About Sand Art
Sand Art is a fun arts & crafts activity for children from 3 years up. Kids from preschoolers to teenagers love creating with coloured sand.
Sand Art is widely used by schools, pre-schools, community groups, at corporate or family events, kids birthday parties, fundraisers, festivals and at home.
Sand Art with template pictures
It is an arts & crafts activity, where you 'paint' a template picture with coloured sand. Template pictures have sticky layers underneath and once the top film is peeled, you can sprinkle coloured sand, which sticks straight to the exposed sticky layer. So no messy glue is needed. We offer A4 size cards to make the activity easier for little hands.
Instructions:
1. Peel off the outline of your selected template card using a plastic pick (to make peeling easier). Be careful not to lift adjoining areas. The outline is now sticky.
2. Choose a colour and sprinkle it over the sticky area. Turn the card over and tap it on the back to remove the excess sand. Repeat the same action if you'd like the colour to be darker.
3. Peel off next area and sprinkle another colour and repeat the motion until the template picture is completed coloured in. Use your creativity!
4. Finally, peel off the background and sprinkle sand in different areas to create whatever shapes and colours you desire (for example rainbow background).
5. Congratulations! You are now a Sand Art artist. Put your completed picture in a protective plastic pocket or laminate it.
Tips and Tricks:
- Younger children might need help lifting the sticky paper (but will enjoy peeling the paper and pouring the sand themselves).
- Always start with the smaller areas inside an object and remove the background last.
- Mix different colours for interesting variations.
- If the sand gets damp or wet, place in open bowls in the sun/oven until dry.
- To cover a bigger area, first, pour a heap of sand on the one side of the area. Slowly tip the card sideways and let the sand roll down the card.
- Avoid working outside on misty days as the sand will get damp.
- Make sure the surface of where you will be creating your picture is completely dry before you start.
Sand Art with containers
Another sand Art activity is with bottles or fun containers, where different coloured sand is layered into containers or bottles creating a bright effect. You can also stick eyes if using a plain bottle to create a fun creature.
Benefits of Sand Art
So we all know that letting kids express themselves creatively is very important for their development, but how exactly does Sand Art help children with development of their academic and cognitive skills?
- Enhances Colour Recognition
It is a great way to increase a child’s ability to label colours. It helps them to understand what happens when certain colours are mixed together.
- Increases Fine Motor Skills
Creating with coloured sand requires a certain amount of fine motor control and manipulation, so sand art activities improve kids’ motor skills.
- Teaches Planning & Organisation Skills
Children have to decide which colours and how much of each colour to use before completing the project and understand what the final result will look like. This involves thinking and reasoning skills as well.
- Boosts Creativity and Imagination
Activities with coloured sand are very creative which promote a child’s creative thinking while they are making their masterpiece, their imagination is used to its fullest.
- Teaches Kids to Make Choices
Sand Art activities involve making decisions and choices. Making these decisions allows kids to become more independent while also discovering their likes and dislikes.
- Improves concentration
