How To Dye Sand At The Beach - Diana Rambles

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Check out how to dye sand and make colorful sandcastles at the beach. You can also make Sand Art Bottles.

rainbow line of colored sand

Our spring break trip was to Gulf Shores, Alabama. I just love the white sand beaches around the Gulf of Mexico.

Before we left I planned some beach crafts and brought along the supplies for creative fun. We used sand to create tie-dye shirts.

The first craft activity was coloring sand.

Can You Dye Sand?

Yes, you can dye sand. Beach sand works particularly well because it is often finer than sandbox sand.

Colored sand is super simple and fun to make! The kids will love doing. They will think it is magic watching the sand turn a color.

bags of colored sand on the beach

It is important to use a vegan food dye as to not hurt the water supply or animals.

We just had four colors; red, yellow, and blue.

We combined them to make other colors. We achieved different shades of a single color by controlling the amount of food coloring we used in each bag.

My daughter came up with a rainbow of colors.

a rainbow of colored sand on the beach

She created the rainbow design above on the beach which got a lot of attention.

Many people came over and took photos of it. It was so pretty!

colorful sand castles on the beach

Make Colorful Sand Castles

My daughter and husband had a lot of fun making colorful sand castles. They put layers of various colors to make some really cool looking sand castles.

Unbelievably the sandcastles stayed in place for several hours.

We went back to take a look at sunset time and they were finally smashed.

man and daughter showing how to dye sand

A lot of rain came in overnight and the rough surf reshaped the beach a little bit.

There was just a little bit of the green left when we checked the next day.

It was fun making dying sand and making beach art even though it was lost forever when the waves came up.

collage with photos showing how to dye sand at the beach

Have you ever colored your own sand?

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Materials

  • Natural Food Coloring
  • Quart or Gallon Zipper Bags

Tools

  • Shovel
  • Sand Toys

Instructions

    1. Place sand into a plastic bag that zips up.
    2. Add your food dye. Start with about 5-10 drops.
    3. Zip up the bag.
    4. Shake up the bag. Squeeze areas that are concentrated with color.
    5. Add more food coloring and shake until you have desired color.
    6. Enjoy making colorful sandcastles!

Recommended Products

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