Who ever said that you actually have to live on a beach in order to capture the essence of one? With the help of your child's imagination and a few simple supplies, the two of you can create a fun summer souvenir that will serve as a sweet reminder of your time together.
Here are the supplies you'll need:
- Sand from either a beach, garden supply store, home improvement store or local craft store
- One clear plastic or glass bottle with a cap
- Colored chalk
- Wax paper
- Cutting board
- Seashells and/or sea glass (from the beach, or craft store)
- One pencil or equal-length stick
- A funnel (optional)
- Glue (optional)
Here's how to make it:
- Cover your workspace with newspaper; it will keep your “beach” from expanding over too much ground!
- Lay a sheet of wax paper over your cutting board and carefully pour some sand over it.
- Take a piece of colored chalk and run it across the sand until all of it matches the chalk's color. Be careful as you move — things can get messy otherwise!
- Lift the wax paper at two opposite ends and shake so that the sand collects in the center.
- Pour the sand into your bottle. It's best to use the funnel if the bottleneck is exceptionally slim.
- Using either a stick or the eraser end of a pencil, make dips in the sand to compact that layer of color.
- Repeat steps 1–6 until several layers of colored sand fill the bottle to the top.
- Finally, if your bottle has a cap, press it on firmly to compact and hold the sand in place.
- If you don't have a bottle cap, it's best to leave roughly ½" of space at the top. You can compact the sand with your pencil or stick and then seal the empty space with a layer of glue.
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