As building blocks go, pancakes fall low on the list. But a successful sand castle, I learned, starts with pancakes. A tall stack. Turns out those plastic molds I had packed with sand — only to dump ...

John Gowdy, who started building sand castles with his own kids about 25 years ago, has all the credentials (and then some) to show you how to build a perfectly good one with your kids. He even ...

Next time you're at the beach, take a look around: You may spy a mermaid with long, tangled hair or a dragon with pointy ears and flared nostrils. If you get lucky, you'll come across an actual castle ...

When Viola Connelly and her friend Casey Metzler, both 10, enter the annual Saltaire Sandcastle Contest on Fire Island, the girls from Manhattan and Brooklyn choose a timely theme — they craft an ...