Make Your Own Kinetic Sand

When my daughter was younger, like a lot of kids, she was really into sensory experiences. We made cloud dough and colored rice and pasta, and SO much homemade playdough I actually wrote multiple blog posts about it (this one was our favorite, except maybe the chocolate one, which I think I shared recently in a Valentine’s Day post).

One of her favorite things that I didn’t make was kinetic sand. Purchased kinetic sand is like regular sand, but it’s been coated with silicone oil, which gives the sand viscoelasticity. Which is a fancy science word for something that flows when not under pressure, but becomes a sort of rubbery solid under stress.

If you want to read more about the science of kinetic sand, check out this post from Live Science.

It’s not actually that hard to make kinetic sand at home, though I never tried it because we had plenty of the store-bought stuff.

There’s a recipe for a relatively small quantity at Crafty Morning, that combines the sand with an ingredient of a similar texture you’ll have to click over to read about.

If you want to make kinetic sand for a crowd, the Minnesota Children’s Museum has a bigger volume recipe that’s given in parts, so you can scale it up to fill a kiddie pool or down for a couple of kids to play with.

And how do you play with it? Kids won’t need a lot of instruction, you just squish it and mold it and see what happens. Cookie cutters and small, fillable molds are great to use with kinetic sand, as well as plastic knives, spoons, silicone baking cups, any little things you might use in small world play. If you have stamps like you would use with play dough that’s another great option.

[Photo: Crafty Morning.]

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Easy Sensory Activities for Valentine's Day

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

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