Crafts & Fun

For the basic structure, you’ll need plastic containers in different sizes. For really big castles, you can even start with a garbage can, followed by smaller wastepaper baskets, buckets and yogurt or cottage cheese containers.

Each container will form one storey of your castle, and its diameter should be smaller than the one below it. Cut off the bottom of each container to make a cylinder. (Make sure an adult does the cutting.)

Step 1
Make a foundation. Pile up some sand with your shovel, and make a large crater on top. Fill the crater with water, and stomp it down until the sand is packed into a firm foundation. Pile on some more sand, and repeat until you have a firm, flat platform to support your first storey.

Step 2
Fill the moulds. Take your largest bottomless container and place it upside down on your foundation. Fill it to the top with sand and water and pack it down as you go. Better yet, lift up your child and have him stomp around on top. The key here is to make the sand very wet, and to compress it as tightly as possible to remove all air spaces and pockets of dry sand.

Once the first container is filled, stack the next largest one on top of it and repeat the process. Keep going until the smallest container is sitting on top.

Once all the containers are stacked and full, and the standing water has drained away, remove the moulds one at a time from the top down.

The larger containers can be difficult to remove, so be patient. Work your fingers under the rim, and lift a little at a time. Once the seal between the mould and the sand is broken, it should come off easily. Take care not to disturb the upper storeys while you remove the lower moulds.

Step 3
Start carving. Start at the top and work your way down, so the sand you carve away doesn’t land on finished sections. Turrets, windows, battlements, stairways — let your inner medieval architect go wild.

Step 4
Final touches. Use shells, seaweed and beach glass to adorn your creation. Build little driftwood soldiers and erect candy wrapper flags. Use crab shells and clams as sentries, or as monsters lurking in the moat.

Originally published in Today's Parent, July 2005