DIY Craft: Colored-Sand Art Project for Kids

Many children love to play in the sand. With summer more than half a year away, the weather in your area may still be too cold to make playing in the sandbox a possibility (no matter how much your child may beg or plead!). With a little creativity, though, you can bring the fun of sand indoors for your child.

This simple sand art project uses basic materials and allows your child to create a colorful, three-dimensional project that could make a wonderful new decoration for his or her bedroom or somewhere else in your home.

Ready to get started with this easy sand art project?

What You’ll Need:

• Clear glass or plastic jar with lid
• Enough clean play sand to fill the jar; available at home improvement stores
• Dry tempera paint powder in 3-4 colors, available at arts and crafts supply stores
• Plastic bowls with a flat bottom
• Zippered plastic food storage bags, sandwich-size
• Plastic spoon and/or fork
• Wooden skewer or toothpick
• Optional: craft glue; safety scissors; tissue paper or decorative gift wrap

Instructions:

1. Cover a flat work surface with newspapers or a sheet, to make cleanup easier.

2. Color the sand by mixing the dry tempera paint powders into a small amount of play sand. Continue adding paint powder until you achieve the desired color and shade. Create three or four different colors of sand.

3. Place each batch of colored sand in its own flat-bottomed plastic bowl, within easy reach for your child.

4. Let your child start layering different colors of sand in the jar to create interesting forms and patterns. You child can use a wooden skewer or toothpick to modify the design once the sand is already in the jar – simply stick the skewer or toothpick gently into the jar and through the sand. Then, pull the toothpick up through the sand while pressing the point against the wall of the jar. This will create lines and waves to add interesting designs to the sand layers.

5. Once the sand art creation is complete, add a final layer of sand to the top of the jar so that it is filled as completely as possible. You want to eliminate any air space that may exist between the top of the sand and the jar lid.

6. Optional: If the lid of the jar is either plain or covered with a product name, allow your child to decorate the lid. You can apply some colored tissue paper or decorative gift wrap to the lid, using craft glue. Make sure you cover the top and sides of the lid. Trim away any excess paper from the lid with safety scissors.

7. Screw the lid onto the jar. Your child’s art project is complete!