2 Ingredient DIY Moon Sand Recipe

Moon sand is easy to make at home and fun to play with for the kids. It’s the perfect sensory activity that encourages independent play and creativity!

Molding Moon Sand

Kids love to play with sand at the beach. But it’s not easy to build a sandcastle out of dry sand! You would need to get buckets of water to make the sand wet enough to hold its shape.

The idea behind moon sand is that your children get to play with sand right in the comfort of your home. Plus, moon sand is moldable and doesn’t dry out. So your kids can use different molds to create blocks and construct sandcastles, or just squish it in their hands!

Some people call it cloud dough and magic sand. We like moon sand the best because its soft and crumbly textures make it look like the moon’s surface. Perfect for space week!

How to Make Moon Sand

The ratio to make moon sand is 8 cups all-purpose flour to 1 cup oil. Mix them thoroughly, and you got yourself moon sand! You decide how big of a batch you want to make.

Scooping with Moon Sand

I use baby oil to make the moon sand, but you might want to use vegetable oil if you have toddlers. This way, the sand is perfectly safe if your little one decides to put a handful in his mouth.

You can also add a few drops of food coloring to make different colored moon sand. However, since water and oil do not mix, you can’t use regular food coloring or liquid watercolors. Try using powdered paint, spices, or oil-based food coloring.

You can even have some aromatherapy going on if you want to add a couple of drops of essential oils to the moon sand!

How to Play with Moon Sand

If beach sand and playdough had a baby, you would get moon sand. So think about all the ways you would play with sand and playdough, and you can do the same with moon sand!

I gave my kids some measuring cups and spoons to scoop and mold the sand. You can use playdough molds, plastic containers, or even gardening tools. 

Playing with Moon Sand

You can just simply squish it in your palms to make balls. There are so many options for playing with moon sand. It’s perfect for independent play and open-ended play for your kids.   

I personally just like to run my hands through it because the texture is so cool and soothing. 

Moon Sand Storage

Moon sand will be good for a month or two. Store your moon sand in an air-tight container in a cool and dry place. 

Moon Sand Molds

Moon Sand vs. Kinetic Sand

If your kids have played with kinetic sand before, you might be thinking that this 2-ingredient moon sand looks very similar to the kinetic sand you have seen in stores.

There are two major difference between moon sand and kinetic sand:

  1. Kinetic sand is simply regular sand that has been coated with silicon oil. Its texture is more silky, whereas moon sand feels more crumbly.
  2. When you build with kinetic sand, you will find that the structure starts to fall apart within seconds. With moon sand, the structure will stay intact.

Conclusion

I hope your kids enjoyed moon sand as much as mine did! You can buy the moon sand in stores like Target or Walmart, but as you can see, making it at home is so easy. 

Moon sand is usually geared towards toddlers, but my 4 and 6 years olds loved playing with it as well. If it wasn’t for dinner, they could have played with it for hours! 


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2 thoughts on “2 Ingredient DIY Moon Sand Recipe”

    1. Honestly, it depends on the age of your students. The moon sand is not too powdery so it doesn’t get everywhere just from handling it in a container, but if you have kids who might throw it then it could get pretty messy!

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