sand castles

Bee and Lou came home from bible school back two weeks ago I guess (good grief this summer is flying by!) with these cute sand castles.  They built them out of a sandy playdoh, decorated them with shells and glitter and such and then they dried hard.  I asked the craft leader to please share the recipe and she very sweetly explained how google worked.  She perhaps just discovered it. 

So I googled it and found it was a probably a family fun recipe.  I would know that, except I canceled family fun last summer.  It was hard, but it's been ok. Anyway, here's the recipe:

• 1 cup sand
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon alum
• 3/4 cup water
• Shells (optional)

1. Add the sand, cornstarch, and alum to a saucepan and use a wooden spoon to combine them completely.
   
2.   Add the water and stir the mixture until it is smooth and the cornstarch is dissolved.
   
3.   Cook the clay over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The clay should start to thicken within a minute or two. Stir more vigorously, being sure to scrape the mixture from the sides and bottom of the pan.
   
4.   After about 3 minutes of cooking, the clay will have thickened to the consistency of play dough. Remove the clay from the pan. Once it's cool enough to touch, you can start sculpting. (For best results, use the clay within a day or two of mixing it.)

Our castles have dried so nicely, I'm just not real sure how to best display them.  Currently, they are on display on the kitchen counter, but I fear it's a seasonal exhibit. I really want to try this with my preschoolers.  I think letter s comes in the winter.  Sand might be a nice break from snow!