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You’ve built sandcastles on land, but have you built sandcastles underwater? In this experiment from Paging Fun Mums, transform regular sand into Magic Aqua Sand and discover the power of waterproofing! Construct underwater sculptures and create water wonderland.
Materials
- Craft or sandbox sand
- Food coloring
- Antibacterial gel
- 3–4 large Zip Lock bags
- 4–5 sheets of Parchment Paper
- Fabric protector spray, like Scotchgard
- Fork or small rake
- 4–5 plastic containers
- Glass vase
- Water
Process
- Separate your sand into two piles. Set one pile aside.
- Take the second pile and separate it again into three or four more piles.
- Pour each pile of sand into its own large Zip Lock bag.
- Add one teaspoon of food coloring and two teaspoons of Antibacterial Gel to each bag.
- Mix well by shaking each bag.
- Pour and spread the sand from each bag over a piece of Parchment paper.
- Let dry.
- Now spread the non-colored sand onto a new piece of Parchment paper.
- Have an adult spray an even but heavy coat of Fabric protector over each color of sand. Let dry.
- Rake the sand piles with a fork or small rake and repeat step 9.
- Once the sand has dried, carefully pour each color of sand into a separate plastic container.
- Fill the glass vase with water.
- By pouring the colorful sand into the vase, let your kiddos build their own underwater sculptures!
- When they’re finished, pour the sand and water out of the vase. Is it still dry?
- Pour the dry sand back into the plastic containers and save it for another day fun with Magic Aqua Sand!
Summary
How did the colorful sand stay dry after building beautiful underwater sandcastles and sculptures? By coating the regular craft or sandbox sand with a fabric spray, you lowered the surface tension between the water and the sand. This made the sand hydrophobic, or “water-fearing,” meaning that instead of the sand soaking in the water molecules, it repelled them.
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