This sundial project is both simple enough for a child to do as well as elegant enough for anyone to want to show off in their garden. It can be used as part of a science project, a way to teach time or just as a pretty garden ornament.
Supplies Needed:
1 pencil thick piece of doweling about 12 inches high
12 rocks ( these can be colorful rocks, decorative glass pieces or even seashells)
A watch or clock
Water
A small shovel
1/4 of a bag of concrete
A bucket or wheelbarrow to mix concrete mix in
To Make This Project:
Find a sunny place that is likely to stay that way for most of the year. Be sure it is free of weeds and other vegetation. Place the doweling into the dirt well enough that it will not fall or blow down. Tie a small loop into one end of the yarn or string and place loop over stick. Cut the string to the approximate length you want the circle to be. Remember that you’ll be placing stone markers down to mark the hours so make it a little on the large size. About the size of a large round cake pan is probably a good size to shoot for. Tie the opposite end into a loop and place it over the other stick or pencil. Use this to “draw” a circle in the dirt. Make sure your circle mark is deep enough to see and not wear away too easily.
I suggest starting at noon so that the first marking stone may be placed straight up from the doweling.The shadow should fall to the north of the dowel if you are in the northern hemisphere. If you are in the southern hemisphere it will fall to the south. Each hour place a stone to mark the hour. Be sure to place them outside the circle you marked previously. This may take a couple of days to mark every hour and you may decide that you want to use smaller stones to mark the half hours.
Once all of the hours have been marked, remove the dowel and use a small shovel to dig out the circle down about 1-2 inches. Slowly pour in concrete followed by a little water.You may wish to add a commercial concrete color to the mixture for a little extra splash of color. Alternate until you have enough mixture, about the consistency of a thick milkshake or cake batter, to fill the dug out circle. Pour mixture into the hole. Paint or varnish the dowel.Let the concrete mixture set for half an hour to an hour before placing dowel back into the center (if you’re not sure where center is use the piece of string to measure from the edge to find the center). Place the hour markers just inside the circle from where they had been placed before the circle was dug out. Let the concrete sit for at least 2-3 days. On the second day you may find it helpful to use a spray bottle full of water to spray the concrete and prevent cracking.
*Note. You will probably find that your sundial is an hour “off” during daylight savings time. Not all states follow this and outside of the USA it’s not generally an issue.The shadows may lengthen and shorten as the seasons progress so you may wish to check the setting of the stones over the course of a couple of weeks before setting the concrete down.
