Hello WSD Educators!

Ever wish you had a private, no-pressure space to experiment in Canvas? That’s exactly what a sandbox course is—a blank Canvas course that only you can access (unless you choose to invite others). Think of it as your personal playground for testing ideas, building new content, and trying out features before rolling them out to students.

What is a Canvas Sandbox? 

A sandbox course is a separate course shell that isn’t tied to any live students or PowerSchool sections. 

In the Sandbox you can:

• Experiment with new tools and integrations

• Test different module layouts or homepage designs

• Practice building quizzes, assignments, or discussions

• Store “evergreen” resources you might reuse in multiple classes

Because no students are enrolled, you can explore without fear of breaking anything in your real courses.

How to Create Your Own Sandbox

3. Add your email—or multiple colleagues’ emails—if you want to collaborate with a PLC group or team.

4. Give your course a name (ex: Sandbox - [class, your name, etc.])

5. Click Create Course and start experimenting! 

Wrapping Up

A Canvas sandbox is more than just a practice course—it’s your creative workspace, storage hub, and testing ground all in one. By giving yourself the freedom to experiment, collaborate, and refine without pressure, you’ll be ready to deliver polished, engaging content to your students with confidence.

All the best,

WSD Digital Teaching & Learning Specialists

• Monica Widdison, mowiddison@wsd.net DT&L Specialist for Elementary Schools 

• Alan Rhees, arhees@wsd.net DT&L Specialist for Elementary Schools 

• Jaymee Barrowes, jabarrowes@wsd.net DT&L Specialist for Secondary Schools 

• Blake Pope, blpope@wsd.net DT&L Specialist for Secondary Schools