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Moon Sand

March 31, 2014 by Kate 29 Comments

Exploring moon sand for play with kids

Brace yourselves because this is an awesome activity that your kids will love to play with. It’s called moon sand and it’s wonderful for sensory learning. What I also love is that it is super quick to make, you can even get the kids involved.

Recommended age – 3 years +
(always provide active supervision during play)

Making Moon SandMoon Sand

Moon sand is given it’s name because of it’s crumbly texture and how similar it looks to the surface of the moon. It can also be moulded when compressed, making it a fabulous for open ended play! 

There are many varieties that are designed for play on the internet but I feel this is the best moon sand recipe. I especially like that it only takes two household ingredients to make it, three if you wish for it to be coloured. No doubt you could whip it up within a few minutes. Ah, love that. 

Ready to play with moon sand

Possum couldn’t wait to get stuck into playing with moon sand.

Moon Sand Recipe

The ratio to make moon sand is simple – 8 cups of all purpose flour : 1 cup of vegetable oil.

I decided to quarter that recipe and make smaller batches of moon sand and add a half a teaspoon of tempera powdered paint before combining it all together.  I’m sure a few drops of food colouring would work too but keep it mind it will add moisture to the mixture. The texture should feel quite crumbly but combine when squeezed in the hand. Add a little more flour if the mixture feels too damp, a teaspoon or two more vegetable oil if not combining as well as desired.

Mixing the moon sand colours

Texture

Oh my goodness, I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to watch Possum begin digging her fingers into the crumbly moon sand. Her face instantly showed her delight as she explored the soft, crumbly texture of the cool moon sand. It was irresistible, even for me!

Molding moon sand
Crumbly but mouldable!

The wonderful fun with moon sand is that it very crumbly but can be simply moulded by pressing it together! Once moulded it can simply be broken down to it’s original crumbly texture. This makes for wonderful open ended play.

Patting the moon sandLearning about Colours

It is not necessary to colour your moon sand, however, doing so did give me an opportunity to talk about the colours Possum could see and revise a few that she knew of already. I also loved watching her mix the colours together to make new colours! What a great lesson.

Scooping and playing with moon sand

 Scooping, pouring, tipping…

I decided, after giving Possum some time to independently play with the moon sand, that she might like some various items to incorporate into her playing. Simple, safe items like a spoon and some plastic cupcake moulds worked wonderfully to help her build skills in tipping, scooping and pouring.

I loved the conversation that came out of this too. We both used lots of descriptive language and she also loved giving me directions on what I should be doing. LOL

crumbling and moulding moon sand

Soon her play took a turn towards pretend play and we found ourselves making ‘cupcakes’ and singing happy birthday to me. Quite hilarious. Ah, I love that play can take you places you never expect. 

Toddler playing and having fun with moon sand

I can’t recommend this enough to those with children of a suitable age and can be actively supervised. Possum and I had such a fabulous time playing and shaping the moon sand into whatever we decided. It was also a wonderful activity for her to learn more about colours and colour mixing. We were playing for so long that I lost track of time! LOL

Would your child have fun with moon sand? 

Be sure to check out these other play ideas –

Pasta Threading for fine motor   Bath Paints using 2 ingredients   Sorting sizes - toddler activity
Ebooks available featuring Laughing Kids Learn
Zero to Two: Book of Play    Three to Five Playful Preschool ad

Filed Under: 3 - 5 years, 5 - 10 years, Making, Play, Recipes, Sensory Play, Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Kelly says

    March 31, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    Thanks for this recipe!

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 31, 2014 at 11:50 pm

      You’re very welcome Kelly! I love how simple it is.

      Reply
  2. Elise @ Creative Play Central says

    March 31, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    My youngest sensory seeker will no doubt love this. I can’t wait to try this with her. We will be able to mix up some batches of this together and enjoy exploring this. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 31, 2014 at 11:47 pm

      Fantastic Elise. Come back and let me know how you go. 😉

      Reply
  3. Nichole {youclevermonkey} says

    March 31, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Looks like so much fun! Adding colour makes it look very inviting. Some gorgeous photos too especially love that last one 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 31, 2014 at 11:49 pm

      Thank you so kindly Nichole. We had so much fun I was very snap happy. LOL

      Reply
  4. Jackie@My Little Bookcase says

    March 31, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    Cammy loves moon sand. Making icecream sundaes are her favourtie. Your colours look so inviting.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      March 31, 2014 at 11:48 pm

      Thanks Jackie!

