Sand Castles

This week's lessons for #2 Boy were on Sand Castles. You'd think I'd have drawn the line by this one, but no, I found some things to learn about sand castles like the 'best' mix for castles is 8 parts sand to 1 part water. Yes, we got to talk about what would happen if you had the wrong amount of water or sand. #2 Boy also played a Curious George game that has you figure out how much water to sand while making a castle on the computer.

#2 Boy making a virtual sand castle.

Then it was on to making some sand castles. Now if you have some sand and you want a great indoor sand activity there are a whole bunch of permanent sand castle recipes. However, I didn't have sand and didn't want to buy sand. So, we played with brown sugar (almost like sand right?!) We practiced packing it in to make the form stay. and sculpting it so it looked fancy. We also rubbed down the sides showing how little pieces fall off when there is friction. We talked about how rocks get rubbed down through the movement of the ocean and become little pieces of sand.

#2 Boy building a brown sugar castle

While sculpting I remembered back to my youth and playing "The Flour Game" where you put a penny on top and cut down the sides. If the tower falls you have to dig it out with your teeth. Well, we played a game like that except I didn't want them digging it out with their teeth.

#2 Boy cutting the sugar

#4 Boy cutting the sugar

Some worksheets were also in the working for this theme. The first one I had him color and write sand castle under it by sounding it out. It turned out "Sand Cal." The next one #2 Boy made a pattern and practiced writing the number 7. The last one was a dot to dot and #2 Boy pointed out the different shapes that were used to create the castle.

#2 Boy's pictures

That day we had chicken patties for lunch. #2 Boy wanted his cut up so that he could build a sand castle out of his food.

#2 Boy with his chicken patty castle

Today's main event was building castles in the sand. It was a bit nippy outside, especially when the winds were blowing, but we found a sand volleyball court and #2 Boy got to work.

#2 Boy building his castle

#4 Boy wanted a picture of his shoe covered in sand

With his sand castle, he practiced packing the sand in tight. After he had built his sand castle and dug a deep hole we also measured the height, length, and width of each of the items and figured out if they were wider or longer.

#4 Boy added a little art to the castle

#2 Boy decided to dig a deep hole.

#4 Boy got a little bored with the sand castle thing, but luckily #2 Boy had created some train tracks as he dug for sand. Nothing like trains to keep #4 Boy happy.