How to Win a Sand Castle Competition

Sandcastle competitions are won by teams. Building a large and detailed sculpture or sandcastle takes many people, so enlist your friends.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sand Castle Carving Tools
• Telephones
• Hand Shovels
• Shovels
• Wooden Stakes
• Wooden Stakes
• Sunscreen
• Internet Access
• Library Cards
• Pencils
• Drawing Pencils
• Notebook Papers
• Pencils
• Beach Umbrellas
• String
• Tarps
• Variously Sized Buckets
• Pencils
• Shovels

Planning

1. Contact the members of your sandcastle building team.

2. Confer and determine what kind of sculpture or castle you will build.

3. Go to a picture library or access the Internet for pictures that are similar.

4. Meet and draw a rough outline of what you want.

5. Imagine how big your sculpture or castle will be. Build the largest, most ornate structure you can.

6. Pack shovels, buckets, and most importantly, carving tools.

The Day of the Competition

7. Go to the beach on the day of the competition. Take note of rain days.

8. Choose a site square that is not too close to the water, so that waves don't destroy it, and not too far away, so you don't have to dig a very deep hole.

9. Mark your site with a wooden stake in each of the four corners. Connect the stakes with string so that there is a border around where you are working and people don't inadvertently traipse through, damaging your work.

10. Dig a hole down to the water table with a shovel, or bring up large buckets of water from the ocean.

11. Build your sculpture or castle on top of the sand you dig from this hole.

12. Work with extremely wet sand.

13. Scoop wet sand onto the center of the area you will be working to build a tower. Work fast so the sand stays wet.

14. Jiggle sand patties one on top of the other. Pounding, pushing or beating the sand will destroy any attempts at a tower.

15. Distribute the water so that one patty binds with the one below.

16. Make the patties bigger on the bottom than on the top.

17. Build another tower.

18. Build a wall by jiggling wet sand into brick shapes and laying them on top of each other.

19. Connect the two towers with the wall.

20. Carve the towers and the wall into the shapes you want.

21. Repeat.

What Makes a Winner

22. Carve details into your sculpture or castle - the more towers and arches the better.

23. Create your sculpture or castle with a sense of humor. Sandcastle competition judges love to laugh.

24. Create your sculpture or castle with a theme in mind. Sandcastle competition judges love a good story.

Tips & Warnings

• The size of your site depends on the size of your construction. A good average size would be 15 square feet.
• Set up an umbrella or tarp over the site if the sun is too hot. It will slow the evaporation process and keep you from getting a sunburn.
• Always wear sunscreen at the beach.

on 6/30/2006 Use some smooth rocks, shaped rocks, and flags. Stick the rocks and flags into the castle and use the rocks as windows and doors.

on 11/22/2005 You can build sand forms by using 30# tar paper from your local building supply store cost about $15.00. Cut a length about 18 feet long and coil it around 2 times and then use small clamps to secure it at top and bottom on the seam. Then fill your form with sand and water. Keep a lot of water in the form, don't let it dry out. It should be as wet as oatmeal. Keep filling to the top, let it set for a few minutes to drain and then remove the forms. You now have a cylinder 3 feet high and 2 1/2 feet wide to carve. Another good beginners tip is using the same method, but use a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out and sanded smooth. Set the bucket upside down and fill with wet sand and water till full, and tap the sides with your hands and lift off the bucket and carve with a good paring knife.

on 11/22/2005 Check out other competitions and do a lot of building yourself before entering a contest. You learn a lot by seeing what techniques work and don't work, seeing the variety of others' creations and experimenting.