This easy DIY moon sand recipe uses just three ingredients. This moon sand is a great sensory experience from beginning to end!
What is moon sand…
Moon sand isn’t really as exotic as it sounds. Moon sand is just a mixture of play sand, cornstarch, and oil. It isn’t sticky like slime but it does form and mold into shapes nicely.
It’s an amazing sensory art experience and the recipe is so simple. Making this moon sand recipe is great practice for measure, mixing, and strengthening those fine motor skills.
Kiddos of any age will be able to make this recipe from start to finish with just a smidge of guidance!
Materials to make moon sand….
The basic moon sand recipe uses just play sand, corn starch, and baby oil. Feel free to experiment using flour instead of cornstarch, and canola oil or other oils instead of baby oil. This is a flexible recipe that will accommodate small changes like this!
This easy moon sand recipe uses 5 parts play sand, 3 parts cornstarch, and 1 part baby oil. I prefer mixing up small batches at a time so we used Tablespoons as our measurement but you could just as easily use 1/4 cups or even full cups. Just be sure to keep the 5:3:1 ratio consistent.
Adding color to your homemade moon sand, or not….
I loved the look of our homemade moon sand with no added color. The natural tan color of the sand was super earthy and organic looking.
I also love bright colors and know lots of you do too so I want you to know how to add some pizazz to your homemade moon sand!
A few drops of liquid food coloring will brighten your homemade moon sand right up! Most colors work well right along the tan sand color. Be aware that when adding food coloring there will be a residual amount of food coloring that may transfer to little hands while playing. It takes such a small amount of food coloring that we didn’t find this bothersome but it is something to note.
Setting up to make your own moon sand….
I recommend setting up your moon sand kitchen on a surface that isn’t too precious. This really isn’t a terribly messy process but taking a few steps to contain your materials will make it that much more fun!
These silicone craft mats are big enough to spread out your homemade moon sand and the lip makes it easy to contain these materials. We use these mats for so many projects!
On a smaller scale these silicone baking molds are great for molding, packing and forming your DIY moon sand.
Using your homemade moon sand….
Once your moon sand is mixed up there is no definite next step. Mix it, squeeze it, mold it, roll it, whatever feels good to your little artist’s hands.
Now is a great time to introduce craft sticks, cookie cutters, food molds, plastic animals, and any other prompts that extend the play time of your DIY moon sand recipe.
When play time is finished put your homemade moon sand in an airtight container where it will last for a week or so!
How to use homemade moon sand safely….
Moon sand is a great sensory art experience for kids of all ages. While there aren’t any toxic materials in it it is not to be ingested (play sand and baby oil, people.) Young kids should always be supervised when playing with recipes like this one!
