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1. Decide on the kind of castle you want to make. This doesn’t have to be an elaborate blueprint or rendering. Something as simple as, “I want a big, walled castle with a moat”, or “I want a tower fit for Rapunzel!” Once you have your vision, the work begins.
2. Now you need to pick a suitable spot on the beach. You want to be near the water, but not so near as to lose your creation to the relentless waves. On the other hand, as a kid, some of my favorite beach memories are my cousins and I desperately trying to save the castle from the onslaught. The best time is right after high tide. The water is receeding and you will have plenty of time to create your architectural masterpiece. Once you have found the perfect spot, draw a basic outline on the sand of you castle.
3. Nearby, dig a hole down to the water table. The sand there is dense and moist. The stuff from which the best castles are made. Often as you dig you will go through layers of tiny shells. These are not good to build with, but they are great to drip over the castle in strategic places, walls, roofs, etc.
4. Begin to shovel the wet sand from the hole into the middle of the outline that you have drawn. If you are lucky enough to have a team of architects, one person can be the scooper, and one can pack the sand as it in placed in the outline. Trade off from time to time to give the scooper a break.
5. You need to work as fast as possible. The beach is a windy place and you will notice that the windward side of your castle will begin to dry out rapidly. As it dries out it will begin to blow away.
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6. Start in the center of your outline first. If you start with the walls you will constantly be stepping over them to work. If you desire a tower style castle, begin stacking the sand in layers as you would stack pancakes. The sides should be slightly sloping, wider at the bottom, more slender toward the top. Sprinkle water on the sand from time to time. A spray bottle is a great tool to keep the sand moist.
7. Starting at the top begin to shape your castle. Use anything available. Butter knives for walls and roof lines, spoons for windows and doors, forks for interesting texture, plastic molds and buckets are great too. Small sand shovels make wonderful stairways. Start with a ramp, and working from the top down, insert the shovel in vertically about a half inch, and pull it straight out horizontally. Work your way down step by step. Steps always add a certain quality to the overall look!
8. Castles can be any shape or size. Don’t feel pressured to produce Cinderella’s Castle if all you have in you is an Indian burial mound. But also don’t be afraid to go all out. However, if you ever feel that any part of your creation is unstable, do what the architects of old did…buttress it! Add angled supports her and there, it all adds to the gothic feel.
9. Now begin working on the walls. Add entrances on each side for trade and tourism.
10. Finally the moat, the one castle necessity! After all, it must be protected at any cost! A deep surrounding moat is just the ticket and a sure show stopper. Make sure that each of your entrances has a bridge across the moat. Use sticks or shells, or simply build up from the base of the moat to create a path.
Then, stand back and soak in all of the praise from the peasants content to simply walk up and down the beach.
As you can tell, I love making sandcastles and would spend hours and hours working on them. So parents, be aware. Make sure there is enough sunscreen to go around.
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