At Toys of the Trade, we focus exclusively on selling sandplay / sandtray miniatures and general play therapy toys to mental health professionals. The business was started in 1999 by a fellow clinician who found that every person who walked into her office needed a different sandtray miniature or play therapy tool to symbolize, capture and express his or her life struggles. She had a hard time finding the things they requested, particularly since she worked exclusively with trauma at the time. Her clients often asked for sandplay figures and play therapy toys that were gross, offensive and scary, because they had been through gross, offensive and scary things that begged expression and mastery. Not easy to find, but desperately needed for their healing process. And since our owner spent her career being underpaid in community mental health, she had a hard time affording the things she did find.
That's why affordable and hard-to-find items drive this business. We are constantly searching for new sandtray miniatures and play therapy toys, updating our site as we find them. We strive to add new figures for sandtray play therapy as quickly as we find them, so check back often. If there is a specific figure or toy you need, let us know and we will happily add it to our search list. Once we find it we will offer it to you at a fair price. That's our promise. The less expensive it is, the happier we are.
Our sandtray / sandplay miniatures and play therapy tools are all intended for use under the close supervision of mental health professionals. We cast a wide net to find those elusive symbols, so very few of our products are actually marketed as toys. We're drawing from and repurposing cake decorations, stationery supplies, dollhouse miniatures, dioramas, jewelry, household decorations, novelties, etc. Our sandtray / sandplay miniatures and play therapy tools are safe and appropriate in a therapeutic setting, but often have small parts and are not recommended for unsupervised play.
If you need to know anything else about us, just ask.