      Reply
  5. Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky says

    April 1, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Moon sand is so much fun! We put glitter in ours once… I’m not sure if I’ll be doing that again LOL

    Reply
  6. Jode says

    April 1, 2014 at 2:17 pm

    I love moon sand too…and I can believe you lost track of time, it’s quite relaxing isn’t it! Those photos of your gorgeous girl had me smiling all the way through this post Kate…she looks more like you everytime I see her!

    Reply
  7. katepickle says

    April 4, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    Oh look at your gorgeous girl’s face! Her expression says it all… what fun this stuff is!

    Reply
  8. Chelsea says

    April 6, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    With school holidays starting this week, we are doing this tomorrow! thanks for the inspiration!! xx

    Reply
  9. Andrea says

    May 23, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Thanks for this recipe! We tried it today and all the kids loved it (ages 7-12). Even the kid that’s always “bored” spent more than an hour playing with it!

    Reply
    • Kate says

      May 25, 2014 at 8:50 pm

      YAY Andrea!!!

      Thank you so kindly for popping back to share your experience with me. I knew my little Possum would love it but she too was engaged with the moon sand for a lot longer than I had expected. Don’t you love that!

      Wishing you lots more wonderful play. Thanks again for your comment.

      Kate

      Reply
  10. Karyn Askew says

    August 11, 2014 at 8:42 am

    Brilliant

    Reply
    • Kate says

      August 12, 2014 at 8:57 pm

      Thank you so kindly Karyn. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Maureen says

    August 23, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Hi! Thanks for this great post! Just made it and thought you might like to know that food coloring–both the drops and gel varieties–does not work. I suppose because they are water-based and the oil is, well, oil, they don’t want to mix. I just ended up with blue flakes/dried bits scattered throughout the moon sand. Not that the boys will mind! Just thought other readers might want to know! Obviously, the dried paint you used works beautifully!

    Reply
    • Kate says

      August 24, 2014 at 1:34 pm

      Thank you so kindly for the feedback Maureen! I’m surprised the drops didn’t work. I wonder if balancing it with a little more flour would work. Very much appreciate your comments. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Maggie says

    September 30, 2017 at 3:41 am

    My 4 kiddos (5-2) loved this! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Kate says

      September 30, 2017 at 10:37 am

      That’s sooooo wonderful Maggie. Thanks for taking the time to tell me. So thrilled your kids love it.

      Reply

Trackbacks

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    April 30, 2014 at 9:01 am

    […] MOON SAND MAKING […]

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  2. Making Moon Sand says:
    February 4, 2015 at 1:05 am

    […] are some other blogs who have created moon sand: The Imagination Tree created purple moon sand. Laughing Kids Learn made multiple moon sand colors. Little Gene Green Bean created blue sand for her sensory […]

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    May 26, 2015 at 4:41 pm

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    April 30, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    […] Moldable Moon Sand – Laughing Kids […]

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  5. Moon sand – Stinkybub mum says:
    July 14, 2018 at 12:00 am

    […] you need is flour and oil, I took my recipe from this blog, it has a great idea about colouring the sand too but I didn’t bother with […]

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  6. 30 Summer Activities Kids Absolutely Love! · Pint-sized Treasures says:
    June 6, 2019 at 9:31 pm

    […] how to make moon sand, they’ll ask to do this summer activity over and over! Here’s a moon sand recipe you can try […]

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  7. 30 Summer Activities Kids Absolutely Love! - VKS Victoria´s School | Escuela Primaria en Cancún says:
    July 12, 2019 at 8:15 am

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    August 6, 2020 at 9:37 am

    […] quarantine. There are endless free and simple recipes online that teach how to make playdough, moon sand, puffy paint, finger paint, and slime out of super cheap and common household items like flour, […]

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  9. Storytime Theme: Moon – Literacious says:
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Welcome
Hello and welcome!
My name is Kate and I am a mum to two little girls, Possum and Boo. We have lots of fun together learning with play at home and are pleased to share some of what we do with you.
Read my about page to find out more.

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