Our mission is to inspire you with possibilities, make it easy for you to create, and offer the best materials for your creative adventures.
We know that everyone is creative, though not everyone feels that way. Working with sand is tactile, soothing, and familiar. Painting pictures with sand is easy and fun and requires no tools. People of all ages and abilities can do it! Boost your confidence in your own creativity with Creative Adventures®.
About US
Our Story
We’re a family run business and we’ve always liked making things. In 1996 Jan left her university job to open Artbeat, a creativity store and hands-on studio in Arlington, MA. Her belief was that people needed a place to go where it would be easy to try new things without having to buy lots of materials or commit to weeks of study.
Families Served
Years of creativity
Art Experiences
Tested by thousands of people of all ages and abilities!
Our sand art design canvases and original sand art painting techniques have been tested by thousands of people of all ages and abilities in our hands-on Studio in Arlington Massachusetts.
You’ll find that these sand art kits are:
- appealing to every age – youth, teens, and children as young as three
- educational – they teach 7 different skills for painting with sand
- best quality – our design canvases are sturdy enough to be wall art; our sparkling sand is safe, quarried and packaged in North America
- jam-packed full – a full 12-ounces of colored sand so there is plenty of each color to use
Why?
These are the best sand art kits you can find.
Not Paint-by-Number
Our designs give the artist a starting point and the freedom to make an original work of art. Other sand art kits provide complicated pictures that have to be done a certain way.
No Skimping!
Our kits deliver a full ounce each of 12 colors – more than a rainbow – with hot colors, cool colors and earthtones. Other kits contain a tiny amount of sand so it’s easy to run out of favorite colors.
Truly Hands-On
Our kits provide the tactile experiences of rubbing, tearing, spreading, sprinkling and etching. Other kits involve pouring on the sand and tapping it off – that’s all.
Real Art-Making
Our kits show the basic technique of “peel, pour, rub” plus six more special effects, including marbling, striping, watercolor blending, and etching. These easy-to-learn techniques help the artist create custom characters, textured backgrounds, landscapes, and pop art designs. With other kits, artists end up with a finished picture just the way the manufacturer planned it.
Our company
Who we are
Creative Thinker & Maker
Jan
Jan thinks of herself as a creative dabbler, and loves trying out new materials and tools, especially sand, paper, fabric, and kathunkita machine. Jan started out as a letterpress and offset printer, and gauges her happiness on how many things she can make happen each day. Her motto is “Try something new, it will change you, and when you change your life you can change the world.” With this philosophy she opened a walk-in art studio in 1996 that still serves as an incubator for new projects and products. Jan is a Certified Play Expert (CPE) and an MBA.
Creative Designer
Drai
As a father of three, Drai is keenly aware of the challenges modern kids face with the temptations of technology and the lack of arts education in public schools. He is proud of the kits he helped develop with Creative Adventures as they have allowed his own family to explore creativity and connect through art and he is excited to help to bring those types of experiences to a broader audience through our kits.
Creative Seller
Stu
Growing up on a farm inspired Stu’s interest in alternative energy, which led him to selling solar and water treatment systems for many years. Currently Stu is involved in Sand Art sales, and studies tai chi and guitar as creative pastimes. He has a BA in management.
Our techniques
Sand art painting is easy enough for a 3-year old to learn, and interesting enough for a teen to enjoy.
Start out by mastering this easy technique: peel up the protective liner to reveal the sticky surface, pour on the sand, and spread or rub it to cover up all the sticky. Pick up the picture and tap it on the table to knock off the extra sand. Then pour the sand back into the cup.
This basic “peel…pour…rub…tap…pour” is important because it forms the basis for all the other techniques that follow. Take your time! Make sure you touch all the sand everywhere the surface was sticky. Achieving a solid, even coating of sand will ensure that your colors stay clean and clear as you continue working.
A young child may stay with this one technique through many paintings. It is rhythmic and calming, and before long most children will be able to do the entire sequence independently.