British pediatrician Margaret Lowenfeld is widely regarded as the first person to utilize sand tray as a therapeutic technique. After developing an interest in psychodynamic psychology in 1921, Lowenfeld entered the field of child psychotherapy in 1928.

Lowenfeld claimed that her idea of using sand trays in therapy was inspired by the book Floor Games, written in 1911 by H.G. Wells. In the book, Wells describes the various fun-filled games he and his sons played on the floor, and encouraged play as a means of personal development for both children and parents.

After establishing the Institute of Child Psychology in London during the early 1930s, Lowenfeld introduced two zinc trays to the children’s playroom; the first was half-filled with sand, the second contained water and a variety of objects used for shaping or molding sand. A “wonder box” filled with small toys, paper, pieces of metal, and other colorful trinkets was kept in close proximity to the trays. Lowenfeld reported that, in time, the children in treatment began referring to the wonder box as the “world,” and that they soon created three dimensional scenes by combining elements from the box with the sand in the tray. She believed that this approach, which she termed the World Technique, could serve as a means of communication between a scene builder and an observer—giving the observer insight into the builder’s inner world.

After Dora Kalff was introduced to the World Technique at an international conference in 1956, she came to London to study under Lowenfeld. Kalff eventually combined the Lowenfeld World Technique with Eastern philosophy, Neuman’s system model, and Carl Jung’s theory of individuation. With Lowenfeld’s permission, Kalff termed her approach sandplay, and trained many practitioners around the world in the new technique.

How Do Sand Tray Therapy and Sandplay Therapy Differ?

Though sand tray therapy and sandplay therapy both involve the use of sand for therapeutic purposes in a threat-free environment, the approaches have subtle but significant differences. For example, sand tray therapy may incorporate various theoretical orientations, whereas sandplay therapy is grounded in Jungian psychology.

Sand tray therapy emphasizes what the person in therapy is experiencing at that moment and therapists are actively involved in facilitating current experiences of awareness and growth. As individuals in treatment are required to open up emotionally—sharing their deepest thoughts and feelings as they happen—the therapeutic relationship in sand tray therapy must be strong in order for the treatment to be effective. In contrast, sandplay therapists focus on the unconscious and seek to provide people in therapy with a free, protected space and the opportunity to communicate non-verbally. As such, sandplay therapists do not interpret, interfere with, or direct the person in therapy in any way and analysis takes place after the therapy session.

While verbalization is an essential aspect of each humanistic sand tray session, sandplay therapy may be more effective for children or for individuals who are unable to express themselves verbally due to past trauma.