Easy Sand Art for Children

The girls and I had so much fun the other day with this project.  It is incredibly easy and very inexpensive and a perfect craft to do with your kids.

Plus you should have something pretty to display once you are all finished!

You only need a few things to do this sand art.

Basically you color plain salt with chalk and use that to create layers and patterns in a container of your choice.  The salt is super cheap (mine was $.77 at Target) and it looks very pretty- just like sand.

So to get started collect the following supplies:

• Plain Salt (I used Morton’s)
• Sidewalk or Chalkboard Chalk- the brighter the colors the better
• Containers or jars of your choice (mine were free as a promotional item from some company but you can find jars in assorted shapes at Craft Stores for $1 or less)
• Paper Plates
• Parchment Paper or Construction Paper

To get started fill your jar with plain white salt to the very top.  Then dump the entire container of white salt back onto a plate or piece of parchment.  This step is to ensure you color enough salt to fill the container.  I didn’t measure initially so we had to go back once we thought we were finished and make a little bit more to top off our jars.  Keep in mind the salt will settle a little so better to make a little extra.

Next you can portion some of the salt out on a paper plate.  I didn’t measure at this point because I knew we were planning to do several colors. Each child got to choose a piece of Crayola Outdoor Chalk and they place it on the side and start to rub it back and forth.

This takes a little effort and a little elbow grease.  The salt will act as  sandpaper against the chalk and the color of the chalk will start to color your salt.  Continue to rub until you get the color you like and dump the salt into a bowl or cup or container.

Now wipe off the excess chalk you might have on the bottom of your plate and dump more plain white chalk onto the plate.  Use another color of chalk and continue this process until all your salt has been colored.

You can always leave some of the salt plain white too- it makes the colored salt stand out a bit more.

Once you have colored all your sand you can either use a funnel to pour it into your jar or I just spilled some onto a piece of parchment paper and folded it and used that to pour the colors into the jar.

The girls took turns telling me which color to pour and how much of each color.

Once you are done you should have lovely layered colored sand art!

Easy right?  My girls are 5 and 6 and they absolutely loved this craft project.  My big girl left hers alone because she was so excited with how pretty it turned out and my little one couldn’t stop shaking hers.  I was worried it would turn into an ugly mess if she kept shaking it but actually it got this really cool swirly look.

This would be a great craft for a Girl Scout troop, summer camp, a birthday party or slumber party etc…

It is super cheap (I spent $.77 on salt and the large box of Crayola chalk was $1.48 on sale) and other then a few extra sweeps to get any spilled salt off the ground, it is a pretty easy craft.

Here is what Maya’s looked like after she kept shaking it all around:

*Idea and instructions for this project was Tripod.com. 

And if you like this idea, you might also like these projects:

How to Build a Children’s Tent (use it inside or out)

How to Make Flubber

Easy Colored Rice (for sensory bins or an alternative to sand)