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If you have any techniques to share, recommended readings, or would like to be listed in the network area, please email Robyn at robynrehbein@gmail.com.

"Building Reading Skills and Respect - Storytelling with Sandplay" - Developed by Janet Escobedo MA LPCC RPT. 

Janet describes her Storytelling with Sandplay technique through the following excerpts of an interview with Geri Glover, Ph.D. for the NMAPT Newsletter:

I’ve been a successful grant writer at my elementary school, and I have made huge gains in getting a number of different grants funded which produced a classroom sandtray storytelling program to help

improve student behavior along with language development.  In the classroom sandtray storytelling program each student was given a sandtray and a bag of toys.  Using an Infocus projector and a camera without film connected by a video S-cable, the sandtray story could be projected onto a large screen in front of the classroom.  Students were able to see each others’ stories as everyone took turns telling the class about their sandtray.  The sandtrays can be wheeled to the classroom on a three tiered cart. 

I have since purchased a transcription recorder which can convert voice to text and a wireless microphone so that the student can be clearly heard by the entire classroom.  Yet another grant allowed me to produce a DVD on the classroom sandtray storytelling program which has been used throughout our school with all kindergarten classes and has been used for the past two years in several 4th grade classes and second grade classes.  The program has been so successful that I will be a presenter at the International Play Therapy Conference in Toronto.  All attendees to the presentation will receive a free DVD.  In addition, I have attempted to mail DVDs to School Counselors throughout the state of New Mexico in the hopes of spreading the word about this exciting way of using classroom sandtrays to help student behavior and language skills. 

I’m also delighted to share that another grant purchased a digital camera, docking station and color printer and thanks to this grant we were building sandtray storytelling books in the small groups.  The purchase of the transcription recorder now makes it much easier to include text along with each sandtray picture.  In the sandtray storybooks it is easy to see how the child has progressed through chaos, fighting, and finally to normalcy.

More important than the grants themselves is the changes these programs have made in the lives of children.  A first grade girl who was in a truck with her father were car-jacked at gunpoint….the parents asked me for help.  After six sessions in a sand tray group, she was well.  The kindergarten student had such a severe phobia, she couldn’t use the restroom without mother being nearby.  Going to school was becoming impossible.  After six sessions in the sand tray group, she began showering by herself and  became a happy, well adjusted student again.  I’ve seen the sandtray storytelling help children become more organized as they find order from chaos.

I’ve seen it help survivors of Hurricane Katrina and other grief/loss situations.  I’ve seen improvements in aggressive behavior.  It has been the single most successful intervention I’ve used. 

How does your work address brain development and/or brain trauma?

Since language learning is symbolic, the sandtray storytelling work in the classroom has been extremely successful with both the regular education and special education classes.  I strongly believe, and the standardized test scores are showing that 4th grade regular education and special education students who are regularly participating in sandtray storytelling classes are making greater progress with their language development than peers who are not.  For example, students who had difficulty writing stories and could only form a couple of sentences are finding that they can develop greater story content and more detailed character development.  My theory is that the use of the toys together with the sand is building new neuro-pathways and stimulating dendrite connections to different parts of the brain.

Please contact Janet Escobedo (escobedo7174@msn.com) if you would like a copy of her Grant that she received to provide Storytelling with Sandplay.