Dear Reader,
Today I decided I was going to take a chance and make moon sand. Moon sand, for those of you who don’t know, is just flour and oil. These two items mixed together make a material very similar to kinetic sand.
The sand is fluffy, soft and fun to play with. My girls had so much fun experimenting with it.
The recipe I used called for 8 cups of Flour and 1 cup oil. I do not have the bread mixer that they suggested I use to mix it together, but I tried mixing it in a few different ways. First I tried to mix with a spoon, but it didn’t mix very well. Then I tried to mix with a blender, but It wasn’t blending very well. Finally I just decided to use my hands. This worked wonderfully.
The amount made would have been a great amount for all three of my older kids (Toddler included). Sadly the girls spilled about a third of it on my carpet. That is why I can tell you that it can be vacuumed up, though I wouldn’t recommend it for your vacuum.
You can change things up by adding a little color. It is suggested to use cake food coloring not regular food coloring because the cake food coloring is oil based whereas the regular food coloring is water based. Another option is to use colored chalk dust. I don’t like this option as much because it wouldn’t be as taste safe for littles.
I would suggest playing with the sand outside or on tile or hardwood floors, it makes for a much easier cleanup. It was relatively easy to sweep up the moon sand that had spilled on the concrete to be used again. I would recommend washing hands after use because there is a fine dust that will cling to the hands. Also it does coat the clothes too if your child is not careful, which mine aren’t.
To sum up: It is a fun homemade material that is like kinetic sand. It is affordable, made from things most people have in their homes already, and easy to make.
