According to the SEED Science Centre, “Sand is made of minerals and tiny pieces of rock that have come from the erosion and weathering of rocks. The composition of sand varies from place to place depending on the sources and conditions of the local rocks”.
Who would have thought that minuscule particles of larger rocks would be a favourite play material of kids in the summer? Preschoolers love spending days at the beach and hours at the playground with only a pail, shovel and a few plastic toys. Here are some ideas to add to this summer’s sand play repertoire.
Make Sand Castles
Show kids how to make sand castles using wet sand and various sizes of pails. Try using different shaped buckets and containers to create a variety of 'castles'. Four-sided planting pots make great foundations for pyramids and oval shaped containers work really well for creating race tracks for cars and trucks. Give the kids a few simple tools and let them do the rest with their imaginations.
Create a Treasure Hunt
With a little pre-planning, a simple treasure hunt is a great idea for a birthday party or family reunion event. Hide inexpensive treasures in the sand such as shells or small plastic toys and let the kids dig for their treasures. For a pirate theme make jewels by covering several rocks with glitter glue or wrapping them in colourful cellophane. For a dinosaur theme, hide large tube pasta in the sand and pretend they are dinosaur bones.
Look at Sand
Take a magnifying glass to the playground and let the kids see what sand looks like up close by placing a few pinches of sand onto white construction paper. Check out the difference between grains of sand such as the variety of colours, which ones reflect light and the sizes of each grain.
Make Sand Pictures
With a bottle of white glue and colourful pieces of bristol board, the kids can do a simple craft at the beach. Let the kids make a design or message on the bristol board using the glue and then sprinkle sand over the glue. Shake off the excess sand to reveal the sand picture.
Experiment with Sand
Do various experiments with sand, simply to see what happens.
- Measure the sand using spoons, cups, plastic utensils, plastic pails and metal pots.
- Discover which toys are camouflaged in the sand.
- Make crayon rubbings on paper by colouring with the side of a peeled crayon on a hard surface like a picnic table that has a little bit of sand for texture.
Draw in the Sand
Using sticks, shovels, rakes or even their fingers, have the kids draw pictures on an area of wet sand. Make a start and finish line for a race, mark out a hopscotch game or let the kids create an adventure course drawing arrows in the sand to show which way to go.
With a little creativity and imagination, kids can spend hours learning about the properties of sand in their backyard sand box. For other outdoor seasonal activities for young kids, read Exploring Water with Preschoolers and Exploring Mud with Preschoolers.
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