When you're looking to order kids' play sand, seeing all the different bags of sand on offer can make it hard to understand exactly what type you need. There are some key differences between all-purpose sand and play sand, so it's useful to know what they are.
Play sand is more refined and is a higher quality composition, which is what you would expect, considering it's going to be used for children's sand play. You shouldn't use plain all-purpose sand in kids' play areas, because it simply isn't designed for that type of use.
All-purpose sand is pretty much what its name suggests. It has been washed to reduce the amount of dust it contains and it has also been sifted. It has a moderately coarse texture; a technical description that means it's free from the majority of larger particles.
Although reasonably small, the remaining particles may still have a few rough edges. All-purpose sand is used for such things as mixing with cement to make concrete, giving paving slabs