The 10 Best Sand Castle Kits
This wiki has been updated 17 times since it was first published in May of 2020. Sand castle kits are a great way to enhance play at a park or the beach. Available in a range of options tailored to different ages and skills, these sets can include forms for molding, tools for sculpting, shovels for digging, and buckets for carrying water. Most often made from plastic, they are lightweight, fairly durable, and some can even be used to shape snow in the winter. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. The Storybook Kids Explorers Club Beach
2. Create A Castle Split Mold
3. Sand Pal Beach and Snow
Editor's Notes
July 14, 2020:
Making sand castles is a fun way for kids, families, and adults to increase their outdoor time at the beach. By making shapes and structures with various buckets and tools, children develop cognitive, spacial, and motor skills, and teens, parents, and grandparents often find the activity meditative and rewarding. When researching which kits to include on this list, we wanted to make sure to showcase options that would work great for a range of ages and interests, from the toddler who is just beginning, to the intermediate and advanced builders who want to improve their skills.
We also wanted to make sure that our selections went above and beyond what's available in the average grocery store or beach shop, whether it be a non-traditional design like the Haba Spilling Funnel, which we liked for its simplicity and creativity, or more Earth-friendly construction, like the the Lovelotte Eco Beach Toy, which is made from biodegradable materials that should break down into natural elements within a year if lost in the surf.
Even though we did choose to feature excellent, intricate molds like The Storybook Kids Explorers Club Beach, which gives youngsters the opportunity to craft beautiful fantasy structures without much effort, we also wanted to highlight a more involved construction process with brick mold sets like the Sand Pal Beach and Snow and the Create A Castle Split Mold.
Though many of our selections can double as buckets, like the Melissa & Doug Seaside Sidekicks, for the ones that can't, we recommend bringing along something for hauling water to your preferred site. The options on our sand buckets ranking are a good place to start.
Finally, we wanted to add a tool set crafted by one of the most highly celebrated sand sculptors in the world, Matt Long. His Can You Dig It Sand Tools offer the ability to carve precise shapes, steps, and lines, and can help take the experience to the next level.
Of course, castle molding is just one of many fun activities to do at the beach. If occupying a child is the most important aspect of this list for you, we suggest checking out our beach toys for toddlers and beach toys for kids rankings as well.
Special Honors
Hammacher Schlemmer Personalized Sand Castle Building Tote The Hammacher Schlemmer Personalized Sand Castle Building Tote comes with everything a family needs to have fun on the shore, including shovels, brick molds, and a soft cooler for storing snacks and beverages. Plus, it can be customized with a name or phrase. hammacher.com
The Beach People Kids Adventure Bundle With a bucket and tools made from biodegradable materials and coordinating beach towel and coloring book, The Beach People Kids Adventure Bundle is a high-end, eco-friendly choice. It is designed in Australia and available in two stylish options with pink and lavender or blue and yellow color schemes. thebeachpeople.co
4. Lovelotte Eco Beach Toy
5. Flexible Flyer Brick Builder
6. Can You Dig It Sand Tools
7. Hape Master Bricklayer
8. Melissa & Doug Seaside Sidekicks
9. Haba Spilling Funnel
10. CoolSand Molds and Tools
A wandering writer who spends as much time on the road as in front of a laptop screen, Brett can either be found hacking away furiously at the keyboard or, perhaps, enjoying a whiskey and coke on some exotic beach, sometimes both simultaneously, usually with a four-legged companion by his side. He has been a professional chef, a dog trainer, and a travel correspondent for a well-known Southeast Asian guidebook. He also holds a business degree and has spent more time than he cares to admit in boring office jobs. He has an odd obsession for playing with the latest gadgets and working on motorcycles and old Jeeps. His expertise, honed over years of experience, is in the areas of computers, electronics, travel gear, pet products, and kitchen, office and automotive equipment.