Oh man, what even is the point of sand art? No one likes it, but we all keep doing it anyway. I can't tell you how many times as a child I was presented with the tools to make sand art. "Great," I always thought, "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"
As a kid, I always believed adults when they told me that something was fun. I tried to believe them, anyway. I was told so many times that sand art was fun, but it was one of the few cases where I can remember thinking that adults were wrong. I remember at least two occasions when I was roped into making sand art, and I threw the finished items away before I got home so that my mom wouldn't have to deal with them.
For some reason, sand art is one of those things that are always being pushed on kids. I think a lot of adults are under the mistaken impression that sand art is tidy, unlike (say) painting. But it's not, because that sand gets everywhere. Sand art is also inferior to painting in that the only thing you can make with sand art is layers of colors, whereas you can paint literally anything you can imagine. (Although the quality of the final painting will vary widely by the artist.)
In every possible respect, there are crafts better than sand art. If you like to play with color arrangements, try making friendship bracelets. They are just as cheap and easy to make, and you and your friends can wear them. Plus, if you drop a friendship bracelet, you're not stuck trying to sweep up multicolored sand off the kitchen linoleum.
If you are drawn to the figural aspect, try your hand at polymer clay. Or Hama beads (a.k.a. "melty beads"). A million more creative options there, because with sand art, basically the only thing you can make is a bottle full of sand.
Sand art is a great example of "Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should."
Image courtesy Flickr/David Lee King
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