Tips for Building Sandcastles

It doesn't take much to build a good sandcastle. However, you should have a few basics on hand. You'll need at least one shovel—but make sure it's a good one! Cheap plastic shovels that bend easily can quickly ruin the fun. Get a flat shovel for digging and shaping, and one with a rounded edge for tunnels and openings in the sandcastle. The bigger your project, the bigger the shovel should be! You’ll also need a small bucket for building towers.

Expert tip: Always keep a spare shovel on hand in case someone offers to help.

To build a sandcastle that’s more than just a loose pile of sand, you’ll need firm sand. This can be found on the beach right at the water’s edge. Choose your building area wisely! Close enough to the water to work with sturdy sand, but far enough away from the waves that could wash it away. Experienced sandcastle builders use the movement of the waves to give their structures that special touch. Create flood channels or entire canal systems and let the water wash around your castle. To prevent the waves from destroying your structures, you can build a dike in front of your canal system. The seawater must either break over or flow around the dike to enter your canal system. This way, the force of the waves is broken by the dike, not by the walls of your sandcastle.

Coming to the heart of the matter: actually building sandcastles. Everyone has different goals. Whether it’s the tallest, prettiest, or most spacious sandcastle on the beach is entirely up to you. The important thing is to use moist, firm sand and to keep compacting it by pressing it down as you build. You can pile up a solid mass freehand, or fill your bucket and build a tower.

Now grab a flat shovel and “trim” your tower into a square shape. You can also use this technique for the castle walls to make the sandcastle look like a real castle. Let your castle complex grow, and add castle walls, canals, and bridges wherever it makes sense. For larger piles of sand, you can shape them like a pyramid and carve out staircase-like terraces with the shovel. These can be beautifully decorated later and are a real eye-catcher.

Decorating the sandcastle is especially fun for children. While it’s usually the fathers who dig up the entire beach, women and children often have a soft spot for collecting beautiful shells, shiny pebbles, and other beach treasures. These can be used to transform the sandcastle into a unique work of art. By this point in the sandcastle-building process, many families are working hand in hand to finish the castle.

In addition to decorating with beach finds, you can also create beautiful fairy-tale castles by shaping elegant spires out of sand using the “dripping” technique. To do this, mix equal parts sand and water in a bucket, or scoop the mud directly from the ditch around the castle. Let the sand mixture drip from your half-open hand. The more water you use, the finer the decorations and the thinner the spires you can form. Even children quickly get the hang of the dripping technique. Of course, you can also build entire sandcastles using the dripping technique!

The most important thing for building the best, most beautiful, and most creative sandcastle on the entire beach is to have as many helpers as possible. Don’t plan too far ahead—just let the castle take shape on its own. The bigger and more spacious your sandcastle becomes, the more children will be magically drawn to it. Offering additional shovels, assign tasks, and let your castle grow. Even the youngest children can handle tasks like fetching water, collecting shells, piling up sand, and digging the castle's moat. This way, you’ll not only create a unique sandcastle complex but also encourage lively teamwork and ensure an unforgettable day at the beach on Usedom.