Sandcastle Preschool Craft

Encourage creative thinking and fine motor skills with this quick & easy sandcastle preschool craft. Not only is it a must for your next preschool beach theme, but it makes a great sensory activity too! You’re definitely not going to want to miss this fun sandcastle process art!

I can’t even wrap my head around how hot it’s been this week and the kiddos and I have been in the pool more days than not. The little guy can finally touch the bottom in the shallow end and of course, he’s becoming more and more of a fish every day. We’re definitely loving these beautiful summer days filled with sunshine and swimming.

This week we’ve been doing lots of fun beach-themed activities and today we’re sharing this quick & easy Sandcastle Preschool Craft. And the best part? It’s a wonderful sensory experience for your little kids too!

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if an item is purchased through one of these links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

A huge thanks to Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) for providing us with their Experience Preschool curriculum for free in exchange for sharing our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. It’s been such a huge blessing to us! As always, my opinions on awesome stuff for little kids are 100% my own.

Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best mama judgement when planning activities for your little kids.

This was a great activity for working on those creative thinking and problem solving skills! How can you use the materials to make a sandcastle? The little guy loves all things building and construction so he was for sure up to the challenge!

We started with some basic supplies: a sheet of patterned paper resembling sand, a blue piece of cardstock, and cellophane, which I never would’ve thought to use. After the little guy made his sandcastle, he used real sand to make doors and windows. How cool is that?

Did I mention that he used the cellophane to create a moat around his sandcastle? When I asked him about his artwork, he said “I even added some golden sand, so it looked like there was treasure in the sea.” I’m seriously in love with how it turned out!

According to the little guy, he “loved sprinkling the sand everywhere.” Like I said, win-win. This was definitely a great STEAM activity and we all really enjoyed it.

Obviously Experience Early Learning never disappoints. The process art experiences are always perfect for such a wide range of ages and we look forward to them each and every month.

Sandcastle Invitation to Create Process Art

What you’ll need

Inspiration Photo
Sand Sheet
Background Paper
Cellophane
Sand
Glue
Scissors

Here’s how to do it

Set Up

Set out the Inspiration Photo and any additional materials.

Prompts

What rooms do you think are in the castle?
What kind of castle or building are you going to build?
How can you use the sand sheet and sand?
How will you use the cellophane in your design?

Observe

Did the child assemble different pieces to create a sandcastle?
Did he try to recreate the photo or did he make his own design?

Don’t forget to check back if you’re interested in seeing what we’re up to next week with our Bubbles, Boats & Floats theme from Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time). And if you missed it, check out this year’s preschool homeschool space post.

Looking for more insight & inspiration? Here are the top 10 most popular posts from The Keeper of the Memories. You’re definitely not going to want to miss these!