Ahhh, summer time… for my family summer includes lots of trips to the beach, where my kids love to make sand castles in the sand near the water. It’s always hard to say goodbye to their creations!
But what if there was a way to make a sand castle that would last for many year? Did you know that you can make an easy 5 minute dough made out of sand and a couple other ingredients that you probably already have sitting at home?!
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my kids’ everlasting sand castle that they made out of this DIY sand dough. It was very easy and quick to make, and kept the kids occupied for HOURS… score!
I gave them each a big chunk of dough and some seashells and let them go for it. They loved creating their own castles, and especially loved that they would be able to keep them once they were finished. These castles just need to air dry– they will get hard after a few days, and you don’t even have to turn on the oven!
I just used some sand from our recent beach trip for my birthday, but if you don’t live near the beach, you could buy a small bag of sand from your local craft store, hardware store, or garden store. I’m planning an “Under the Sea” birthday party for my daughter next month, and I plan on making a few batches of this dough for the kids to make their own sand castles to take home.
This recipe is originally from Family Fun Magazine. I ripped out the magazine page years ago when it was published, and finally got around to trying it.
Sand Dough Recipe:
1 cup sand
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. alum
3/4 cup water
-
Mix together the sand, cornstarch, and alum with a wooden spoon in a small saucepan. Add the 3/4 cup of water to the mixture, and stir until it is smooth.
-
Cook the clay over medium-high heat, and stir quickly. Once the dough has the consistency of play dough (after about 3 minutes), then remove from heat.
-
Once cool, you can remove it from the pan and let the kids play!
- NOTE: My daughter wanted her dough firmer, so she added more sand… too much sand! It made the dough a little too dry, so as it dried it cracked. Lesson learned- stick to the recipe 😉
Virtual Office says
Thanks for the tutorial which is really interesting and I am going to try this with my daughter.
Josh H-P says
It’s been over a year now and I am wondering how your kid’s sand castles have held up? I’m wanting to do something similar for a festival decoration, however, it needs to stand up to possibly a lot of rain… Any ideas for that? The best I can think is to seal it with something after it has dried.
Kayleen says
How long does it take to dry? Did your son add extra sand to his dough when he made a castle and did his crack as well? Does it dry rock hard and do u think you could bake it in an oven?