My husband and I love the beach, and our boys are following in closely in our footsteps. This summer we spent time with my parents in Aruba. It was a great time together and I wanted to create something special with our boys as a reminder of our vacation.
Shells from the Beach
While at the beach, my boys collected a lot of coral pieces and smaller shells that they were insisted needed to come home with us. The pieces were a mix of various shells because large complete seashells are hard to find in Aruba (the water is so calm and shallow on the beaches that few large shells make it to the shore).
While Big Brother is all about ‘collections’ these days, I am not! We sorted through our ‘collection’ together and kept only our favorite seashells to bring home and make a special craft with our seashells. We couldn’t be happier with how great our Beach Vacation Memory Craft turned out!
Memory Craft Materials:
- Plaster of Paris
- Sand Mold
- Seashells
- Water
- Toothpick/Skewer (used for engraving the date)
Beach Vacation Memory Craft Directions:
Fill the bottom of your sand mold with your favorite seashells. Place the colored or designed side down.
Next, follow the directions on the box to mix up your Plaster of Paris. You will add water to the mix until you reach a ‘pancake batter’ consistency.
When you reach the right consistency, you need to work quickly to pour it into the mold over the seashells.
Allow to set for about 20-25 minutes, until firm to touch. Then, use your toothpick or skewer to etch in your child’s name or date of your vacation.
Set aside for 24 hours to complete its setting process. To speed up the process you can place it in direct sunlight and or gently remove the cast at around 12 hours from the mold and set it on a cookie rack to allow drying from all angles.
To remove the cast from the mold, slide a sharp knife around the edges of the mold to loosen and then gently tap the mold.
Display on a shelf, or even add a hole (at the time of engraving) to create an ornament.
What a great and fun after-vacation craft to do together as a family to remind yourselves of all your great vacation memories!
Kids love to collect shells at the beach. Here are a few ideas for some other fun ways to use shells:
More Memory Fun From Kids Activities Blog
Check out this false memory activity where you can explore false memories we all share.
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Love this idea! Am going to have to try this one with the girls!!
What a wonderful idea! JDaniel wouldl love to do this when we go to the beach.