Summer Fun for Kids: Colorful Sand Paintings

Now that summer is here, we’re having all kinds of fun with not only STEM activities for kids, but also other fun summer learning ideas. We like to keep our summers full of educational ideas that are still fun. Today’s project is sand paintings.

We’ve seen layered sand projects and sand drawings in a jar, but we wanted to do something a little more like traditional art. Instead of layering sand, we glued sand to paper to create sand paintings. This project was simple, and the kids had a lot of fun both dyeing the sand and making their pictures.

Use these ideas in a thematic unit with a beach theme or art theme!

Find more craft and art ideas here!

Colorful Sand Paintings

To make these sand paintings you will need a few basic supplies.

First, you will need some sand. You can purchase that online or at a local home improvement or garden store. Fill a plastic bag about half-way with sand and add a few drops of food coloring. The more drops you add, the darker the sand will be. Also, the darker your sand is to begin with will alter the vibrancy of your final colored sand. White sand will produce prettier, clearer colors. Shake the sand up in the bag until the color is evenly mixed. Kids love this part.

Take your sand, paper, and spray adhesive outdoors. You don’t want to do this project inside as the spray adhesive has fumes and the sand will get EVERYWHERE.

We found the best way to make the art was to only spray glue where we wanted to place sand. This is the same technique you would use if you were covering something in glitter. Cover the glue with sand, then shake off the excess back into the bag. Work in small sections to prevent the sand colors from bleeding into one another. We found that dry sand worked much better than damp sand.

When you are finished with your sand paintings, set them aside to dry. When they are dry, shake off any remaining sand and they will be ready to bring inside for displaying.