What Is Sand Tray Therapy? What the Sand Tray Reveals and Who It Is For

What is sand tray therapy, how do sessions unfold and how are the scenes built in the tray understood? Learn its uses and limits for children, teens and adults.

On a table sits a shallow wooden box painted blue inside, half filled with fine sand. On the shelves beside it are hundreds of small figures: soldiers, ninjas, an ambulance, a well, crocodiles, princesses, a gravestone, trees, bridges, seashells. A child who comes to sand tray therapy for the first time usually looks at the shelves first, then picks up a figure and asks, "Can I put this in?" From that moment on, the scene built in the tray may begin to show something the child cannot yet put into words. In this article we look at where the method comes from, how sessions unfold, how the scenes in the tray are understood and who it may suit, together with its limits.

What Is Sand Tray Therapy?

Sand tray therapy is a therapeutic method in which a person uses a sand tray and miniature figures to build their inner world as a symbolic scene. Its roots go back to Margaret Lowenfeld, who worked with children in London in the 1920s. Lowenfeld called this work, in which she made room for children to build their own "worlds" with sand and small toys, the world technique. Later the Swiss therapist Dora Kalff combined the method with Carl Jung's ideas about symbols and the unconscious, developing the approach known today as sandplay.

Today the sand tray is used in two different ways:

• As sand tray therapy proper: A structured method, within a specific training framework, in which the tray is central and the scenes are followed over a long process.
• As a sand tray technique: A tool used from time to time within play therapy, child therapy or adult therapy. Here the tray is not the whole of therapy but one of several means of expression.

In both uses the core idea is the same: some experiences, especially those from childhood or those lived through with very intense emotions, are first stored as images and bodily sensations. Putting them into words is hard, but building a tangible scene can be easier.

What Happens in the Sand Tray? The Flow of a Session

The sand tray is usually about the size of a serving tray, small enough to be seen in its entirety at a glance. This size is chosen deliberately: it is neither so large that it overwhelms the person nor so small that it restricts them. The blue inner surface of the tray means that water or sky can be created when the sand is pushed aside. Most rooms have two trays, one with dry sand and one with damp sand; damp sand is better for shaping, making tunnels or building mountains.

A session roughly unfolds as follows:

1. Invitation. The therapist shows the person the tray and the figures and tells them they can build anything they like. With children, a simple sentence such as "You can make any world you want here" is enough. There is no right or wrong scene.
2. Building. The person chooses figures, shapes the sand, and sometimes simply moves their hands through the sand for a long time. The therapist watches quietly, attentively and without judgement. This silence matters so that the person can focus on their own scene.
3. Telling. When the scene is complete, the therapist invites the person, if they wish, to talk about the tray. Open questions are asked, such as "Would you like to tell me about this world?" or "What's happening here?" A child may not want to say anything at all; this is accepted too.
4. Recording and closing. The therapist usually takes a photograph of the tray. In many approaches the tray is dismantled after the person has left the room, so that the world they built is not taken apart in front of them.

What is in the figure collection?

A well-prepared collection represents as many different sides of life as possible. On the shelves there are people of different ages and occupations, pets and wild animals, houses, schools, buildings such as hospitals and mosques, vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines and police cars, fences, bridges, trees, stones, seashells, fairy-tale and cartoon characters, and even challenging figures such as skeletons and gravestones. This variety is deliberate: the person should be able to bring not only what is "nice" into the scene, but also what is frightening or sad. Therapists working in Turkey often add familiar cultural objects to their collections as well; a samovar, a minaret, a village house or a school minibus might be exactly the piece a child is looking for as they build their own world.

It is essential that during the session the therapist does not interpret the scene or get ahead of the person with questions such as "Does this crocodile represent your father?" Meaning emerges at the pace of the person who built the scene.

How Is What the Sand Tray Reveals Understood?

One of the most common mistakes about the sand tray is attaching fixed meanings to figures. Online you can come across lists such as "A child who puts a snake in the tray is experiencing fear" or "Building a fence is a sign of withdrawal". Yet the same snake may represent danger for one child, a cute cartoon character for another, and for a third simply a shiny object that caught their eye on the shelf that day.

Therapists pay attention not to a single figure but to broader patterns:

• The arrangement of the scene: Is the tray scattered and chaotic, or has everything been carefully lined up? Are there areas left empty?
• Recurring themes: Something being buried in every session, two sides constantly at war, a figure always waiting to be rescued.
• Relationships: Are the figures close to or far from one another? Is there a protector, or is each figure on its own?
• Change: How the scenes transform over the weeks. A tray that at first contains only conflict gradually filling with bridges, houses and caring figures can be a meaningful change.
• The person's own narrative: What the person who built the scene calls it and what they say about it always takes precedence over interpretation.

Let's imagine an eight-year-old who lost their grandmother a few months ago. In the first sessions they bury a small female figure in one corner of the tray, line stones on top of it and then immediately switch to a car-racing game. In the following weeks, flowers, a bench and a tree are added to the same corner; in one session the child takes the figure out of the sand and sits it beneath the tree. The therapist does not interpret these scenes one by one, but notes the change over time as an indication that the child has begun to process the loss at their own pace. You can find more about how children experience grief in the article on grief in children.

Who Is Sand Tray Therapy For?

