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Comment by batch12 | Hacker News Reader

Cool project, but I don't want kids playing with sand inside.. something like this that uses clay or even Legos would be cool. It couldn't be exactly the same, I understand, since the shadows would ruin the immersion. A whole room version would be cool too that takes into account toys and clothes. Bonus points if it can help encourage tidying up as part of play.

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> I don't want kids playing with sand inside

The physical "magic sand" stuff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic_sand) doesn't make a big mess. Great toy for kids.

Actual magic/kinetic/hydrophobic sand (what this is intended to be used with, as you can shape it in shapes other than "pile") is pretty self contained, make a reasonably tall tub to play in (maybe 3~5 times as tall as the "sea level") and you should be fine, just make a rule of "no throwing sand meteors" and you should be fine, neatness-wise.

If you put any sort of fine-particles in a inside environment without having a fully enclosed box and anti-containment compartment with double-doors, you are guaranteed to end up with some of those particles reaching every single part of the house.

Once we took apart a confetti+glitter "gun/bomb" on the kitchen counter with strict measures of washing your hand after touching the confetti, don't let it leave the counter and so on, and we still find traces of it in other parts of the house sometimes. Never again.

We opened a package of over 4000 ladybugs in our kitchen...

Point is, the bad ideas can always be worse ＼ ( ^ o ^ ) ／

As in, the insect? (English is not my native language) Why in the everloving flip would you do such a thing?

Well, it's sand anyways. Glitter is annoying because it's highly visible so you're constantly reminded of it, but sand is just like any sort of dust. It's also a bunch of very thin and tiny sheets, so it adheres to surfaces formidably.

Of course, you do your own "annoyance assessment", but a non-perishable, hydrophobic, heavy and visually unremarkable powder has a pretty good value in terms of unit of fun per unit of annoying in my book. Tidier than giving a kid a cookie.

> Bonus points if it can help encourage tidying up as part of play.

This one made my chuckle, nicely played dad.

That _is_ a very interesting idea. If every toy had a "home," then it could be a game; every object not in an assigned place would turn red, and you have to find its home.

The Montessori educational method establishes a "positioning schema" which very much is used to make tidying an engaging play activity.

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