Super Sensory Sand Play with SO SAND DIY

So Sand DIY Vanity

So SAND DIY Review – Vanity case

We have reviewed a few SO DIY products so we were excited to review their magic sand – SO Sand DIY Vanity case. This has been gifted to us in exchange for our honest opinion, all words and comments are my own.

My 6 year old loves messy play he is a real sensory seeker. I left the room briefly and came back to find an excited boy with the box opened going through the contents. Clearly he wanted to get playing straight away.

What do you get – contents

In our Satisfying Vanity Magic Sand kit we received:

  • The vanity case storage box with activity mat base
  • A selection of 7 tools
  • 3 packs of sand
  • 3 colours for the sand
  • 3 decoration packs for the sand
  • instruction leaflet
SO Sand DIY Vanity Case
SO Sand DIY Vanity Case

I love how practical the vanity case is, it is very easy to use and my son could take it apart and put it back together himself. It provides a useful place to store the sand and fits nicely in a cupboard or on a shelf. The base also doubles as an activity mat which is great for playing with the sand. Plus it is plastic so easy to wash under the tap.

vanity case
vanity case

There are two tiers to the vanity case, one to keep your sand and the other for your tools.

My son really enjoyed being able to pack it all away and take his case back to the cupboard. I wish all messy play kits came with handy cases like this.

So Sand DIY Vanity Case
So Sand DIY Vanity Case

One thing I love about SO DIY is the visual instructions, my son is autistic and non verbal so visuals are really important. The box and instruction leaflet have very clear visual instructions which is helpful for me but gives my kids the independence to follow it themselves.

Colouring the sand

I think its great that the SO DIY products come uncoloured as my son really enjoys adding the colour. I think his favourite part is colouring and decorating the sand.

plain sand
plain sand

It is such a simple process of adding your desired colour to the sand and mixing it in by hand. This is a brilliant sensory stimulating activity – very calming too. It didn’t take long for the sand to colour, however my son did take ages as he was enjoying it so much.

Decorating your sand

Once you have your coloured sand you can add the decorations and again mix them in. This is where the base activity mat was really helpful to contain the glitter.

Using the tools

The kit comes with a good selection of different tools so you can mould and cut the sand. The visual instructions show how to create rectangles, cylinders and half cylinders with the tools. It also shows how to dig into your shape and add different coloured sand in the middle.

plastic tools for sand play
tools

Shaping the sand

The tools are really easy to use and do help make different shapes.

Cutting the sand

Included in the tools are some great guides to shape and then cut the sand.

My son really enjoyed the cutting element and spent ages slicing all his sand shapes.

What did we think

The vanity case kit retails at around £20 which I think is a fair price. Especially as the sand seems to last well in the bags provided. The tools can easily be used with other things like playdoh so will be well used. I love the vanity case storage which works really well.

sand tower
tower of sand

My only suggestion would be that the box could be a bit more gender neutral. It feels aimed at girls but is a great product for any child. My son loves his SO SAND DIY set and we have played with it several times this week. His little brother had to wait until he was home alone to get a look in.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys sensory and messy play especially sand play.

messy play with sand
sand play

If you like the look of this then you may want to see my other reviews for SO DIY products:

So Slime DIY review
So Slime DIY
Magic Terrarium Review
Magic Terrarium
Slime Glam Review
So Slime Glam

Products available from amazon, these are affiliate links so I may receive a small commission if you purchase from the links below.

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***The SO SAND DIY vanity case kit was gifted in exchange for this honest review. This post also contains affiliate links, if you purchase from those links I may receive a small commission but this is at no additional cost to you***

12 Comments

  1. 13th July 2020 / 4:39 am

    That looks like a real interesting kit.
    The vanity box to hold it speaks to me. Usually my kids get things like this and nothing to store it in.
    #KCACOLS

    • admin
      Author
      13th July 2020 / 7:05 am

      It’s so helpful storage wise. Everything else in our house is in Tupperware as it never comes with storage.

    • admin
      Author
      15th July 2020 / 2:19 pm

      Yes glad we have it to use over the summer too

  2. Accidental Hipster Mum
    16th July 2020 / 1:24 pm

    This looks like a fab toy, and very therapeutic for parents to play with too! #KCACOLS

  3. 17th July 2020 / 12:45 am

    I love that the sand comes uncoloured and so you can choose how you decorate it. What a great idea! #KCACOLS

    • admin
      Author
      17th July 2020 / 6:59 am

      The colouring and decorating is the best bit x

  4. 17th July 2020 / 4:58 pm

    £20 does seem reasonable as I’m sure you get hours of play out of it. I know my daughters definitely would. I agree with you that they could make the case and packaging more gender neutral, they do seem to be aimed at girls and I don’t know why. Boys enjoy this sort of play as much as girls do. #KCACOLS

  5. 17th July 2020 / 8:00 pm

    Wow this looks like loads of fun – love the colours! #KCACOLS

  6. 17th July 2020 / 9:24 pm

    Oh this looks fab! Something my kids would love, I’m sure! #KCACOLS

  7. Sensational Learning with Penguin
    18th July 2020 / 12:28 am

    My son is a sensory seeker too and loves sand play and play dough etc, so this looks like the kind of product he might like. I do agree though about how they could make it a lot more gender neutral, both in the colours used (personally I am very unlikely to buy anything in the colour combo pink+lilac, whether for a boy or girl, it’s just got too much of a ‘Barbie’ kind of feel to me), but also in calling it a ‘vanity case’. Why not call it ‘tool kit’ instead, or something similar to that. I think that would better reflect what it actually is, as well as being more gender neutral. I’m not totally against things being ‘girly’ or ‘boyish’, but when it comes to toys like this, the ‘girlyness’ of it doesn’t make sense to me x

    • admin
      Author
      18th July 2020 / 9:14 pm

      I agree and seems on some advertising they are calling it a toolkit which is much better. It’s hard because seeing how drawn to pick things my niece’s are I can see why marketing is done that way but hopefully we can move away from it in future and have more neutral marketing. Having said that m t boys both really love the kit

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