Homemade Play Sand {DIY Kinetic Sand}
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My little grandson loves to be outside. This past summer he really loved playing in the sand at the beach and being by the water. So with the cold weather approaching, I started looking for a way to bring some of that same beach sand fun to the indoors, hopefully without too much mess. And I was able to do that by making this simple two ingredient play sand!
How To Make Homemade Play Sand
This homemade play sand (sometimes also called Moon Sand) is like the kinetic sands and other play sands such as this Cra-Z-Sand. It really does feel like real sand that you’re also able to mold it into shapes that will stick together.
The two ingredients you’ll need to make your own play sand are flour and vegetable oil. If you use whole wheat flour (which I did) it will really have the look of beach sand too! A nice size batch is to mix together 8 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 cup of vegetable oil. When mixing together the flour and oil together, I used my pastry cutter which was a very helpful tool for getting things mixed together well.
You could also make smaller or larger size batches of this homemade play sand. I liked the size batch made with the 8 cups of the flour, but if you would like more or less, just use a formula of 1/4 cup oil to every 2 cups of flour.
Once my DIY play sand was all mixed together, I laid out a beach towel, poured my kinetic sand into a plastic bin, and then let him have fun scooping and digging. It was cheap and easy entertainment that really does bring the fun of the outdoors to the indoors. And when we were done playing, we just put the lid back on our bin and saved it for another day.
Bigger kids will have fun shaping this sand and building things, but even a little guy like my grandson (15 months old at the time of this writing) was able to have plenty of fun squishing around, scooping and dumping, and smashing the little shapes that I made for him.
So we didn’t have to spend much money to have lots of fun play time. All we had to do was go to the kitchen and get our whole wheat flour and vegetable oil, do a little mixing, and just like that we had our own homemade play sand. Give it a try and I think you’ll like this easy mixture too!
Homemade Play Sand
Materials:
- 8 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil
Instructions:
- Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the oil and and mix to combine. A pastry cutter tool works well to get the ingredients mixed well together.
- Once the oil is incorporated into the flour, your play sand is ready. You can give it a little test by picking some up in your hand and squeezing it together as you make a fist. If it is not sticking together well, you can add in a bit more oil.
- Transfer the mixture to a shallow container with sides so the kids can play. A container with a lid is helpful for putting the mixture away when you are done too.
Notes:
what if you want to make white sand
how do you do that?
You could try using white flour and baby oil and that should give you a mixture that results in a more white colored play sand.
but is it goupey or sticky …i dont want that. I want white sand that is like dry and loose that can fall through your fingers
It won’t be super sticky, but it will be a consistency that if you pick some up in your hand and make a fist, it will kind of stick together the same way damp sand does. So it will probably not be dry enough to just fall through your fingers. Sometimes craft stores sell colored sand and you might be able to find white (of course that isn’t a homemade solution).
Just thought your readers should know that there is an ongoing recall of contaminated wheat flour that is making people sick. The FDA is advising consumers to not eat dough and to sanitize all surfaces that have been in contact with flour. Perhaps this recipe could be made safer by baking the flour in the oven prior to adding the oil.
Below is the text from the FDA website regarding the recall:
General Mills of Minneapolis, MN, continues to collaborate with health officials to investigate a multistate outbreak of E. coli O121, and is expanding its recall of Gold Medal flour, Wondra flour, and Signature Kitchens flour to include flour made earlier in the fall that may still be in consumers’ pantries. The recall is being expanded due to a newly-reported illness that appears to have stemmed from the consumption of raw dough or batter linked to flour produced last fall.
Guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to warn that consumers should refrain from consuming any raw products made with flour. E. coli O121 is eliminated by heat through baking, frying, sautéing or boiling products made with flour. All surfaces, hands and utensils should be properly cleaned after contact with flour or dough.
Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. E. coli O121 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. Seniors, the very young, and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.
Anyone diagnosed by a physician as having an illness related to E. coli O121 is also urged to contact state and local public health authorities.
The recall affects the following retail flour products. It includes 8 SKUs (stock keeping units or UPC codes) of Gold Medal Flour, 1 SKU of Signature Kitchens Flour and 1 SKU of Gold Medal Wondra flour.
If you have any of the products listed below, they should be thrown away. Consumers with additional questions or requesting a replacement should contact the company at 800-230-8103. Additional recall information can also be found at http://www.generalmills.com/flourdisclaimer iconhttp
Here is the FDA link: ://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm509693.htm
No grandchildren to make this for but your sweet grandson reminds me so much of our
boys when they were little – right down to the white hair and little stripped shirts. Keep up the good work.
That’s so sweet Kathy – I look at my grandson and he reminds me so much of my kids when they were young too who both had that very white blond hair.