Super Sensory Sand Play with SO SAND DIY

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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