My DS9 always liked playing in the sand (although he got a little squicky later about mud and dirt). I would say not quite as much as your son though. But he would play in the sand a lot when he was in preschool. Both kids still love the beach. We went to a special beach in Florida a couple of years ago where the sand is very white and fine, and he loved it so much he wanted to bring some back home so we put some in a small plastic baggie. The punchline is that our bags were searched because it looked a little bit too much like an illegal substance... wink