I love making crafts with the kids especially ones they can lead and do themselves. Making salt dough ornaments are such a perfect kid led craft! They get to measure, pour, stir, knead, roll out the dough, form the shape and paint them! The only thing they need from me is to set up the craft and put them in the oven. If you have never made salt dough ornaments before it is a type of dough that is easy to form like playdough but hardens in the oven so that you can paint it and give it as a gift. My son asked to make ornaments for the family for Christmas so I was super excited to jump into making these. It also gave me flashbacks to making them in elementary school ha!
Looking to buy a Cricut machine from Canada? Check out this post.
Want to learn more about all of Cricut’s heat press options? Read about them here!
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience, from which we may earn a small commission.
What do you need to make salt dough?
You only need three ingredients to make salt dough!
- 4 cups – all purpose flour (make sure it is NOT self-rising!)
- 1 cup – table salt
- 1.5 -2 cups – water
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters or play-doh cutters
How to make salt dough?
Making the salt dough is super easy so the kids can do it themselves!
- Get a big bowl and measure/pour in the flour
- Add the salt
- Add 1.5 cups of the water
- Knead for a couple of minutes (kids can smush their hands and get dirty!).
- The dough should form a nice ball. If its too dry, add more of he water (if too wet add more flour)
- TIP! Have the kids do this on the floor! easier for them to work through and you can just vacuum for easy cleanup!
Create your salt dough ornaments
Depending on your kids age they can either form the ornaments themselves or you can use a cutter (cookie or playdough) to create the shape of the ornament. We use Christmas shaped cutters.
- Roll out the dough to 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. (I prefer the thinner 1/4″ thickness)
- TIP! put the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper – it makes it easier for kids to roll as it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin
- Use cookie cutters to cut out the ornaments. The kids can use their fingers or popsicle sticks to add any details they want!
- If you want to make a handprint, cut out a large circle (use a bowl) and have your kids firmly press their hand in the middle. You may want to gentle press on top if its a younger kid to make sure you get a good print.
- If you are making a hanging ornament then add a hole using a wooden skewer before baking!
Baking your Salt Dough ornaments
- Pre-heat oven to 250 F
- Put ornaments in oven on a parchment lined cookie sheet
- Bake for 3-4 hours depending on thickness checking occasionally to see if they are done.
- How do you know if they are done? If you touch them and they are squishy at all they still need more time.
Decorating your ornaments
Once your ornaments are cooled you can have your kids paint them any way they want! They can also add glitter too as a fun addition! I usually use Crayola washable paint as my go-to paint as its super easy for the kids to use, the colours are vibrant and its very easy cleanup. I do suggest two things: 1) have your kid write their name and year on the back 2) once the paint is dry, seal it with mod podge so that it doesn’t chip. Don’t skip this step!
This is such a fun multi-day crafting activity that the kids can lead and have fun with. Its a bit messy and it isn’t quick but we always have such a blast whenever we make salt dough creations.
Happy Crafting!
Jo
Like this Post? You may also like:
READ:
Create fun Salt Dough ornaments for Christmas!
Check out our valentines day round up of activities!
Need ideas for a rainy afternoon? We have got you covered!
Kids want to bake? Try these super tasty healthy muffins!
Want a new holiday tradition? Try reverse advent!
