How to make kinetic sand

When children start getting bored with modeling clay and are looking for something more exciting, you can introduce them to "moon sand" to watch their eyes widen with delight. With a few imaginative stories, you can even convince them that an astronaut brought this fantastic material from the moon just for them! Instead of buying pre-made moon sand, you can try making this fun toy at home.

Pour 1 ½ cups of water into a large bowl. Any washable container, other than your most precious fine china, will work. A simple plastic bowl is just fine too.

• If you want to dye the sand, add a few drops of food coloring or liquid paint.
• To make the moon sand glow in the dark, stir in a few drops of glow-in-the-dark paint.
• If you’d like to add fragrance to the moon sand, use a few drops of essential oils, such as lemon or vanilla. You can also add spices to the sand later.

Pour 3 cups of cornstarch into the water. Stir well to break up any lumps, as cornstarch tends to clump together easily.

Consider adding color, fragrance, or glitter to the sand. You can buy colored sand or use regular sand. Colored sand tends to be more expensive, but using regular sand allows you to mix the colors to your liking. If you wish to dye the regular sand in multiple colors, divide the sand into smaller containers and add the colors to each separately. Here are a few ideas for adding vibrancy to your sand:

• Mix in a few teaspoons of glitter for a sparkling effect.
• Mix in a few tablespoons of tempera paint powder, watercolor powder, or chalk powder for color. If you’ve already added color to the water, you can skip this step. Remember that tempera paint powder will produce more vibrant colors.
• To add both fragrance and color to your moon sand, try adding a few teaspoons of drink mix powder, like Kool-Aid.
• For a sweeter smell, sprinkle in some baking spices like apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, cocoa, or vanilla sugar.

Mix the sand. At this stage, it’s crucial to mix thoroughly to ensure all ingredients are well blended. Keep stirring!

• Try to find clean sand from a hardware store or an art and craft store. Sand from the beach or a playground isn’t always clean.
• If you haven’t dyed the sand yet, consider using pre-dyed sand. You can find it in the children’s craft section or at an art and craft store.

Choose playtime. Making sand is already fun, but make sure you also give the kids time to enjoy it! While playing with sand, you can rejuvenate it by adding 2-3 tablespoons of water.

• When you’re done playing, store the sand in an airtight container. Keep it in a dry, cool place to extend its shelf life. You can reuse it for about 2-3 months.

Pour the flour into a large bowl. If you plan to make multiple colors, divide the flour into separate bowls—one for each color. The best part of using flour and baby oil is that the product will always be light, clean, and visually appealing, with less resemblance to sand (and the kids might believe it’s real moon sand!).

Add some powder color, fragrance, or glitter to the flour bowl. It’s much easier to mix ingredients while they’re still dry rather than when wet. If you’re adding color, glitter, or fragrance, now’s the time. Make sure to mix thoroughly. Here are some ingredients you can add to the flour at this stage:

• Mix in 1 or 2 tablespoons of tempera paint powder, watercolor powder, or chalk powder if you just want to add color. Avoid using oil-based food coloring for now.
• For color and fragrance, consider adding a drink mix powder like Kool-Aid.
• Add a few teaspoons or tablespoons of glitter for extra texture, like powder.
• For a lovely scent, sprinkle in some baking spices such as apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla sugar, cocoa, or cinnamon.

Add fragrance and oil-based dye to the baby oil and mix well. Oil and water don’t mix, so regular food coloring or liquid watercolors won’t work in this recipe. If you don’t have powder color or spices, you can still add color and fragrance to your creation. Here are a few suggestions:

• If you want to color the moon sand without using powder colors, try oil-based food coloring or candy-making colors.
• For fragrance, add a few drops of essential oils or baking spices like vanilla extract or strawberry extract.

Add baby oil to the flour. After mixing in your colors (or leaving the flour its natural color), add 1 ¼ cups of baby oil. It’s probably easiest to mix by hand, though you might get a bit messy. You can even let the kids do this part themselves!

