Activities

There are many activities to do with young children, but some of them can get rather expensive. there are crafty things you can do at home that won’t put a dent in your wallet. Activities should be fun, engaging and educational. One classic activity that kids love is creating sand in a bottle art. This is a great activity because it is simple and allows children to express their individuality. But buying the special bottles and sand from a store can be expensive. Here are so DIY tips for making sand in a bottle are.

 

How to make the colored sand:

1. Mix powdered paint and water. Let it dry, and voila, you have made colored sand.

2. Go to a beach (another fun activity for the kids) and collect some sand. Use dye or food coloring to give the sand that special color you are looking for.

3. Use substitutes. Find items that you have around the house and use them as sand stand ins. Sugar can be your white. Coffee grounds your black and browns. Try some rice for a little texture. Different herbs and spices can be used to add color. Cayenne pepper is great. Fruit drink powders also work. Lemonade can be your yellow. Kool-aid red works well.

 

How to make your bottle:

1. You can use any kind of bottle. Recycle your bottled drinking water or use an empty bottle of mouthwash. Any size or shape will do.

2. Remove the labels. Clean the bottle thoroughly using soap and water and allow it to dry. It must be bone dry before you attempt to put sand in it.

 

How to make your funnel:

1. Take a piece of paper. It can be white computer paper or lined paper from a notebook. It doesn’t really matter, but something with a little thickness or heft to it will probably work best. Roll it into a cone shape and tape or staple it together so it holds in place.

2. The pointed end of the funnel should fit into the opening of the bottle and be no wider than an eighth of an inch. Use a ruler to measure or improvise if you want to get really crazy with your art.

 

Adding the sand:

1. Have all of your supplies out and ready to go. Arrange your sand in a way that is easy to get to when it is needed.

2. Place the pointed end of the funnel into the opening of your bottle and hold it steady.

3. Using a small spoon, add a little sand, one color at a time. Don’t add too much at once. Wait and see how it looks before adding more. If the sand gets stuck in the funnel, give it a little shake.

4. Creating diagonals: If you hold the bottle straight, the sand will fall into place in flat, horizontal lines. To mix things up, try tilting the bottle on an angle so that the sand falls in diagonally. Tap the side of the bottle so that the first layer moves to one corner. Add each layer with the bottle held at an angle and the funnel pointed toward the empty corner of the bottle.

5. Keep adding layers of different colored sand. Be careful not to move the bottle too much so that the sand doesn’t get mixed and keeps its even layers. Fill to the top of the bottle.

6. Glue a cork or stopper into the bottle and glue on the cap.

7. Display proudly in your home.

 

This is a great activity for kids that allows them to use their ingenuity and creativity. They will see how to use alternatives to make something. They will get to choose which colors to use and what order to put them in. In the end, they will have an art piece they can show off to their friends. It is also a great activity for kids to do with friends. Make it a birthday game, and kids can bring home a party favor they made for themselves.

 

Image by redaleka on Flickr Creative Commons.