Watermelon Kinetic Play Sand

Looking for a sensory play idea? Try our recipe for watermelon kinetic play sand. Squishable moldable sand with a watermelon theme is perfect for your summer sand box or take it inside for rainy day play. Crayola Play Sand is our sponsor for this post. Their colored play sand makes our watermelon sensory play possible.

Watermelon Kinetic Play Sand

My kids love sensory bins and sand is one of their favorite sensory materials. We love the texture of Crayola Play Sand. And the color doesn’t run even when it’s wet. Check out all of our sand activities using colored sand here. Pick up a bag of the Crayola Play Sand in the Walmart Garden Center for under $7. You’ll find four colors of sand (pink, purple, blue, and green). They may have some of the bags of colored sand in the seasonal yard and garden section. My Walmart also has them near the bags of rocks and soil outside.

Kinetic sand is so much fun to play with, too. It’s moldable and squishable. It’s easy to make your own version of kinetic sand. I love using Crayola Play Sand for this. The size of the grain of sand and how damp your sand is will change how your homemade kinetic sand comes together so don’t be afraid of experimenting. You can’t really mess it up. Just adjust the amounts until you’re happy!

Here’s what you’ll need to make watermelon kinetic sand:

• Pink Crayola Play Sand
• Cornstarch
• Dish soap (choose a pleasant scent)
• Water
• Watermelon Kool-Aid (optional)
• Watermelon seeds (optional

We used the same kinetic sand recipe from our construction sensory bin. To 2 cups of colored play sand, add 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix together. Stir in one packet of watermelon Kool-Aid. Add 2 tablespoons of liquid soap and mix again. Check the consistency. (Squish it together with your hands.) If your sand was already damp, you may not need to add any water. If your sand was really dry, add up to a tablespoon of water until you get the right consistency. The kinetic sand should be moldable and feel a bit squishy. If it’s too wet, just let it sit out and dry for a while. Make two batches of sand for a small sensory bin. Make more for a larger batch. We used about a half a bag of pink sand for our watermelon sensory bin.

Watch the video below to see how to make the watermelon kinetic play sand:

Add some watermelon seeds to the sand for added sensory fun. The watermelon seeds are great for practicing fine motor skills as well as math skills. How many watermelon seeds can you find? Can you add 2 watermelon seeds to each of your sand castles?

Provide shovels, spoons, buckets, bowls, cups, or other sand toys. Allow your kids to explore and have fun.

My kids loved building sand castles with cups and bowl. They also enjoyed cutting their castles in half using the shovels.

Watch how they play with the watermelon kinetic play sand below:

More Colored Sand Activities for Kids

• Ocean Themed Sensory Bin – blue sand, water, and ocean animals makes for a super simple and super fun ocean sensory bin
• Dragon Sensory Writing Tray – Use the colored sand to create a writing tray that’s perfect for practicing pre-writing skills, letter formation, or even cursive.
• Marble Drop Experiment – Use a pile of colorful sand to explore how height and mass affect force. What size marble with make the deepest hole? Which height will make the deepest hole?

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