What is sand therapy and how does it help children?

Many parents have heard about the amazing results of sand therapy for the health and development of children. But not many people know what this method is and how to apply it. In this material, we will talk about the essence and principles, about indications and contraindications, and also teach moms and dads to conduct sand therapy sessions on their own.

About method

Sand therapy is a method of influencing the psyche and behavior of a child by visualizing his inner world. The method is a simple arbitrary manipulation of cleaned and fine sand, various figures, small objects. In a special tray, you can place figures, shells and any little things as you like, in any order, anywhere on the tray with sand. You can build hills and castles from sand using water, and then destroy the constructed sand reality and start building a new one.

Creating and destroying illusory and fragile sand worlds, the child uses his deep inner "I". According to psychologists and psychotherapists, creating an arbitrary fantastic landscape that looks completely three-dimensional, a child expresses his subconscious fears, resentments, anger and irritability, and it is these feelings that usually have a destructive effect on the psyche and health of children of all ages. Negative feelings and emotions come out along with patterns and turrets of sand.

The method is one of the most popular types of art therapy, along with music therapy, fairy tale therapy and isotherapy. Of course, it is not used in every kindergarten or school, like drawing or modeling, but this does not make it less effective and interesting.

The method is widely used in child psychology and psychotherapy, using this method you can:

diagnose personality disorders, stressful and traumatic factors, as well as the causes of unusual or strange behavior of a child or adolescent;
relieve tension, stress, increased anxiety, emotional instability;
help the child to develop more harmoniously;
facilitate the establishment of contact if the child does not go to communicate due to the nature of the character or disease (with autism);
help the general development, socialization of disabled children.

The method, which is considered a method of logical psychotherapy, is also used in psychiatry, since it contributes to a more accurate diagnosis of certain mental disorders, as well as the process of adaptation of the child during treatment.

History

The first sand zones for meditation and relaxation are mentioned in the literature and history of Ancient China, but only noble people, monks and eminent warriors could draw circles in the sand and place stones on them. Such entertainment was not available to the broad masses. Carl Jung is considered the founder of the sand therapy method, it was he who created the theoretical basis that explains the transfer of the inner to the outside. This was at the beginning of the 20th century and then only the lazy were not fond of psychology and psychoanalysis. It is not surprising that the baton was quickly picked up by Jung's many followers, students and admirers.

In 1930, in London, Margaret Lowenfeld invents a method in which small toys and figures are placed in a certain substance - water, sand, clay, etc. The game is called "Peace" and becomes incredibly popular both among ordinary people and among psychiatrists, who carefully observe how their patients create worlds and draw conclusions.

In the middle of the last century Dora Kalff took over the baton from Margaret Lowenfeld. She compiled a technique for a fairly intelligible explanation of sand paintings that adults and children create. It was she who was the first to directly connect the subconscious and the deep layers of the child's consciousness with what he portrays from the sand.

In Soviet times, there were sandboxes in every courtyard, and hundreds and thousands of children played in them every day. Today children of all ages also like playing with sand.

Observe, if possible, the adults who are happy to pour sand in their palms on the beach, who, in thought, collect the sand in a slide. All these are manifestations of a deeply hidden "inner child" with his fears and experiences, joys and dreams.

Indications and contraindications

Sand therapy can be done at any age, as soon as the child begins to enjoy playing in the sand. It is clear that up to a year old, a baby will not be able to model his worlds in a sandbox or tray of sand, but already at 2-3 years old he will do it with pleasure. Believe me, even a difficult teenager in his 14-16 years old will not refuse to tinker with soft and pleasant sand in his spare time, in which it is so interesting to immerse his hands.

The method is primarily recommended for the following categories of children:

children experiencing age-related crises (3 years old, 6-7 years old, 13-15 years old);
children who have experienced severe loss, psychological or physical trauma, violence, aggression, humiliation, natural disasters, death of loved ones;
children with difficult expression of emotions (withdrawn and secretive, uncommunicative);
children with congenital diseases and acquired visual impairments, with autism, some forms of schizophrenia, children with hearing and speech impairments;
toddlers suffering from delayed speech development, psychomotor or psychophysical development, ZPR - mental retardation;
children with diseases of the nervous system;
children with musculoskeletal disorders;
too active and impressionable children, neurasthenics suffering from hysteria;
to all the guys in difficult life situations, in a state of stress.

There are conditions and diseases in which, with the use of sand therapy, it is recommended to wait until special orders of the attending doctor. These contraindications include:

attention deficit disorder;
epilepsy, accompanied by frequent seizures with loss of consciousness and convulsions;
obsessive-compulsive movement syndrome, in which the child cannot create freely, repetitive involuntary movements will interfere and anger the baby;
allergy to dust and sand, severe bronchial asthma;
tuberculosis;
severe mental disorders, accompanied by complete idiocy, deep debility, inability and unwillingness to contact with people and objects;
children's age up to 1.5-2 years.

Effectiveness and results

The action of sand therapy is complex.

First, the child touches the sand with his hands. It is pleasant and useful, because small grains of sand stimulate the nerve endings of the palms, fingertips. Motility develops, the brain receives stable signals from nerve receptors in the zones responsible for cognition, memories, analysis.

Secondly, sand is a free-flowing material, and therefore the child creates from it almost subconsciously, scattering and collecting it exactly as "takes a hand". This fact is considered important for diagnosing the internal state of a baby or adolescent.

