Kinetic Sand

[Bungle2]

Hi,

My daughter (age 5) has always loved playing with playdoh but seems to be growing out of that now. We’ve never had Kinetic Sand but it looks like good fun. However, where do I begin? What would make a good first purchase and what do you store it in?

Thanks in advance

It gets everywhere!

You can make your own kinetic sand if you want to quite cheaply. Store in a clean ice cream tub.

To make your own

You need 1 to 4 cups of play sand
Depending on how much you want. 4 cups will fill a large ice cream tub.

1/2 to 1 cup of cornflour

1/2 cup of washing up liquid

1/2 cup of warm water

Food colouring if you want.

Mix all together for 5 mins

Dd (6) loves kinetic sand, we didn’t buy a set but have a couple of different colours that were bought as individual boxes. She uses mini cookie cutters and moulds that I think were from an outdoor playsand set, we do sometimes use silicone ice trays too as we have a few different shaped ones. Ours lives in a Tupperware box, the lid isn’t always put on right but it doesn’t dry out so it’s not as precious as playdoh.

She’s made her own colour mixes with the few boxes that we have to make it a bit more interesting. I’d like to know if any of the sets are any good as I’ve been thinking of getting the dinosaur one. Ours have come from the supermarket but Argos sell it and most other toy shops.

We have the sandcastle set and ice cream van set. Entertained my 5 year old lots in first lockdown .

My girls love this. We make them play with it in large baking trays so most of it scoops away.

We have this. We were given two sets, one with dinosaur moulds, one with sandcastles. My only gripe is that both came with lots of small bags of different coloured sand so you didn't really have enough of any colour to play with without mixing colours. Obviously once you've let it mix you can't unmix it. And the trays they came with had random ridges on them which made it harder to turn out the moulds. So instead of buying a kit I'd buy a big bag in a single colour, a flat based tray, and then see if you can find some moulds seperately. Or get a kit and a large bag in a single colour. You can find basic kits in most supermarkets. I think national geographic sell kits online as well.

My 4yo and 6yo love it. I agree with a PP that it gets everywhere, so it is only ever played with at the dining table (we have an a
Amtico floor there so it's easy to sweep up). We've never had any sets but also use the small moulds from our sandcastle sets and the playdoh moulds and tools. I have sold on all the bulky Playdoh sets now as they just weren't played with, but for some reason the sand has kept their attention. Suits me as the Kinetic Sand takes up much less room!
Both DCs are getting a pot of rainbow Kinetic sand in their stocking this year.

Hunt around for the pots as they can be as much as £3.50 at full price, but are often on offer for £1/1.50. Argos usually has the sandcastle set as part of its 2 for £15 offer (I've bought it for a few friend's DCs).

My little boy is also obsessed with play doh and recently I got him a dinosaur egg that had kinetic sand in and he had to dig out the dinosaur and he went mad for the sand, absolutely loved it. I've bought him a kinetic sand construction box for Xmas. It comes in a huge box and has cranes and diggers and tools for making bricks and the idea is that it stays in the box when playing with it (here's hoping!)

Thanks for the replies. Do you think on of these would be a good idea and a large bag of sand? www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/creativity-music-and-partyware/kinetic-sand/so-sand-diy-satisfying-sand-case/p/185322?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces_across_google&gclid=CjwKCAiA7939BRBMEiwA-hX5J2awNnyCfMZu6zLet9x3C3oMcebGD3Ho3huseW2ckfUMLLxa05rRGhoCjT4QAvD_BwE

My DD just has a large bag of sand. Lots of play doh tools can be used with it - cutters, rollers, things like that.

We have the sandcastle set, and my son who is now 5 has used it loads over the past couple of years, and still does. I store it in the original box, and have just added one of those plastic take-away trays for the sand.

Dd7 lives kinetic sand, and got a small set (>£10) last Christmas. Played with it endlessly.

I, however, hate the stuff with a passion. Gets in everything. Stick to socks like shit to a shovel.

I thought I'd try it out recently with a view to buying a kit for Christmas. Got a little bag. Christ almighty never again, it got everywhere, I was still finding it a week later. Worse than glitter, slime, anything that's ever come into this house. The bit we got has gone in the bin.

@cretelover thank you for stopping me making a huge mistake! My daughter’s pretty tidy with playdoh, not sure I can cope with something that goes everywhere as our house is very open plan. Back to the drawing board then. Any ideas?

We love it. I have a tuff tray and only use it in the kitchen so it can be easily swept up. I would recommend the national geographic sets. We have one which has lasted 2 years and the sand is still fine.

@hiptobeasquare thanks. Do you think it would work if kept in a large (wide) storage box? I do think she’d love it. Guess there’d just have to be some rules in place. Would the National geographic set be enough to get her started?

My kids play with it indoors in a large garden tray and make very little mess.

Mine love it
We have a set think it's the sandcastle one (blue) and I keep it in the original box on a plastic tablecloth

I hoover up straight after. They love it

The three year old I look after loves playing with kinetic sand (I do too! I find it quite therapeutic!) I don't find it that difficult to clean up, it sort of clumps together and it's no more tricky to tidy up than play dough.
I would get a big bag and use your existing play dough cutters with it.

We have the large 6lb size, but that does for two kids playing together. As long as she could manage to playing with it, a tub would be fine.

I've never had a problem with knetic sand just use it in washing up bowl or tray.

You can use play doh tools with it.

We all love it! I find it far less messy than playdoh- it just hoovers up and even if it does get into the carpet it doesn’t stick like playdoh does. It’s really addictive- we bought the sandisfying kit and a sandcastle one, but it’s the tools from the sandisfying one that they go to all the time.

I don't think it's that messy, suppose it depends on your child. We use it on a dinner tray and she doesn't get it everywhere.

Horrible stuff though, I can't look at it moving, knocks me sick.

@SpamIAm I appreciate your honesty. It’s cotton wool for me, can’t abide the stuff. Shudder