Mix well and play. Once all the ingredients—color, fragrance, glitter, and everything else—are added, mix thoroughly and start playing. What will your first creation be? A giant octopus? A castle? Or the moon itself?

• If younger children are playing with it, make sure they don’t put the mixture in their mouths. Baby oil and flour are harmless, but any paint or powder could be dangerous if ingested!

Store in an airtight container. Your moon sand can be stored for one or two months, and you probably won’t want to make a new batch until the first one begins to deteriorate. Until then, keep this batch in a sealed container, stored in a dry, cool place like a kitchen cupboard or a child’s toy box.

• When you bring it out for the second time, restore the sand with a few tablespoons of water. The sand will come back to life and be as good as new.

Pour 4 cups of cornstarch into a large bowl. If you can’t find cornstarch, you can substitute it with corn flour. This mixture will be white unless you add color. It will resemble snow!

• If you want to create different colors or scents, divide the cornstarch into separate bowls.

Mix glitter, fragrances, or color powder into cornstarch if desired. It's much easier to mix the ingredients when they're dry, as opposed to wet. If you plan to add any glitter, spices, or powdered color to the sand, do so at this stage. Here are some ideas for enhancing the appearance of your sand product:

• Sprinkle in a few tablespoons of glitter for a shimmering effect. If you prefer to keep the sand white, opt for sparkling white glitter.
• Add some tempera powder paint, powdered watercolor, or chalk powder to give your sand vibrant colors.
• Incorporate a packet of drink mix like Kool-Aid to give your moon sand both a fragrant and colorful twist.
• Sprinkle in some baking spices such as apple pie spice, pumpkin pie, cinnamon, cocoa, or vanilla sugar for a delightful aroma.
• If you prefer to add essential oils or oil-based food coloring, save that for later during the mixing process.

Mix oil-based food coloring or essential oils into vegetable oil, if you like. You will need 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. Water-based colors won't work because oil and water don't mix. All additives for the oil should be oil-based.

• If you don't have powdered color but still want to color your sand, add a few drops of oil-based food coloring or candy color. Avoid water-based food coloring, as oil and water do not mix.
• If you're missing any attractive spices but still want to give the sand a pleasant scent, you can add a few drops of essential oils or baking extracts like vanilla, almond, or orange.

Blend vegetable oil into cornstarch to make your product look like snow. If it feels a bit dry, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil at a time to make the mixture a bit more moist. If the mixture becomes too wet, add more cornstarch.

• The key benefit of this recipe is that the combination of these two ingredients creates moon sand that resembles snow, but it’s not cold, wet, and it won’t turn black with use.

Mix thoroughly and start the fun. Once everything is ready, dive into creativity. How will the colors blend together? What will it feel like? Ask a few questions to draw the kids into a sensory play session with moon sand, an excellent toy for this type of activity.

Store the product in an airtight container. After the kids (and you too, of course) have had their fill of fun, store the moon sand in a sealed container. Keep it in a dry, cool place like a cabinet, under the bed, or in a toy box.

• When you’re ready to play again (this toy can last for months, though it’s inexpensive and you can always make a new batch), revive it with a few tablespoons of water. Knead the mixture with your hands to blend the water in, and soon it will be like new again.

• If cornstarch is unavailable, try substituting it with cornmeal.
• Moon sand should be stored in an airtight container, but the advantage is that it won't dry out under normal storage conditions.
• You can find oil-based candy coloring and food coloring at baking supply stores or art and craft material shops.
• Essential oils are available at health product stores and some art and craft material shops.
• All of the above recipes can be adapted with powdered paints, food coloring, fragrances, or glitter.

• This mixture is not edible. Be sure to tell the children that while it may smell nice, it is not safe to eat.
• Also, teach the kids not to bring the moon sand near their face, as it may cause irritation to the eyes and nose.

• Food coloring, tempera powder paint, Kool-Aid drink mix, or powdered chalk (optional)
• Glitter (optional, must be very fine)
• A container with a lid to store the mixture
• A mixing stick or large wooden spoon
• Gloves (optional)