Halloween Quick Sand

 

Sand is one of our favorite sensory materials. Over the years, we’ve added sand to several “classic” sensory recipes and ended up with variations like Sticky Sand {basically a sandy cloud dough} or Sand Slime {just what it sounds like, slime that has sand in it}.

So when I saw a Quick Sand post on Play Dough and Popsicles (unfortunately, the site doesn’t exist anymore), I thought, hey cool, sandy goop! {If you’ve never tried goop, you really should! Check out this post about N’s first experience with the stuff!}

When I actually tried out the recipe, it turned out extremely watery for me. After I’d tweaked it with extra cornstarch, my version sure was sort of goopy, but the sand made it much firmer, and it flowed more like slime than goop. It’s not slimy at all, though!

Therefore, I decided that quick sand really was a good name for it, and made some Halloween Quick Sand for N!

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

(N was 1 year and 2 months old.)

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Materials for Halloween Quick Sand

 

Play Dough and Popsicles at the time had two different recipes in their post. I was trying to get the first one to work, but unfortunately, it didn’t make the right consistency for me.

I tweaked it until it worked for me, and the proportions were wildly different than what Play Dough and Popsicles used.

It took

  • 2.5 cups of cornstarch,
  • 1 cup of sand,
  • and 1 1/3 cups of water

to get a consistency I liked.

I think N is too young for colored sensory materials since he still tastes everything or at least touches it with his mouth. That’s why I left the quick sand plain and added other seasonal touches. If you prefer, you can use any of the usual methods of adding color, like food coloring, liquid watercolors or powder tempera.

This was the setup. {You can tell that the quick sand was spreading out but not quickly filling the corners of the bin. That’s how thick it was.}

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

N decided to explore the cupcake picks first, and he took his time doing it.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

When he was done with the picks, he started poking the quick sand with his fingers. At first, he was careful and only used his index finger, but once he decided that he liked it, he used all of his fingers.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

He ended up pulling the cookie cutter out and got pretty excited about it 😉

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

He took his time exploring the quick sand that was stuck to the cookie cutter.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

When he was satisfied with what he’d discovered, he went back to the cupcake picks for a while.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

He’s usually pretty quiet and focused during activities, but this time, he did a LOT of babbling while he played.

When he started to lose interest, I showed him how to pull a chunk of quick sand out of the bin. It definitely got him interested again!

He was able to hold a chunk for a little while

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

before it started dripping down.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

The consistency was so interesting – not goop, not slime, not play dough, but somewhere in between.

 

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!

 

N got some of the quick sand in his face, but it was very easy to wash it off. We let the quick sand dry out in the sensory bin, and when E discovered it later, it was a whole different sensory activity. 

 

Have you tried making quick sand? Did my recipe work for you? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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3 Comments

  1. Love the pics of those cute little baby hands! I’ve never tried a quick sand recipe, but I’m pretty sure my daughter would love it!

    1. Thank you, Emma! This was new to us, too. You should try it, it’s really fun! Let me know how your daughter likes it if you do decide to try it!