credit: jeweledrose.com

Do these long, cold months of winter have you and your little one dreaming of sunny days at the beach? Bring a little of that summer fun home with this recipe for sandy beach playdough – it’s easy to make, and will provide a fun, sensory-rich activity with minimal cleanup. You only need three ingredients:

• 5 cups of play sand
• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of vegetable oil

Preparation couldn’t be easier – simply mix all the ingredients together in a play bin or other shallow container, and you’re all set. The mixture makes a wonderful, slightly sticky mixture that’s perfect for molding, building, and playing for hours. You can add in small stones, shells, or plastic toys, dig tunnels, and build a sandcastle without leaving your warm, dry house! It easily vacuums up, and can be stored in an airtight container if you want to save it for another day.

Some fun facts:

The University of Hawaii did a study, and estimates that there are seven quintrillion five quadrillion grains of sand on all the beaches in the world (that’s a 75 with 17 zeros behind it; i.e., 7,500,000,000,000,000,000)

Sand is often comprised of silica (in the form of quartz), though it may also contain calcium carbonate (from coral skeletons and shellfosh), magnetite, chlorite, glauconite, obsidian, and even gemstones.

To be classified as sand, the particles must be between  ¹⁄₁₆ mm and 2 mm – anything bigger is considered gravel, and anything smaller is silt.