Easy 3-Ingredient Salt Dough Recipe for DIY Gifts and Homemade Holiday Ornaments
Want to make an easy homemade salt dough recipe with organic or gluten-free flour, three simple ingredients - flour, salt, water - plus natural dyes - for homemade DIY salt dough ornaments, beads, holiday decor, gifts and more? Plus, enjoy educational ideas for using salt dough and playdough to encourage early childhood learning skills.
Educational Playtime
Now that you are ready to your homemade salt dough ready, it's time to explore the endless possibilities of creativity and learning. Here are some ways to make the most of salt dough playtime:
Shapes and Letters: Use rolling pins and cookie cutters to create various shapes and even form letters of the alphabet. This activity not only enhances fine motor skills but also introduces early literacy concepts.
Sensory Exploration: Salt dough engages the senses, making it an excellent tool for sensory play. Encourage your child to squeeze, mold, and explore the texture of the dough.
Imagination Station: Challenge your child's imagination by asking them to create animals, objects, or scenes using playdough. This fosters creativity and storytelling skills.
Math Fun: Use salt dough to teach basic math concepts like counting, addition, and subtraction. You can also create simple math problems and have your child use dough to represent the answers.
Social Play: Salt dough can be a social activity. Invite friends or family members to join in the fun, promoting collaboration, sharing, and communication skills as you make DIY ornaments or homemade holiday gifts together.
Generosity and Gratitude: Discuss how making homemade gifts fro friends, loved ones and teachers is a great way to express appreciation and gratitude for people in our lives.
Color mixing: Mix red and blue to make purple, red and yellow to make orange, and yellow and blue to make green. Discuss how more and less saturated colors look and how mixing and adding colors in different ratios changes the color. For example, how do you mix blue and yellow to make green or turquoise? What different shades of purple can you make from a reddish purple to bluish purple hue?
Incorporate Nature: Consider pressing pine needles, pine cones, leaves, acorns, Maple seeds, Crab apples, herbs, shells and other nature items into the dough to leave natural impressions.
Patterns: Arrange pieces of different color dough into patters: green, yellow, red, green, yellow, red.
Sorting: Sort and group play dough into the correct color.
Homemade salt dough is not only an entertaining activity but also an excellent learning tool. It allows children to explore, create, and develop various skills while having a blast. So, the next time you're in need of a creative outlet for your kids, whip up a batch of this homemade salt dough and watch their imagination flourish. Happy creating!
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Homemade Play Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour if needed)
1 cup salt
1 cup lukewarm water
Food coloring and/or glitter (optional)
Turmeric, beet powder, moringa, matcha, spirulina, cinnamon, paprika, flower petals, natural food dye.
Instructions:
Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and salt.
Add Water: Keep stirring until the mixture forms a large, non-sticky ball of dough.
If dough sticks to hands, add more flour until dough stops sticking to hands.
Optional Creativity: If you'd like to add color or sparkle to your playdough, divide it into separate sections and add several drops of food coloring, glitter or natural food dyes (Turmeric, beet powder, moringa, matcha, spirulina, cinnamon, paprika, flower petals, natural food dye) to each section.
Beet Powder: Purple/Pink
Moringa/ Matcha: Green
Turmeric: Yellow/Orange
Paprika: Rust/Burnt Sienna
No dye? