination, help to understand the external and internal world)

1. "Sensitive palms"

Hot-cold, soft-hard, dry-wet.

2. “Our handprints” . Kids really like to make footprints and handprints in the sand, and use their fingers to depict animal tracks. It’s also very interesting and pleasant to bury your hands and feet in the sand.

3. Game “Secret” “What is hidden in the sand? Any toys are hidden in the sand, the hiding place is marked, the child’s task is to dig out the “secret” and then make a similar one.

4. Drawings in the sand. Using a stick you can draw letters, numbers, geometric shapes and entire pictures.

These simple exercises are of enormous importance for the development of a child’s psyche. Firstly, this kind of interaction with sand stabilizes the emotional state. Secondly, with the development of fine motor skills, we teach the child to listen to himself and pronounce his feelings, this contributes to the development of speech, voluntary attention, and memory. But most importantly, the child receives the first experience of reflection - he learns to understand himself and others.

2. For diagnostic purposes (individual and group form)

In an individual form, you can diagnose:

• The presence of internal conflicts (struggle, sand country in a state of destruction)
• Level and direction of aggression (hetero and auto-aggression)
• Conflicts with significant others. In this case, there is a confrontation between the heroes of the sand fairy tale, playing the role of real members of the author’s entourage
• Potential, resource opportunities (when there are some miraculous objects that bring deliverance and a happy resolution to the situation)
• Ways to overcome difficulties (mutual help, patronage, avoidance)
• Level of development of the emotional sphere (analysis of feelings, reflection)
• Analysis of the location of the figures in the sandbox and their meaning

In a group form of working with a sandbox, you can diagnose:

• The nature of interaction in the group
• Distribution of roles in the group
• Behavioral style of each group member

3. Method of psychocorrectional influence (for example, if a child has emotional and behavioral disorders of a neurotic nature). In other cases - as an auxiliary means to stimulate the child, develop his sensorimotor skills, reduce emotional stress, etc.)

Preschoolers with mental retardation, mental retardation, and children with disabilities are especially in need of such therapy. The leading characteristics of such preschoolers include weak emotional stability, impaired self-control in all types of activities, aggressive behavior and its provocative nature, difficulties in adapting to the children's group, fussiness, frequent mood swings, feelings of fear, mannerisms, familiarity towards adults. On the sand, each selected figurine represents a character who can interact with other characters. The child comes up with what they say or do; sometimes he may invite a psychologist to join the game and speak on behalf of a character. In all these cases, the child feels like the master of his small world and is the director of the drama that plays out on the sand sheet. What was previously hidden in the depths of a child’s soul comes to light; The characters of the game come into motion, expressing the most relevant feelings and thoughts for the child.

The proposed technique can be very useful for them. If a child has certain speech disorders, as in children with OSD, a series of “Sand Literacy” , aimed at developing phonemic awareness, correcting sound pronunciation, and teaching reading and writing.

The style and dynamics of play in the sandbox for children with intellectual development problems is up to 60 minutes. As a rule, the plot in their games is not clear and most often there is confrontation, struggle for territory, and parallel play.

It is important to note that in addition to moments of admiration, classes contribute to the development of manual motor skills and hand-eye coordination, which are necessary to prepare a child for writing. The fact is that in the human brain the centers responsible for speech and finger movements are located very close.

5. As a psychoprophylactic, developmental agent

Psychoprophylaxis is carried out with the aim of preventing problematic situations. Having the remarkable property of “grounding” negative mental energy, sand is an excellent psychoprophylactic agent. Psychoprophylactic and developmental aspects are manifested in the production of fairy tales and myths in the sandbox. By playing with your child, you can share your own life experiences with him.

6. In psychological counseling of children, adolescents and adults.

As a provision of primary psychological assistance.

DRAWING WITH SAND

This technique, called “Sand Art Therapy,” is amazing because it suggests using sand and the sand painting technique as a basis for creativity and self-knowledge.

To organize classes you will need:

- tablet/pallet/table - depending on the room (if the equipment is stationary, then you can have light tables, if you need to clean up after classes, then it is better to purchase tablets/pallets)

- quartz sand (you can have several options for colored sand for art therapy)

Sand drawing, sand animation - all these are names for the same activity, which has become extremely popular recently. And no wonder.

Sand painting is an unusual art of creating pictures using sand; it is an opportunity to express your feelings and emotions without words.

Sand painting develops:

• fine motor skills
• Improves memory
• Plastic movements
• Brain function
• Stress management

It is in this state that stress and internal tension are best relieved, problems go away...

It is especially characteristic of sand painting: by manipulating bulk materials, a person gets rid of negative emotions. Drawing occurs directly with your fingers in the sand, which promotes the development of sensory sensations, liberates and harmonizes, and also promotes the development of two hemispheres (since drawing occurs with both hands).

Even very young children can draw on the sand. This activity will develop motor skills no worse than finger painting, and it will create much less mess.

Experience with children has shown that the use of sand therapy gives positive results:

• Children feel more successful;
• Classes are fun, there is no boredom or monotony;
• In kindergarten, it is easier for children to adapt to a group environment;
• Fear and tension disappear.

Finding themselves in a fabulous sandy land, the children play in the Magic Sandbox and feel like real Wizards!

The article was prepared using freely accessible materials on the Internet.

Bibliography:

1. T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva T.M. Grabenko “Miracles on the sand” workshop on sand therapy. From "Rech" 2005
2. T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva T.M. Grabenko “Games in fairy tale therapy” St. Petersburg 2008
3. M.V. Kisileva “Art therapy in working with children” St. Petersburg 2006
4. T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva Workshop on fairy tale therapy St. Petersburg 2013
5. Dieckmann H. Methods in analytical psychology. - M.: LLC "TsGL "RON" , V. Sekachev, 2001. - 329 p.
6. Sakovich N. A. Sand playing technology. Games on the bridge. - St. Petersburg: Rech, 2006. -176 p.
7. Steinhardt L. Jungian sand therapy. -SPb.: Peter, 2001. -320 p.