Sand art name plates are good to use at the beginning of a school year or in day care centers. Each child can use his or her own creative skills to make a personalized name plate, and at the same time will learn the names of the other students in the classroom or day care center.
Materials
Elmer’s glue
Construction paper
Popsicle sticks
Paint
Paintbrushes
Colored sand
Step One: Decorate the frame pieces.
The first step to creating a sand art name plate is making a frame for the plate to sit on. Popsicle sticks will make the frame. Take four Popsicle sticks and using the paint and paint brushes, decorate them to your taste. Then let the four sticks dry.
Step Two: Assemble the frame and plate.
Next, put the Popsicle face down (so that the side you want to show on the front of your name plate is facing down) on a table in a rectangular or square shape. You can decorate and add more sticks if you would like to create a more complex design. Once you have arranged the frame, cut a section of construction paper that will fit inside the frame. The construction paper should not go over the edges of your frame, but rather be just the right size so that it can be glued to the backs of the Popsicle sticks. Essentially, you don’t want any paper to hang over the edge of the frame, but you also don’t want there to be gaps between the paper and the stick frame. Attach the piece of construction paper with glue to the back of the sticks, pull it taut so that it won’t collapse through, and allow it to dry.
Step Three: Sand.
Once the paper is completely dry and firmly attached to the frame, flip it over so that the decorated side of the stick shows. The construction paper is where the sand art will go. Write your name in glue on the construction paper. Make sure to use the glue sparingly, as a lot of glue will spread out onto other letters or make the construction paper soggy and wrinkled. Once you have written your name, take the colored sand, which can be found at most craft stores or by online suppliers, and sprinkle it over the glue. You want to use enough sand to completely cover the glue, but you shouldn’t dump handfuls of sand over the glue. Wait for the glue to dry completely and then flip the frame onto a piece of paper towel to catch the excess sand. You have now made your own sand art name plate!
Extra tips:
-When dumping the excess sand onto a paper towel, keep the colors separated so that you can save the sand for another project. Or you can mix all the sand together to create multicolored sand to use for projects.
-Use glitter and sequins to really add sparkle to your name plate.
-Frames can be cut out of thick cardboard. Paint the cardboard frames the same way you would paint the Popsicle sticks and attach the construction in the same manner.
-Have smocks available for children to wear. Dyes in colored sand are easily transferred to hands, and then from hands to clothing.
-Sand art name plates can be made into kitchen magnets by applying thin pieces of magnet to the backs of the plates.
