"Sand" Castles

Recently, we painted on sandpaper.  I had purchased a few packages of sandpaper from Dollar Tree and I still have a lot left, so I was very excited when I came across an idea to create sandpaper castles.  I cut some castle type shapes and some ordinary shapes out of the sandpaper.  I then gave C and R construction paper, the sandpaper shapes, and glue, and challenged them to build sand castles!  This is what they created:

Special thanks to Little Learners Lounge for the sandpaper castle idea!

Beach Books and Art

I recently hosted another coffee shop story hour, and we had a beach/ocean theme.  These are the books I read:

All You Need for a Beach by Alice Schertle,

On the Seashore by Anna Milbourne and Erica-Jane Waters,

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry, and

Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis.

After we read and discussed the books, the children all had fun creating their art.  I purchased sandpaper from Dollar Tree (12 sheets for $1.00!) and each child got one sheet.  I told them the sandpaper represented the sand at the beach and they were going to finger paint the ocean over part of the sand.  I gave them each a drop of dark blue paint and a drop of light blue paint and they mixed the two together to create the ocean.  Finger painting on sandpaper is a fantastic sensory activity for children of all ages.

Then, they added ocean stickers and used markers to add details like the sun, beach blankets, umbrellas, sand castles, etc. 

Thank you to Michelle from A Mommy's Adventures for inspiring this art project and for telling me where to buy the sandpaper!  Also, in case you were wondering, the super cute aprons the children are all wearing are also from Dollar Tree.  Thank you to the Moms who gave me permission to photograph and post pictures of their children. 

I am linking this post to stArt (story + art = a great start) at A Mommy's Adventures.