A guide to building a sand castle at the beach.
Sand castles can be an amazing sight to see, with some taking several people hours or even days to complete. Sand castles aren't just for those who wish to make a grand exhibition of them, though... anyone can make a sand castle with a lot of sand and a little imagination.
The simplest kinds of sand castles to make are those that you can make with a shovel and a bucket. Take some moderately damp sand and scoop it into your bucket (making sure not to leave any gaps or air holes in it as you fill it). Once the bucket is full, tap the bottom on a solid surface a few times to help the sand to settle, and then quickly flip the bucket over and stick the open mouth into the sand. Carefully remove the bucket, leaving a newly-formed tower of sand behind. Four or more of these towers can make up the towers of a castle, with additional sand piled into walls between them... add a moat with the handle of the shovel and your preliminary sand castle is complete!
Should you find that your towers tend to crumble as soon as you remove the bucket, try adding more water to your sand. The water helps the sand to stick together, thus giving it the cohesion to form the walls and towers of your sand creation. You can also purchase sand forms that you can fill instead of a bucket to give your castle more of a "castle" look.
If you decide that you want to customize your sand castle a little more but don't want to buy fancy plastic sand forms, then fill your bucket and add a lot of water to it. You'll end up with sopping wet sand, which is a bit harder to work with at times but can be used to sculpt out details on your towers or walls. Pour off any excess water, making sure that it doesn't take your sand with it, and form your towers and walls as before. The sand should now be dark and almost muddy, but will hold its form better if you work with it using your hands or various other tools.
If the sand doesn't hold it's form at all and instead simply tries to run all over the place when you remove the bucket, then you've got a little bit too much water. Try again with more sand, adding a little less water (or pouring off a little more). You want the sand wet, but not runny.
After working with wet sand for a while, you may decide that you want to get even more ambitious. Moving a step beyond basic sand castles, you can give sand sculpting a try. Using the same type of sopping wet sand that you use for the sand castles mentioned above, the purpose of sand sculpting is to get all of your sand into place and then remove the excess to get the forms that you want. Build a large pile of sand, and then use knives, spatulas, or any other tools (including your hands) to cut out walls, arches, windows, or whatever you desire until you end up with your finished product. Be sure to keep extra water on hand should your sand start to dry out, and don't be afraid to fill in mistakes with extra sand (properly wetted down, of course.)
Just remember, it's your sand castle... make it as simple or complex as you want. And watch out for the tide...
