The Secret to the Perfect Sandcastle

Whether you're building a miniature sandcastle or a monstrous sand dragon, the secret to good sand is...water.

The sand is constantly drying out while you're building, so the trick is to keep your sculpture's sand wet.

Professional sand sculptors (yes, there are such lucky people) use little spray bottles to do this, but gently splashing from a bucket of water will work just as well. The closer you build to the water's edge, the wetter the sand (and the shorter the trip when carrying buckets of water to your construction site).

Find a site where the sand is wet enough to start building without any added water but not so close to the water that the tide will wash away your work. Of course, if your sand is too wet, then it will just ooze away. With a little practice you'll learn to recognize when the sand needs wetting and when it has hardened enough for any shaping you might want to do.

If something does crumble away, it can be rebuilt by moistening what's left and adding more wet sand. Keep in mind that a sandcastle doesn't have to be made of just sand, and that you can build something other than a castle. You can use toys or anything else (such as twigs, seaweed, and leaves) that's lying around to decorate your construction to fit the fantasies of your child.

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