I’m so excited to introduce you to Isabel from Uno Zwei Tutu! Today is she sharing a super cute and fun 3-D sandcastle craft for kids! You’ll love the sensory aspect of this project, and it’s a great way to encourage imaginative play too. Such a wonderful project for summer or even a fairytale theme!
The Inspiration
This weekend we were sitting at the beach at a nearby lake. My daughter was having the time of her life- running around in her swimming diaper, bathing her baby doll in the lake, and playing with her daddy in the water!
While she was enjoying the cold water with Daddy, I decided to surprise her by making a sandcastle, but, she caught me and came running over.
“Mommy I help you”, she said.
She rapidly started throwing handfuls of sand into the bucket. But, when she took the bucket (almost too heavy for her own weight) and tried turning it around, the sand she had collected crumpled into pieces.
She tried it again and again- getting more and more upset with every try because she just couldn’t get it right.
I asked her if I could help her, but, being a toddler, of course she said no. After five tries her beautiful black eyes started filling with tears, she threw the bucket to the beach, and ran quickly to Daddy who managed to cheer her up by doing silly stuff in the lake.
This is definitely not how I had planned our visit to the lake to go and definitely not what I was thinking would happen when I started making a sandcastle for her.
I started thinking if there was a way to help her make a sandcastle all on her own.
The solution
Making an awesome 3D sandcastle craft which I was ready to set up as soon as we got home in the hopes of lifting up my daughter’s spirits.
3-D Sandcastle Craft for Kids
Materials for a 3-D Sandcastle Craft
- white construction paper
- scissors
- white glue
- play sand
- stapler
Directions for Making a 3-D Sandcastle Craft
1. Draw two sandcastles with a pen in the construction paper (or a very long sandcastle).
2. Carefully cut the sandcastle(s).
3. Invite your child outside and invite him/her to spread glue on the construction paper. I gave my daughter a small piece of a sponge so she could spread the glue faster and easier. If it is too hot where you are, you may have to apply glue more than once. (Our glue was getting dry within seconds!)
4. Let your child pour sand all over the glue. Make sure that the sand is really dry because otherwise the construction paper may get all soggy.
We did this step next to our sand box right before we turned it into a small beach.
My daughter had lots of fun picking up sand in the sandcastle and dumping it on the precut castle.
5. Place the sandcastle outside in the sun so it can dry. (You probably don’t want to bring all that sand inside, right?) If it is sunny and warm, it will be dry within one to two hours.
6. Connect the ends of the two sandcastles using a stapler.
My daughter enjoyed making her sandcastle so much, and she was really proud to show it to her Daddy when it was ready. And I was the happiest mom to see my daughter with a big smile again!
Don’t Forget to Play!
We turned our sandcastle into a magical small world. Want to know how? Visit my blog!
Isabel is a Colombian married to a German and mom to a sweet 2 year old. She’s a stay-at-home mom blogging about crafts and multilingual activities for young children at Uno Zwei Tutu. She also shares lots of Montessori inspired multilingual printables.
You can also find her on facebook, pinterest and twitter.