McKenzie, John
SAND CRAB COMES HOME

Journal of Sandplay Therapy, Volume 14, Number 1, 2005

KEY WORDS: sandplay therapy, children, play, schools, elementary school.

ABSTRACT: Sometimes we must reclaim what we gave up as a child. This personal reflection shines a very positive light on the unity adults have with play and the play of imagination of the child. The author recounts how his observation of elementary school children and what they did best, that is play, brought him back to memories of sand play in his youth on the beach at Waikiki where the beach boys called him, “sand crab.” With potential student learning in mind, he concludes this personal reflection with a serious call for play in schools, not as the dessert but rather the main entrée of learning.