After seeing everyone's pins (on Pinterest), we decided to make our own Moon Sand. I know it can be quite expensive in the stores. That's probably why we never had it as kids... (feel sorry for me). But, being the adventurous mother I am, we dove right in.
First off, you'll need sand, cornstarch, and water. Hopefully, you have water at home, but for the rest, head to the Dollar Store. The texture of the sand at other places wasn't what I was really going for. I think the finer sand feels more like the real Moon Sand. On the other hand, if you're teaching your kids about textures (rough/smooth), I would get different textures of sand. You could even throw in colorful, fish tank rocks to the rough texture.... man I feel smart.
So, the recipes I have found around the web have varied. I think any way you go, you'll have to adjust to your liking. Start out with 1.5 cups of cornstarch, and mix that with 3/4 cups of water until smooth. (If you want to color your mix, I would stir that in now.) Then, divide 3 cups of sand to 1 cup each, and gradually mix 1 cup of sand at a time, into the cornstarch mix, until smooth. It does take a little bit of work and time.
Our mixture looks... special, because I don't like to follow directions. Who knew... Anyways, Dylan wanted it yellow. At this stage, adding food coloring now will leave nice stains on your hand. I'm not sure how the coloring does if you follow directions. I do have one good tip for you! You know the plastic sheets that you put under your child's high chair? SAVE THEM! This plastic mat is perfect to lay down and play in the moon sand.
Once your mixture is complete, invite all your construction and dinosaur friends over to play!
When the playing is over, I dumped my moon sand into an empty dish-washing detergent bucket. So simple. I think the whole project cost me $3.00. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than off the shelf. Oh, and don't worry if your mixture gets dry. Just add 1-2 Tbsp. of water and it'll come right back to life. Love it!
No comments:
Post a Comment