Summer is here!  The children are out of school, the weather has been great, and the summer spirit is definitely in the air!

The boys were very excited about a beach date we had planned with family friends. I wanted to do a fun beach craft with all of the children and was inspired by this blog post. I knew we had to try these fun sand prints!

How cute is it to use your child’s own hand mold and bring back a little beach with you as well!?  What a fun souvenir to take home with you!

 

Here’s what you will need:

  • Plaster of Paris
  • Sandwich size food storage bag
  • Scissors
  • A plastic knife
  • 2 measuring cups (for dry and liquid)
  • Small pail or bucket
  • Sharpie pen

 

Directions:

  1. Fetch a bucket of ocean water and bring it back to dry sand.

  2. Pour some water into the dry sand, and “fluff” up the sand, making it into a fluffy, flattened hill shape.

  3. Lightly pat it down.

  4. Help your child spread their fingers out and press a mold into the wet sand. You may do this a few times until you are happy with your mold.  (Make sure that your mold is deep enough otherwise, the sand print will be very fragile and the fingers will break off easily.)

  5. Follow the instructions on the ratio for plaster of paris to water. Our particular brand instructed us to use 2 parts plaster of paris powder to 1 part water. Measure out your dry plaster of paris and put it inside the food storage bag. With the other measuring cup, measure the right amount of ocean water to pour inside of the food storage bag (again, the amount depends on the ratio of plaster of paris to water, so make sure to read the directions).

  6. Close the bag.  Shake and agitate the bag, mixing the powder and water well.  Knead out any lumps.

  7. With scissors, make a small snip in the corner of the bag and immediately squeeze the plaster mix into the mold.

  8. If needed, use the back of the plastic knife to smooth it out.

  9. Sit back and relax and let the sun dry it out completely! Once dried, gently use your hands to scoop under the sand, lifting up your sand print!

 

They are absolutely adorable! My plan is to put it inside a shadow box with a beach-scene background paper and add seashells all around.

Beach Craft - Hand Sand Print

Here are some personal notes I thought I’d share with you:

  1. Before we poured the plaster mix in, the children kept stepping on their molds by accident – maybe put some buckets or pails to mark the area so they know to run or walk around it.
  2. Mixing the plaster and mix in the food storage bag, means that cleanup is easy and you have more control in squeezing it into the mold.
  3. You can keep a pail of ocean water nearby, to dip your measuring cup instead of having to go back and fetching the water again and again.
  4. Two parts plaster of paris to one part water gave me enough to make two small hands.
  5. Be gentle when transporting the sandprints back – they are very fragile and can break!
  6. If you have multiple children making sand-prints and want to keep track of them, place the dry sand prints in the food storage bags, and write their names with sharpie on the outside of the bags.

 

If you are not able to go to the beach, try doing this craft in a large disposable baking tray with store bought sand.

We hope you enjoyed this post and are having a great start to the summer season!

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