The invention discloses phenolic resin self-hardening sand and a preparation method thereof. The self-hardening sand is made of roughing sand, phenolic resin, a silane coupling agent, methyl formate, calcium carbonate, aluminic acid ester, ethylene glycol, bentonite and polyamides. The rough sand passing through a 250-mesh screen and the bentonite passing through a 300-mesh screen are mixed, then the phenolic resin, the silane coupling agent, the polyamide, the calcium carbonate, the aluminic acid ester, the ethylene glycol and the methyl formate are added in sequence, rapid stirring is carried out until the materials are mixed fully, and the stirring speed is 129 r/min. The preparation method is simple, the prepared phenolic resin self-hardening sand is small in gas generating amount and does not contain harmful elements of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur or the like, the hardening effect is good, and under the condition that the roughing sand is at ambient temperature, the hardening time is 15 to 20 min; the intensity is high, after hardening is conducted for 24 hours, the compressive strength is 7.4 to 8.5 MPa, compared with the self-hardening sand in the prior art, the occurrence rate of the heat crack phenomenon is reduced by 18 percent, and the phenolic resin self-hardening sand is especially suitable for casting of steel castings.