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Make Your Own Colored Sand

May 20, 201317,891 views
Sandbox Stories
Sensory Activities : Make your own colored sand Save
SAND SENSORY ACTIVITIES Save
all colored sand sensory Save
color sand Save
KOOL AID COLOR sand Save
powder paint color Save
food color sand Save
sensory activtes koolaid stain Save

by TurkeyMom in Sandbox Stories

Ages3–8 yrs
Prep10 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessHigh
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Color clean sand three ways: with Kool-Aid for color plus scent, with powdered tempera for rich, vibrant color, or with food coloring. Then dry it and lay it out in a flat sensory bin for play.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Kool-Aid stains hands. The author says the stain is gone after a few hand washes.
  • Kool-Aid sand smells like a drink, but it is not food. Watch that kids don't taste it or put sand in their mouths.
  • Adult pours the powdered tempera. Avoid breathing in the dust, and keep the powder and the colored sand away from eyes and mouths.
  • Supervise sensory play at all times and wash hands after playing.

Before the kids arrive

  • Save empty yogurt containers, one per color.
  • Make sure the sand is clean.
  • If kids won't help with the coloring, color the sand ahead so it has time to dry.

Steps

  1. Put 1/2 cup of clean sand into an empty yogurt container.

  2. Kool-Aid way: add 1 packet of Kool-Aid and mix the sand and drink mix well together.

  3. Add about 1/2 tbsp of water and keep mixing until the color is nice and even.

  4. Tempera way: add powdered tempera to dry sand and mix thoroughly until it's evenly colored.

  5. Food color way: add a few drops of food color (or a small squirt of gel) and 1 tbsp of water, then mix vigorously until the color is bright.

  6. Drain out any extra water.

  7. Make a new color in each container.

  8. Lay the sand out on a flat tray or sheet to dry.

  9. Spread all the colors in a flat sensory box and explore.

Tips

  • Tropical punch and ice blue raspberry Kool-Aid give the best colors. Lemonade doesn't give you a true yellow, but the scent is amazing.from the author
  • Powdered tempera worked just as great as the drink mix. You won't have the scent, but the color is so rich and vibrant.from the author
  • Mix the colors in empty yogurt containers. They looked great and smelled even more amazing.from the author
  • You don't have to wait for it to dry completely. We laid the sand out while it was a wee bit wet in our flat sensory box.from the author
  • Kool-Aid stains if you use your hands, but the stain is gone after a few hand washes. The best part: use your stained hands to play 'hand monster' and get the kids giggling and squealing.from the author

Make it your own

  • Make a scented rainbow by using a different Kool-Aid flavor for each color.
  • Combine all three methods in one bin and compare the colors and smells.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · May 2013
KOOL AID COLOR sand
For 1/2 cup of clean sand I added 1 packet of Kool-Aid. This gave the sand a nice color and a great smell. Then add about 1/2 tbsp of water and mix.
1 / 7

Make Your Own Colored Sand: the original post

As though sand needed something extra to be more fun! It’s summer time and we have started playing in, on, under and around our sandbox more now. Sand is such a fun and frugal sensory material for many sensory activities. To make it even more exciting we made colored sand using 3 different ways.

  • Clean sand
  • Kool-Aid packets
  • Powdered Tempera
  • Food Color

Method 1

KOOL AID COLOR sand For 1/2 cup of clean sand I added 1 packet of Kool-Aid. This proportion gave the resulting sand a nice color and a great smell. After adding the Kool-Aid mix the sand and the drink mix well together. Then add about 1/2 tbsp of water and start mixing to get the color nice and even. Remember that Kool-Aid stains. Although the stain is gone after a few hand washes. Once you have your scented and colored sand, lay it out on a flat tray or sheet to dry. Note: The tropical punch and ice blue raspberry flavors give the best colors. I found that lemonade does not give you a true yellow but the scent is amazing. Method 2

powder paint color I tried coloring the sand using powdered tempera as well. This worked just as great as the drink mix method. Of course you won’t have the scent but the color is so rich and vibrant. I simply added sand and powdered tempera and thoroughly mixed them together to get an evenly colored sand. Method 3

food color sand Add a few drops of food coloring or a small squirt ( if using gel food color) to the sand. Add 1 tbsp of water and start mixing vigorously. With a few rounds you will start getting a bright color. Drain out the excess water and lay the sand on a flat surface to dry.

color sand

I mixed all the colors in empty yogurt containers. They looked great and smelled even more amazing..

all colored sand sensory

I laid out the sand (while being a wee bit wet) into our flat sensory box for further sensory exploration and play. More on that in another post.

SAND SENSORY ACTIVITIES

Remember if you use your hands, kool aid stains. The best part however it you can use your stained hands to play “hand monster with your kids and make them uncontrollably giggling and squealing.

sensory activtes koolaid stain

Thanks for reading. Have fun playing with sand this summer.

Check out our other sensory activities using sensory bins

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