Although sand tray therapy is most often associated with children, it is also used with adolescents and adults. It can be a helpful means of expression in situations such as:

• Children who find it hard to describe their experiences in words and answer questions with "I don't know" or a shrug,
• People who have been through a sudden loss, an accident, an earthquake or another distressing experience and are not yet ready to put it into words,
• Children struggling to adjust to family changes such as divorce, moving house or the birth of a sibling,
• Children and adolescents with emotional difficulties such as anxiety, angry outbursts or withdrawal,
• Adults who constantly describe their emotions through intellectual explanations, who "analyse everything but feel nothing".

What are its limits?

Although the sand tray is a powerful tool, it is not suitable for every person or every situation. Some children are bothered by sand or do not want to touch it because of sensory sensitivities. Some adolescents may find the method childish; rather than pushing them, other means of expression are offered. Sand tray therapy is also not a diagnostic tool on its own: one cannot conclude from a scene in the tray that a child has been abused, is depressed or has an attention deficit. Such questions require a comprehensive assessment.

The Difference Between Sand Tray Therapy and Play Therapy

Sand tray therapy and play therapy are related methods and are often mentioned together. In play therapy, the child plays a game of their own choosing in a room full of toys; the therapist accompanies them and sees play as the child's language of self-expression. The sand tray may be one of the tools in that room.

What sets sand tray therapy apart is that it offers a limited, framed space. The edges of the tray define where the scene begins and ends. This frame can give a sense of security, especially to children whose emotions are scattered and overflowing. In addition, because the scenes are recorded with photographs, they can be compared over the course of the process. If you are curious about how play therapy works in general, you can take a look at the article what is play therapy.

Does Playing With Sand at Home Replace Therapy? Suggestions for Parents

The short answer is no, but that does not mean playing with sand or small figures at home is worthless. Sand, play dough, water and small toys are natural materials that help children regulate their emotions. When you make room for this kind of play at home or on the beach in summer, you can keep the following in mind:

• Don't interpret; be curious. When your child buries a dinosaur in the sand, instead of saying "Why did you bury it, are you angry?", ask "What is the dinosaur doing now?" or simply watch.
• Don't direct. Avoid shaping the game according to your own ideas with suggestions such as "Why don't you build a house over there?"
• Tolerate the mess. Sand may get everywhere; this is part of the play. Laying down a sheet beforehand reduces your own tension.
• Don't punish disturbing themes. A child who plays out death, fighting or accidents is often trying to understand these concepts. If a theme that worries you is repeated intensely for a long time, share this with a specialist.
• Make room for screen-free time. If you live in a flat, a small box filled with kinetic sand or even rice can be enough for tactile play.

When a child places something in the tray, what they are really saying is: "I can't tell you this, but I can show you."

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

Whether sand tray therapy is appropriate is decided after first assessing the overall situation of the child or adult. You may consider talking to a child or adult mental health specialist in situations such as:

• Your child has been withdrawn for weeks after a loss or a shocking event, and their sleeping and eating patterns have been disrupted,
• They repeat the same frightening scene in their play for a long time and with distress,
• There is a marked change in their behaviour at school or at home and you cannot understand why,
• As an adult, you get stuck when you try to talk about what you have been through and feel that talking is not getting you anywhere.

You can find information about work with children through play and symbolic expression on the child and play therapy page.

How Is the Sand Tray Used in Therapy?

In therapy, the sand tray usually features not on its own but as part of a broader piece of work. In child-centred play therapy, the tray is one of the play areas the child can choose; if the child does not want to go to the tray that day, they are not pushed. When the therapist shares themes emerging in the tray during parent meetings, they protect the child's privacy; rather than describing every figure in the tray one by one, they discuss the child's overall emotional needs and how the child can be supported at home.

When working with adults, the sand tray can be a tool that opens a door, especially at points where conversation gets stuck. A therapist working within a cognitive behavioural framework may also ask a client to build their family or their current life in the tray; the scene that emerges offers a concrete starting point for the conversation that follows. Questions such as "Where in the tray did you place yourself, and whom did you put furthest away?" can make visible within a few minutes a subject one might circle around in words for months.

How long the process will take cannot be stated with certainty at the outset. Some children show a marked sense of relief in their play and daily lives within a few months, while for children with more complex experiences the work may take longer. For this reason, review meetings are held with parents at regular intervals; the child's situation at home and at school, their sleep, their play and their friendships are reviewed together.

Whatever form it takes, working with the sand tray requires training and experience. The therapist not rushing to interpret symbols, respecting the meaning given by the person who built the scene and moving at the pace the person is ready for are the essence of the method.

Frequently Asked Questions

From what age can sand tray therapy be used?

Pre-school children can also play with sand, but building symbolic scenes usually becomes noticeable at around four or five years of age. There is no upper age limit; the method is also used with adolescents and adults. It is more accurate to assess suitability according to the person's interest and needs rather than their age.

Can I see photographs of the trays my child has built?

This depends on the therapist's way of working and the child's age. To protect the child's trust, many therapists prefer to discuss the general themes of the process with the parent rather than sharing the photographs directly. It is healthiest to ask openly about anything you are curious about in the first meeting.

As an adult, will working with sand feel childish to me?

At first some adults may feel a little odd. However, many of them notice after a few minutes that having their hands in the sand slows the mind down and opens the door to unexpected emotions. If you do not want to, you do not have to use this method; the therapist can suggest other ways too.

• #play therapy
• #child therapy
• #symbolic play
• #expressive therapies

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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