If you’ve ever tried to shop for sand blocks, you probably know that a good set of sand blocks for little hands is hard to come by. I have these wooden Suzuki sand blocks from Amazon, but I find them to be a bit heavy and bulky for really young babies and toddlers. And, at over $20 per set, buying a whole class set of them is a bit pricy.
I created a lighter, less expensive, more baby-friendly version using air hockey paddles.
I just removed the felt from the bottom of the air hockey paddle and glued on a little of circle of sand paper. 
Here’s what you need:
- Air hockey paddles
- Extra Fine or Fine grit sandpaper
- Glue Dots (Advanced Strength)
- Mod Podge + paint brush or sponge
Once again, these are super easy to make:
- Peel the felt off of the bottom of the air hockey paddle. (Mine came off very easily!)
- Trace 2 circles that are approximately 2 5/8 inches on your sandpaper. (I used a narrow canning jar lid without the ring it was exactly the right size.)
- Cut out the circles.
- Use glue dots to adhere the sandpaper to the inner center of the of the air hockey paddle.
- Paint a little bit of Mod Podge over the edges of the sand paper to seal them off.
Just let the mod Podge dry and they’re ready to go! These come in at under $5/set and hold up great to toddler hands. They have made a wonderful addition to my preschool music class instrument collection.
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