Building a sand tray miniature collection for play therapy doesn't require hundreds of pieces … it requires symbolic range. A strong collection includes representation across 12 core categories: people, animals, buildings, transportation, vegetation, fences and gates, natural items, fantasy, spiritual and mystical, household, landscaping, and miscellaneous. The goal is for any client to walk up to your shelves and find something that can represent their world.

Some of the best therapy tools are the ones that do not look like therapy tools at all.

Wax craft sticks are exactly that. The moment a child spots them on the table, they reach for them. There is no hesitation, no wariness, no "what are we doing today." They just start making things.

Here are five ways I use them in session, and the clinical reasoning behind each one.

If you have ever watched a child's shoulders drop the moment their hands hit a tray of slime, you already know what I'm talking about. There's something almost magical that happens in those first few seconds, and it's not an accident.

Slime is one of my favorite go-to tools in the therapy room, not because kids love it (though they absolutely do), but because of what it does clinically when we use it with intention.