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 Sandcastle Basics
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you're going to live the beach-house lifestyle, there's one
skill you can't do without, and that's the ability to build
a respectable sandcastle. True beach lovers know that there's
nothing more relaxing than feeling the sun on your back, the
wind through your hair, and wet sand on your hands as you
construct a fairy-tale castle fit for a pint-sized king.
But if it's been a few years since you dabbled in the sand-related
arts, you may need some pointers from the experts. And strangely
enough, there are experts. A whole community has grown up
around the art of sandcastles, with contests, Web sites, and
even newsletters. See our Sandcastle Resource
Guide for more details.
So before you jet off to your beach-house vacation, get prepared
with the following overview of sandcastle building. It's all
a matter of patience, the right tools, and lots and lots of,
you guessed it, sand.
The first step to a successful sandcastle is a good water
source. You can either dig a hole down to the water table
(so that it fills with water) or get yourself a big bucket
of seawater. You won't get anywhere with sand that is too
dry.
Then it's all a matter of carving. Yes, carving. It turns
out that sandcastle experts generally carve sandcastles from
large mounds of sand, rather than attempting to build from
the bottom up and forming flimsy (read doomed) walls and towers.
They get themselves a nice pile of wet sand and carve it down
into a castle shape.
To be a successful sandcastle-carver, you need tools. Whether
you use Popsicle sticks, shells, shovels, spatulas or just
your hands, you need a variety of tools to do a variety of
different jobs, from carving out a tower to drawing in a window
with a little sand princess looking out.
Start at the top of your pile and work downwards, that way
the sand won't roll down and destroy your work. Carve out
a few towers, and pick out a suitable roof for your structure.
Put in a few turrets and maybe a window or two. As you get
to the bottom, add some landscaping, or maybe a moat.
The key is to go slow, and carve off just a little at time.
If you get impatient, and scrape off a big chunk, you'll have
to start over again. Relax, get into the mood, and watch your
dream castle slowly appear. But don't get too attached. High
tide will be here soon.
Sandcastle Resource Guide
There's a whole big sandcastle world out there, with contests,
Web pages, even computer games. Check out our selection of
links to the online world of sand sculpture:
Contests
Schedule of upcoming sandcastle-building contests from www.sandworld.com.
http://www.sandworld.com/wssa/events/bottom.htm
Comprehensive guide to sandcastle contests, from www.sandcastlecentral.com,
your online resource for all things sand sculpture.
http://www.sandcastlecentral.com/contests/cntlst.html
General Information About Sandcastles
Tons of links about sandcastles from About.com.
http://kidexchange.about.com/kids/kidexchange/cs/sandcastles/
Internet Center for Sand. Everything you ever wanted to
know about sand. Photos, links, and information about sand.
(They even collect it.)
http://www.netaxs.com/~sparky/sand.html
Free sandcastle game from Microsoft. Make a sandcastle
without even leaving your desk!
http://www.microsoft.com/kids/freestuff/free09.htm
Sand Sculptors
Home page of Larry Nealson, sand sculptor. Lots of information
about technique, links, photos, and more.
http://www.sandhands.com/sandscul.htm
Page for professional sandcastle builder group. Tons of
links and pictures, even a sandcastle chat room.
http://www.sultansofsand.com/
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