Creating your own sand dollar edible beach inspired cookies is so easy. And they make for a great summer treat or as part of a marine biology unit. Too, look at my page Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook for more fun ideas.
Sand dollars make a great starting point for learning about marine biology, beach ecosystems, and ocean conservation.
You can turn your cookie-making into a whole mini-unit study. Read books about ocean life, watch documentaries, or even plan a trip to a local aquarium or beach.
Kids will enjoy drawing or labeling the parts of a sand dollar, comparing them to other sea creatures like sea stars or sea urchins, playing with them in a sensory bin, and more.
Pair your sand dollar cookies with a fun craft, such as making sand dollars out of salt dough or white clay for display.
This hands-on approach helps make learning memorable!
ECHINODERMS BOOKS FOR KIDS
Next, look at these books about echinoderms, the group sand dollars are part of.
11 Books About Fascinating Echinoderms Marine Animals
This group of animals sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, brittle stars, star fish and crinoids. All of these are marine animals with radial symmetry in their body shapes.
What would you see if you sat at the edge of a tidepool, looked into the water and watched the changes taking place in this little world? What life would you discover there? In a charming hand-sized book, Anne Hunter illustrates the creatures that live in and around a tidepool, and describes each animal's characteristics and habits. The gorgeous artwork and simple sense of wonder will inspire children to explore their environment. Fans of Hunter’s two books, WHAT'S IN THE POND? and WHAT'S UNDER THE LOG? will want to add this new title to their collection.
Sand Dollars by the Seashore is a charming and educational poem for children about the wonders of the beach and the importance of respecting nature. It encourages young readers to explore the shoreline and discover its beauty while learning the difference between living sand dollars and cherishing their shell souvenirs as a special gift from the sea. Perfect for a day at the beach or a bedtime read, Sand Dollars by the Seashore is sure to delight and inspire young imaginations.
Did you know that sea stars pump water instead of blood through their systems? Although commonly called starfish, these life forms are not fish! Instead, they are part of a group containing other animals like sea urchins and sand dollars. Sea stars are hardy animals that can grow new limbs and open clam shells. In this interesting title, students will enjoy learning more about these shining ocean stars!
Sea urchins look like fireworks exploding underwater. The spines that create their unusual appearance do have a purpose: they protect the tiny animals from dangerous predators. In this title, sea urchins of all shapes, sizes, and colors are on display for early readers!
Familiar burgess characters Danny Meadow Mouse, Jimmy Skunk, and Reddy Fox explore every nook and cranny of the shoreline and learn first hand about the habits and habitats of spider crabs, sea cucumbers, sand eels, and that strangest of little fishes — the sea horse.Veteran storyteller and nature lover Thornton W. Burgess provides fascinating information to young readers as he describes coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way he weaves the area's many life forms into an entertaining tale that's also an illustrated guide to the seashore's natural history.
While walking on the shore of the Sea of Cortez a man has a remarkable dialog with the sea. Using the naturally occurring dove like structures found in sand dollars, the sea relates its past wars with the sun, the wind, the mountains, and the moon and addresses its ongoing war with man. The sea's explanation of the need for the fifth dove is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression with readers of all ages.
Following the wild success of The Big Book of Bugs and The Big Book of Beasts, The Big Book of the Blue is the third installment in Yuval Zommer’s beloved series. Alongside everything the young oceanographer needs to know, Zommer’s charming illustrations bring to life some of the slipperiest, scaliest, strangest, and most monstrous underwater animals.
The book opens by explaining how different types of animals are able to breathe and survive underwater, and the different families to which they belong. Subsequent pages are dedicated to specific creatures, including sea turtles, whales, sharks, stingrays, and seahorses, and show varied life in specific habitats, such as a coral reef or deep sea bed. The Big Book of the Blue also explores the underwater world thematically, looking at animals in danger, learning how to spot creatures at the beach, and discovering how to do our part to save sea life. Beautiful and filled with fascinating facts, young, curious readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from the page.
This stunning new offering from the Welcome to the Museum series guides readers around the world's oceans, from sandy shorelines to the darkest depths. Learn about the ocean’s most fascinating animals, including giant whale sharks, tiny tropical fish, and majestic manatees, among many others. With expert text by marine biologist Loveday Trinick and stunning illustrations by Teagan White, travel the world from frozen Arctic seas to shimmering coral reefs, and learn why it is so important that we protect our oceans.
Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages.
In the city of Tarian, where mastery over the tides is essential for the city’s very existence, an unforeseen and unthinkable thing has happened. The Master of Tides—Tarian’s guardian for over seven hundred years—has died, and the Sand Coin, the object that gives the Master his power, has vanished into the shadows.
With the Sand Coin missing and Tarian under threat from an impending cataclysmic event, Cora, a spirited orphan girl laboring in the city’s Water Works, embarks on a desperate quest to save her city.
Along with Will, her charming yet unwelcome companion, Cora discovers that to find the Sand Coin, she must join the magical Wandering Circus. But who in this mysterious and dangerous troupe of young performers can she trust? And how far will Cora have to travel with the circus in order to bring the Sand Coin home?
Starfish have arms, but no legs. They have feet, but no toes. Starfish aren't fish, but they are living animals. In this Let's-Read-and-Find-Out classic, learn how starfish move, eat, and grow.
This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It's a Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series are:
- hands-on and visual
Sand dollars are a wonderful blend of nature’s artistry and wonder. If you’ve ever walked on a beach and stumbled across a sand dollar, you know just how delicate and magical these little creatures can be.
Next, look at a few facts about sand dollars.
SAND DOLLAR FACTS
- Sand dollars are flat, disk-shaped creatures that typically range from 2–4 inches across and are a kind of echinoderm, related to sea urchins and starfish.
- They come in a few varieties, but the most commonly recognized sand dollar has a petal-like pattern on its upper surface, but it’s not a flower, it’s a set of pores that help it move and breathe.
- They live on the ocean floor, often burrowing into sand in shallow coastal waters.
- When alive, sand dollars are a rich purple or greenish color and covered in tiny, short spines.
- Once the sand dollar dies and its spines fall off, its exoskeleton (called a “test”) is left to bleach in the sun, turning a soft white. Inside, a sand dollar has tiny “doves”, small, jaw-like structures which you can sometimes find when the sand dollar breaks.
Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman is the perfect reference book for all things ocean, I just love the beautiful illustrations.
SAND DOLLAR ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
- Perfect for preschoolers and inexpensive, these Paper Plate Sand Dollars will be a hit.
- Fascinating Life Cycle Of A Sand Dollar & Hydro Dipped Craft is a colorful twist on creating art with your beach finds.
- If all you have is sand dollar pieces you can still create this awesome Broken Sand Dollar Project
- Learn How To Make A Simple Sea Urchin Craft: Echinoderms For Kids to learn about a completely different species.
- Grab a cold drink and let someone else handle the read aloud for a few minutes with this reading of Sand Dollars By The Seashore on YouTube.
- Small sand dollars you can use for science shelf exploration, sensory bins, ocean dioramas, and more.
Bring a bit of the beach into your home with these simple and sweet sand dollar cookies.
They’re a wonderful activity to do with kids, perfect for a summer afternoon or a beach-unit study.
MAKE SAND DOLLAR EDIBLE COOKIES FROM COOKIE MIX
Ingredients:
- 1 package sugar cookie mix
- Sliced almonds
- Graham crackers or brown sugar
First, preheat oven: to 350°F
Prepare cookie dough according to package instructions.
Roll dough into golf ball–sized balls and place them 2 inches apart on a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Gently press each ball into a disk about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake for 10–12 minutes or until the edges are firm and the bottoms are light golden brown.
One trick I have discovered for cookies that come out flattened or lopsided is to place a glass jar or cup over them while they are warm and gently swirl the cup this creates perfect circles.
Press 5 almonds into the center of each cookie in a flower-like pattern to resemble a sand dollar. The sand dollar’s unique, flower-like pattern on its back is a big part of its look and this is a tasty way to recreate.
Remove from the oven and let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Crush vanilla wafers up by hand in a plastic baggy or in a food processor to create sand, a perfect serving bed for your sand dollar cookies.
Or to simplify this activity even further you can use brown sugar sprinkled on your plate to give it the look of sand.
How fun are these cookies?
