Looking for help building an exhibit of quartz crystals inside of an existing planter box. Specifically, I'm trying to figure out what to fill the planter with that will support the large crystals and crystal clusters and keep small fingers from getting pinched under them. We are a science/children's museum and any substance inside the planter box will likely be scooped out and collected or thrown on the floor at times. Sand would be my ideal material, but I think it would lead to digging and sand on the museum floor. What material would you use, or how would you cover the material? Have you done something like this before?
The planter box is a built in part of the museum, and currently is filled with red cinder and green calcite pieces. When the quartz pieces are added to the box, visitors will be invited to touch gently-- the exhibit will not be enclosed. There will be small LED lights installed at the base of the crystals to light them up. I've been internally calling this new exhibit the "quartz forest" or the "quartz garden". I've included my artist's rendering of the situation.
