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Sand art and play

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recreation

   An elaborate sand castle.
   Enlarge
   An elaborate sand castle.

   A sand castle is a type of sand sculpture which resembles a miniature
   building, often a castle. The two basic building ingredients, sand and
   water, are available in abundance on a sandy beach, so most sand play
   occurs there or in a sandpit.

   A variant on the sand castle is the drip castle, made by mixing extra
   water in with the sand, and dripping this wet sand from a fist held
   above. When the slurry of sand and water lands on existing sand
   structures, the water is rapidly wicked away, leaving the blob of sand
   in place. The effect is Gaudi-esque.

   Sand castles are typically made by children, simply for the fun of
   making them. However, adults sometimes engage in contests making sand
   sculptures, in which the goal is to create structures which don't
   appear to be constructed just from sand; they can become large and
   complex. Other vulnerable media are ice and snow, leading to ice
   sculptures and snow sculptures.

   Adults may find sand castle construction to be almost "Zen-like" in its
   ability to create total focus and relaxation. Whether an hour or a day,
   alone or with a group of friends or family, sand castle play is
   increasingly seen as adult leisure time activity for beach vacationers.

   An example of extremely sophisticated sand art is the Buddhist mandala.

Construction

   A sandcastle at the New York International Auto Show created as an
   advertisement for the Jeep company
   Enlarge
   A sandcastle at the New York International Auto Show created as an
   advertisement for the Jeep company

   The sand must be fine, or the wetted grains will not stick together.
   Dry sand is loose, wet sand adherent, except when it is too wet. Sand
   used in the construction may dry or get wetter, changing the integrity
   of the structure; " landslides" are common.

   The main tools for construction are a shovel, although using the hands
   alone is common, and a bucket or other container to bring water from
   the sea to the construction site. Also, pieces of wood, etc. can be
   used to reinforce structures.

   Sand sculpting has been around for many decades and has become very
   popular more recently with hundreds of competitions held all over the
   world every year. It has become quite sophisticated and can be found in
   Guinness World Records, as well as in many commercial and promotional
   applications. Some advocates are purists, using no artificial
   materials, no formwork or coloring, no adhesive or heavy machinery. One
   such artist, G. Augustine Lynas, has been doing public sculptures for
   more than 50 years. However, in sand sculpting competitions, the rules
   often permit or even dictate that the finished sculpture be sprayed
   with a stabilizing coating in order to preserve the form for more than
   a day, allowing time for judging and appreciation by visitors. Coated
   sculptures may stand for months, until they are deliberately destroyed
   to make way for new competitons.

Alternatives to sand castles

   A simple sand castle on a lake beach.
   Enlarge
   A simple sand castle on a lake beach.

   One of the main attractions of a sandy beach, especially for children,
   is playing with the sand, with more possibilities than a sandbox. One
   can make a mountain, a pit (encountering clay or the water table),
   canals, tunnels, bridges, a sculpture (representing a person, animal,
   etc. like a statue, or a scale model of a building), etc. Tunnels large
   enough to enter are extremely hazardous; children have been killed by
   collapses of underground chambers and such a collapse is guaranteed if
   wave wash reaches the structure. If a small stream enters the beach,
   one or more dams can be constructed to hold back lakes of stream water.
   Almost as much fun as building beach dams is deliberately breaking them
   to cause a flood. If the beach is at an ocean, or at a sea connected to
   an ocean then there can be tides. These tides add attractive dynamics:
   on flood-tides the rising water enters previously dry ditches and pits,
   and one can try to keep areas dry by dikes, etc.; on ebb-tides one can
   try to keep water in a canal by deepening it and lengthening it,
   keeping it connected to the retracting sea. If one returns the next day
   much erosion is apparent—in fact only large excavations at all survive
   one excursion of the tide, and beach dynamics soon enough smooth out
   the surface, erasing everything.

Partial burying

   A common form of playing with sand is burying someone else partially,
   in particular up to the neck. To a lesser extent one can also bury
   oneself. Various human positions are possible.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_art_and_play"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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