It has been proven that systematic sand therapy sessions allow a child to believe in himself, get rid of negative experiences and memories, realize his own personality more clearly, become calmer and more balanced, more independent.

The effect of sand therapy is most clearly manifested in children for whom classes were combined with other methods of art therapy, for example, they turned on classical music during classes, told a fairy tale or a fable at the same time, and recited poetry.

The most successful is the use of sand therapy in speech therapy, in the complex development of preschoolers, in classes aimed at strengthening memory, attention, development of speech and intellectual abilities of the child, in the diagnosis of psychological problems of preschool, school and adolescence, in the rehabilitation and education of children with disabilities ( disabilities).

Equipment for classes

Psychotherapists try to use ready-made sets in their work. They consist of a box measuring 50X70X8 cm. The sandbox is usually made of ecological plastic, the inner sides are painted blue along the perimeter, the bottom is blue. The sand chooses yellow or white, specially previously cleaned, fine fraction.

The set includes a small container for water, because some games require wetting the sand. There are also sets of miniature figures in the form of people (adults, babies, old people), buildings and structures, cars, ships, animals (both domestic and wild). The set always combines miniatures that make the child sympathetic, and figures that are unpleasant to him, which he is afraid of.

It is important that the set contains objects that can represent "value" in the children's understanding, symbolize found treasures and riches, dreams and goals - small boxes, chests, shells, glass "precious" stones. The set of professionals is complemented by plastic letters and numbers, flags, religious symbols, pebbles and cones, as well as man-made items - bolts and nuts.

The cost of a ready-made kit can be quite impressive, it all depends on how complete it turns out to be. Figures and miniatures are usually sold separately, by theme. But buying an expensive professional kit is not at all necessary. Below we will show you how to create it yourself.

Game programs

In order for a child to create three-dimensional worlds, adults first explain that the blue side on the side is the sky, the sand is the earth, and the blue covering of the bottom of the sandbox is water. Now the kid has all the basic elements and dimensions to create amazing compositions, fairy tales, whole universes and planets.

At the beginning of any activity, the child must choose for himself miniature figures, objects, "treasures", etc. The more diverse your collection, the more choice the child will have. Ask him justify the choice, why did he prefer not the figures of people, but small dinosaurs or kittens, why did he take more numbers, why did he need shells or buttons. This will be the first task. Psychologists believe that the selected objects symbolize the psychological state of a little man or teenager at the current moment in life.

Clarify what and why does he create or destroy in his sandy world - this will help to establish contact and reveal a lot of interesting things about the worldview, experiences and stress factors. Respect for sand and figures is the third task that you need to instill in your child from the very beginning. He should not scatter them, lose them.

After the end of the treatment session, it will be necessary to return the figures to their places, arrange them in their original order.

Games can be:

phonemic - accompanied by the pronunciation of individual sounds to consolidate their pronunciation;
developing and teaching (reading, counting);
projection (the child associates himself with one figure and builds his own world);
correctional (you need to create a world that will be filled with scary and frightening creatures, terrible situations, the child must illustrate his fears);
family (when both the child and his family members build the world at the same time).

For children with speech impairments and speech retardation games of the phonemic direction are more suitable - tigers ("rrr"), cockerel ("ku-ka-re-ku"), etc. The child must build a world with figures, in the name of which there are problematic sounds and constantly practice them.

For autistic children and children with communication difficulties family games and projection are suitable. Self-projection is also necessary for children who have become victims of violence, have experienced a serious loss and severe stress. At the stage of treatment, they gradually move from projection tasks to corrective ones in order to identify deep-seated fears and problems.

Children with mental retardation educational and developmental games will be beneficial. The same category of tasks is suitable for all preschoolers and primary school children.

Classes and exercises can be individual and group. For home practice of sand therapy, parents will need to make a box that will correspond to the specified dimensions in width and height (the dimensions are indicated above). Rinse the sand in several waters and dry well. If there is no desire or opportunity to buy sets of figurines, collect all the miniature items that, in your opinion, may be of interest for building a new world - buttons, hairpins, nuts, corks, metal lids, bones from peaches and baby counts, large beads, cones and seeds, small toys (made from chocolate eggs, for example).

Before starting classes, the mother needs to decide in which direction to build treatment sessions, for this she needs conduct a diagnostic projection game. The child should draw any signs and figures with his fingers on the sand, this will help at least approximately understand the essence of his problems. We will describe below how to decipher them.

If you cannot diagnose the psychological problems of the child yourself, contact a psychologist. The book by T. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva "Miracles on the Sand" will give mom a lot of useful knowledge.

Decoding signs

Some Common Sand Buildings for Children and Sand Marks help parents better understand what the child feels and what it needs:

castles or houses made of sand, fences and ramparts with thick walls - insufficient security, uncertainty, fear and the need for protection;
chaotic world, disorder in symbols and signs - chaos and confusion within the child himself;
the absence of human figures with the possibility of their choice - the desire to isolate themselves from people, resentment against them, fear and pain;
circles drawn in the sand - a desire for change, a lack of love and care;
spirals - lack of communication, fatigue, nightmares;
sharp corners and ragged lines - internal conflict, jealousy, anger.

Reviews

According to the parents' feedback, in a couple of weeks the benefits become noticeable from the sand therapy - the child's sleep and appetite improves, and outbursts of anger or hysteria are less common. Systematic sand classes at least twice a week can improve school performance.

The technique is simple and understandable to everyone, and therefore the reviews about it are mostly only positive.