Which DIY Kinetic sand is better?

 
 I originally bought a sand art kit from the Dollar Tree. I realized I hate the idea of sand art. This lead me to re-purpose the sand from the kit. I do not hate but rather enjoy the Kinetic sand sold at Brookstone so I tried smaller sized versions of 2 different “Kinetic” sands from Pinterest. I used whatever I had at home at the moment so it wasn’t exactly by the book. I thought I would share my results for the betterment of society.

 First Trial- ¼ cup flour Less than an oz. of safflower oil Sand packet (purple) I put the flour and sand in a glass bowl and stirred with a Popsicle stick. The DIY recipe I found on-line calls for baby oil. I only had cuticle oil which is mostly safflower oil. I figured this was equivalent enough. The plan was to squeeze in about a tablespoon of the cuticle oil into the flour. This didn’t happen. The cap popped off while squeezing and out came the majority of the bottle. I was actually almost happy about this mishap because it meant that I didn’t have to find some other use for this oil. I never actually thought its intended purpose was needed. I don’t care about the condition of my cuticles much less do I imagine anyone else care’s about my cuticles or judges me by them. I asked the opinion of those close at hand. These were the results. 5 year old Nevera: “I didn’t like it.” Adult : “I don’t know. What’s it supposed to be?” My thoughts: The oil sticks to my hands too much. Could it be that there was too much oil used? Overall it is okay to play with but it is no kinetic sand.

Second Trial- ¼ cup corn starch Water Sand packet (green) I also found this recipe on the interwebs. Admittedly the author of the post states it isn’t meant to be kinetic sand, even though her click bait says otherwise. Once again I used the trusty glass bowl to stir the corn starch and green sand with a Popsicle stick. The water was much more forgiving than the oil and I was able to slowly continue adding until I got the desired texture. 5 year old Nevera: “I didn’t like it.” Adult: “If the stuff stays on my hands, it is no good.” The stuff stayed on his hands. “Back to the drawing board” My thoughts: Gook with sand. Overall this is fun but it is not kinetic sand.


 My conclusion is that the first trial would be closer to the store bought kinetic sand if human error wasn’t involved. The second trial could still be used for sensory play but the sand isn’t needed and makes it less fun. I think that (though I haven’t researched) actually buying a large amount of sand as the original recipe calls for would be the same the cost of the kinetic sand. If you “do it yourself” you would have much more amount wise but it wouldn’t necessarily have the same texture. For now I will just buy the expensive stuff from Brookstone. Additional notes: Nevera seems to no longer like sensory play items.