My front yard needs help!

Can you plant some low growers in the sand near the front porch. Portulaca does well. So do hens and chicks and sedum. One thing you may want to think about it maybe adding some interlock pavers or some flat stones to make a walk way and a division between the house and the "garden area". This may help the kids distinguish where they can play.

i would set up a little boot bench & have everyone remove their shoes at the door!

Maybe fence off the area by the doors first and plant a hardy grass mix for your area. Once established then move to another section.

Can u keep the chickens in an area?

Give your dog a sandbox to dig in. Pick a spot he likes for digging, make a sandbox, bury some fun toys, then encourage him to dig there. The kids may enjoy helping with that.

I agree with taking shoes off at the door. If they insist on wearing shoes in the house, put a rough doormat outside the door and provide a sturdy whisk broom out there and get them in the habit of using the doormat and whisking off their shoes before they can enter the house. My middle son to this day takes his shoes off at the door and he will be 30 yrs. old this summer. We don't normally take off our shoes in this house unless they are muddy because we have shedding dogs and socks are magnets for the hair.

Make a cactus garden that should keep them out of that part of the yard! Succulents would also grow well in that soil.

I would consider using pea gravel. You can use a few different things to make a walk way if you want. You can still plant in it or should I say make pretty places so your yard is just not rocks.

I dealt with a sandy yard for 26 years. I wish I knew then what I know now. The problem, as you probably know by now, is that sandy soil drains water too quickly to allow grass to survive very well (except crabgrass). Unless you add a decent amount of loamy dirt & topsoil to your yard, you will never grow a nice grassy lawn. Once you are able to grow grass, the amount of sand coming into your house should be much less than it is now. Composting food scraps (vegetable or fruit scraps like potato or apple peelings, but NO MEAT, DAIRY, or seeds), leaves from trees or houseplants, grass clippings, etc. would increase the amount of organic material if added to your soil after it has rotted, but it takes a relatively long time to decompose so organic material you could buy from a store will do so faster. I also used to dump my old potting soil from a dead houseplant into my soil & it made lush soil. Good luck!