There are some crafts that are so versatile and easy that most of us have done them at some point in our life. Salt dough is one of these. It’s perfect for making ornaments and a go to craft for elementary teachers. But, before you click out of this post saying been there done that, I promise to have some fresh ideas on how to use it. So, keep reading for a salt dough recipe and a few ways I used it with my kids.
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How to Make and Play With Salt Dough
Salt Dough Basics:
To make the salt dough, all you need is salt, water, and flour. Mix them in a 1:1:2 ratio. I used Unsophisticook’s recipe. Make sure you remember that only the flour needs doubled. I accidently also doubled the water and had to go to the store to get more salt to fix it.
Once it is somewhat mixed together, knead it.
Once the dough is smooth, it is ready to play and create with. Keep reading for inspiration on what to do with it.
If you want your creations to last, you will want to bake them once you are done. Stick them in your oven at 250°F. They take a long time to fully harden and dry out so check them about every 30 minutes. You don’t want them brown but you do want them to be completely hard and gain a bit of color.
After baking the salt dough recipe, it can be painted with regular acrylic paint.
Lastly, if you want to preserve it better, coat it in a sealant. My go to is Mod Podge. I just paint it on with a paintbrush and let it dry.
Crafts Using a Salt Dough Recipe:
Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s move on to some fun crafts you can use it for.
Open Ended Play
I’m going to start with a no-brainer. Give your kids some salt dough and let them make whatever they want with it. My 4 year old daughter made Paw Patrol pups, a mermaid, and snakes with hers. My 2 year old son just played with his like Play-Doh. Towards the end I rolled some in balls and squished them into disks. I wanted my son to have something to paint the next day.
Then, once I cooked their creations, they painted them. After the paint dried, I sealed them with Modge Podge.
Learning Activities
The next craft we made with our salt dough was our next alphabet craft. We have been going through the alphabet and making animal crafts that look like the letter. We make them from things starting with that same letter. So now that we are on s is for snake, I thought salt dough would be a fun craft supply starting with s to use with it.
This is obviously a very specific use for salt dough, but you can make other learning activities. You can make letters, numbers, shapes or other fun learning props from salt dough.
Keepsake Crafts
There are so many cute and fun keepsake crafts you can make with salt dough. This is where you get a lot of the standard salt dough crafts. I started with the traditional baby keepsake. First, I made balls of salt dough. Then, I squished them into flat thick disks of dough.
I pressed my baby’s foot and hand into disks of the dough, cooked, and sealed them. I hadn’t yet sealed them when I took the below picture which is why they aren’t shiny like the others.
But, I didn’t stop there. I also made a couple of others that I cooked but didn’t seal. Instead of using them as a keepsake, I used them as crayon molds. Learn how I made these adorable baby feet and hand crayons here.
Jewelry
Lastly, this salt dough recipe can be used to make kid’s jewelry. We made pup badge necklaces since our other badge necklaces were such a hit. More instructions on making a necklace coming soon. You can also make the dough into beads, bracelets, rings, etc.
Conclusion of Our Salt Dough Recipe and Crafts
This salt dough recipe was easy to make and my kids had a lot of fun playing with it. I was impressed by how many different ways we were able to use it. I also liked that it was really three activities for the kids. They got to make the dough, play and create with the dough, and then later paint it all. We will definitely be making it again and figuring out new things to make with it. What activities or crafts have you used salt dough for?
If your kids like playing with dough, check out our single serving Kool-Aid Play-Doh recipe. And if they enjoyed making the dough, check out some other easy and fun ways your kids can help and play in the kitchen.
