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Every other week, CRAFT's awesome interns tell about the projects they're building in the Craft: Labs, the trouble they've gotten into, and what they'll make next.
By Ed Troxell, photo intern
Looking for some entertainment that kids will love? Try sand art.
I not only work as a photo intern at MAKE and CRAFT, but I also run my own magazine. Well, on top of that I work in the afternoons at an after-school day care center.
Every Wednesday -- it's our long day because the kids get out of school early -- we try to come up with a craft project they'll actually want to do. If you've ever worked with kids, you know that when it comes time to do arts and crafts not everyone jumps at the opportunity to get started. However, this simple project turned out to be one of our best yet: it keeps kids entertained while allowing them to be creative.
How-to:
YOU WILL NEED
Colored sand in various colors from art, craft, or wedding stores, or make your own ahead of time by shaking sand or salt in a plastic bag with food coloring
A jar with a lid Any will do -- more interesting the jar, the better.
Here's what you do:
1. Pick the color you want to start with. Pour an even amount into the jar.
2. Now add your next color to the jar, again pouring an even amount, to create a layer on top of your first layer.
3. Continue pouring layers until the jar is full. Make sure it's absolutely, completely full. This will prevent your design from getting messed up when it is shaken.
4. Seal the jar tightly so that no sand can come out.
You're done!
TIP: This project can lead to a mess of sand all over your floors, so you might want to do it outside or on a hard surface that sweeps up easily.
I used melted wax on the top of my creations to make sure sand wouldn't shift with shaking.
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We used to colour our salt by rubbing coloured chalk over it. And with a little toothpick we pushed in the middle of a little line of colour to create birds.
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