sand in the water table

We're studying the four seasons at work, and this week we focused on learning all about summer. I put about a quart of sand in the water table (taken from the math resource teacher - I have no idea why she had sand), which spread out to be just enough to cover the bottom of the water table. We had one shovel that the kids had to share, and a couple buckets. I added water to the sand on Wednesday, and the kids didn't want to touch it because it stuck to their hands and they thought it was gross. Aren't these kids ever allowed to get dirty? I had no idea that the sand table would be so popular, or that so many students would have to be banned from it because they threw the sand at each other or smeared it in each other's hair. And then they would burst into tears when I made them leave, as though they couldn't believe that I would be that harsh. Apparently I am a heartless, cruel woman, delighting in their misery. The janitors thought the same thing when they would find sand all over the floor despite our best attempts to clean it up. Next week we're moving on to studying autumn, so no more sand. I guess I'll be bringing in leaves to explore on Monday.