Salt dough is a wonderful way for kids to explore textures. They can easily turn what they make into any number of things, like magnets or ornaments.
Materials
- salt dough (salt, water, flour)
- rolling pin
- cookie cutters
- acrylic roller
- metal spatula
- items to create textures
- baking sheet
- acrylic paint
- varnish (optional)
Salt Dough Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
Combine salt and water. Add flour, mix with a spoon, and knead for about 7-8 minutes, so the dough becomes nice a smooth.
Form a ball and flatten with a rolling pin. Our shapes were somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch, however any thickness will do, as long as you adjust the baking time accordingly.
Cookie cutters are great for making shapes from the dough. Once they’re made, set aside any extra dough to roll out again.
Any number of household items can be used to create textures, by pressing them into the dough. A few examples are cedar and pine branches, coral and shells, buttons, graters, toothpicks, and so on. Have kids gather these things before making the dough, because apparently, salt dough doesn’t like to sit around for too long.
Pressing items into the dough sometimes distorts the shape. You can use the cookie cutter again to fix that, by removing any excess dough. If you’re making ornaments, make holes in the shapes prior to baking. Wooden skewers work well for this. Just remember to poke it through both sides to get a nice, clean hole.
Use a metal spatula to remove the dough shapes from your work surface and onto a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 F until they are hard. The length of time depends on the thickness, so keep checking in 1/2 hour increments. Ours were not very thick, but still took 2 hours. Increasing the temperature can cause the dough to become brownish, so it’s worth being patient.
Once they have cooled completely, use acrylic paints to decorate them. You can use them undiluted, for intense colours, or mixed with plenty of water to create washes. If you’re making magnets, you can attach them to the back using a strong glue.
ArtClubBlog 
Been wanting to make salt dough with the kiddos and this reminded me. I especially love the idea of using items to make textures. Very cool.
What a cute idea. We made some salt dough ornaments with cookie cutters a while back, but I love the idea of using different textures! And what a great idea for magnets, we never seem to have enough!
Making ornaments is a great idea. Another reason to make some more!
my university has to do with nursery governess and we use that technique a lot!its a really great idea and kids love it!
They do love it, and it’s so easy to make. Thanks for visiting!
Love this! Great minds think alike–I have a recent post about stamping on salt dough too. I love all of your ideas for making textures. Came by from the linkup at Gingersnap Crafts. New follower.
We’re huge salt dough fans and this is really fun way to decorate salt dough. Thanks for sharing!
These are really cool and much easier to make than I would have expected! I love the mix of colours you’ve used too!
Thank you so much, and yes, they were very easy to make.
What a great idea for a project to do with the kids!!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
I’m so glad I found you on Delicate Construction! I love the idea of using them as magnets. Great job!
Katie
http://www.funhomethings.com
Thanks for visiting Katie!
What a fun and great idea for crafting with kids.
Thanks so much for linking up at I Gotta Create! ❤ Christina
Another great project!! I teach third grade, and this would be so fun to do! My students would love this. They would make a great gift for their parents. Thank you so much for sharing at A Bouquet of Talent. I appreciate it so much, and I am definitely going to have fun with this project. HUGS
Thank you Kathy! It’s such an easy project to do with kids, and the results are pretty cool. Thanks for hosting your parties and giving everyone an opportunity to share 🙂
Awesome! I remember making salt dough when we were in elementary school (long, long, ago) and it was super fun. I’m sure the kids will love this project. Thanks for sharing.
So awesome! And as always another great project you are so creative! Thanks for sharing your inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!
Great project! I made some pendants using baking soda and cornstarch and I also used stamps to make different textures. I wonder which is easier to use! Patsy @ patsypat.blogspot.com
This was very easy to make. I was thinking of using stamps next time. Great idea!
Oh, how fun! We are going to be making some salt dough tomorrow, maybe we will try some of these. I love them. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!