Sea glass is weathered pieces of glass found on beaches. Some people collect this type of glass as a hobby to make jewelry or other items with the glass.
It is produced by rolling broken glass in the ocean for years until the edges are rounded off.
The salt in ocean water and the action of waves smooth out the rough edges of broken glass over time. The salt water helps to erode the glass and gives it that frosted look.
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Sea Glass Facts for Kids
- Sea glass is glass that’s been discarded in the sea.
- Salt in ocean water and waves smooths out the rough edges
- Sea glass can be in the ocean for 50-100 years
- Common colors include clear, green, brown, and blue
On the beach today, I found this piece of glass (image below). It was smooth and cool to the touch. It can be difficult to spot glass, especially on a stony beach like my local one.
But with a little patience and a keen eye, you can sometimes find some beautiful pieces. This is my favorite piece of glass that I have found so far because it’s almost heart-shaped.
Finding Sea Glass Can Be Tricky
Sea glass can be found worldwide, but the best places to look are during spring tides and the first low tide after a storm.
It can be tricky to spot sea glass, especially on a stone beach. You need to have a sharp eye to find it.
Colors
Sea glass is usually green, brown, white, and clear. It comes from glass bottles, plates, glasses, windows, and many other things that break into small pieces when they hit the water.
It can be found in other colors, including jade, amber, golden amber, lime green, forest green, and ice- or soft blue.
Uncommon sea glass colors include green from early to mid-1900s Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and RC Cola bottles.
Extremely rare sea glass colors include gray, pink, teal, black, yellow, turquoise, red, and orange. These colors are found once in every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected.
Hobby
Sea glass is collected by many beach-goers and beachcombers and is often used to create jewelry, stained glass, and other decorative pieces.
As sea glass is becoming harder to find, some artisans are making artificial sea glass from ordinary glass pieces using a rock tumbler. This glass is chunkier than most true sea glass but meets the demand of crafters at a cheaper price.
You can see that there are so many different colors you can find on the beach. Generally, on my local beach, I find clear and green as I guess these are the most common colors found in glass in my local stores. But, I have also found brown and blue glass.
Have you ever found any glass on the beach?
I wondered how it got there. Did it come from a bottle that was thrown into the sea? that was then broken in a storm?
I generally pass on the glass I find to local artists who make jewelry some pieces are perfect others pieces are a little small and I don’t think they would suit being made into jewelry.
