Zen garden tray

I have been wanting to make a zen garden (Japanese Zen gardens, also known as "karesansui") tray for the children after the big success of the mouldable sand. So when we were at Ikea, I got some dofta potpourri to give a scent to the garden and looked for sand but I didn't find it. An alternative that I thought of was the decorative sand that I saw from Blokker. I also got the flat marbles that were in the same area as the decorative sand. Here is what our zen garden tray looks like...

I still need to find a small rake though, but for now the pretend play fork will do.

My mistake was introducing this to Milos when he obviously is not over yet with his moldable sand. Well this is waiting for him when he wants another type of material to manipulate with.

For those of you who are curious as to why I made this activity for the children, zen gardens have for centuries been used as means for spiritual contemplation. This does not only allow for artistic expression (rake designs and rock formations) in young children, but most importantly, it provides a quiet interlude and opportunity to calm the mind.