Introduce a variety of colours, textures, shapes and materials.  Bury, immerse, sink to provoke.  Or just put it in front of the children to see how they play and learn. 

LEARN MORE about Louise Kool's Heuristic Play and Loose Parts Collection

Really almost any well-made tool or toy can add to your sand and water area.  But this is where investment in quality can make a big difference.

Toys

Tools

“Because of its sensory nature, sand play is an excellent medium for exploration and discovery and provides opportunities to integrate STEM education into preschool classrooms.”

Dr. F. Joyce Gerber communityplaythings.com - Exploring Sand Play. (2017). Retrieved April 1, 2017, from http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2014/exploring-sand-play

With the right materials In a Sand and Water area children can engineer and experiment with natural elements.  But can also discover how the relationships in nature are reflected in math expressions.

Science

Technology

Engineering

Math

Bring art to sand and water and see how the elements imprint the art. 

Take away the sand and the water and your hard wearing, water ready table could be a great place to discover new artistic expressions

That sand can do amazing things on your light table.