Building Sand Castles

Building sand castles can be quite fun, but it is not as easy as building castles in the air. More often than not, the result can look like your first attempt at baking a cake. That is, a complete mess. You must have seen people, especially children, building sand castles in the beach and thought how in the name of Cedric, they manage to do it. You have tried it many times but only managed to turn the pile of sand into a stack of sand, the castle as always a dream. The main thing is not the skill part; it is the lack of proper techniques and tools. Once you have them then you can very well enjoy your medieval fantasy. Building sand castles is not just an airy pastime. It can be the first stepping stone towards creating more complex sculptors. In recent time, sand sculpting as an art form has gained in popularity and so if you go about creating art on the beach there is less likely of you being frowned upon. Instead, your art will receive some admirable stares but guard your art from jealous children. When you wake up from your dream and see the pile of sand before you, you realize that you have been building those ‘admirable art’ castles of sand in the air. And you decide to learn more and then return. To help you in this go through the article given below to know more on building sand castles.

How To Build ASand Castle

Materials Required

Fine-grained silty sand.
A long handled shovel or a spade.
Spray bottles.
Carving tools.
Bucket
Plastic knife

Building A Sand Castle

Mix the sand and water. Water is the essential ingredient that holds the sand together. It is better to collect the sand in a huge mound and then sprinkle water over it.
Take handful of wet sand and flatten them to pancakes. Make the pancakes by jiggling with gentle pressure.

The Tower

First, build the central tower. This tower should be the largest one. For a strong tower the sand needs to be very wet.
You can build the tower by casting the sand in a bucket or by stacking sand patties on top of each other.
Taper the top of the tower so that it does not fall over during carving. Make a wide base that can support the tower.

The Wall

The walls connect different towers and are also built into a staircase. The walls provide the castle with the classic appearance.
Take the wet sand and make it into a brick shape.
Lay these bricks through the entire length of the desired wall.
Then lay another layer on top and keep on doing so until the desired height is reached.
You can make staircase by making the wall descend and then carving the individual steps.

Mini Towers

The mini towers cluster the main central tower.
They can be clustered in various geometric patterns.
Towers also anchor the walls.

Arches

The walls can be modified to form arches.
After building the walls select the ones that you would like to convert to arches.
Gently tunnel through the base of the wall to create an opening.
Gradually enlarge the opening and shape it to form an arch by shaving off the layers of excess sand.
Shape the arch with a plastic knife.

Sculpting Or Carving

Start carving when the rough structure is ready.
Start the work from the top. To retain the structural integrity, carve outward.
Keep the spray bottle handy to moisten the sand while carving.
To create turrets and outposts use empty aluminum cans.
You can also decorate the castle with seaweeds and seashells.

Dino Sand Castle

In a flat area, pile up a mound of damp sand.
Pat the sand down using water so that it stays firm and together.
Once the pile is firm, pat the entire mound to smooth it.
Now, shape the sand to form the body and back.
To make the neck, water it to make it very damp. Then using a handful at a time stack it in front of the body. As you increase the length, keep on patting. Don’t make the neck too high as it can crash down.
Form an oval shape with the hand to make the head. Pat the sand to pack it tightly.
Once you have built the shape, smooth the sand to remove the seams by adding water and sand here and there.
The tail is the easiest to build. Simply add damp sand at the end of the body and shape it into a tail.
Now slowly scoop the sand from the belly to form a deep cavern.
The spines can be quite difficult to build with the sand. Instead, you can cut aluminum foils into spines and then fix these into the dino body. However, you can take small amounts of sand and mold them into spines and then fix them into the body.

How to Cite

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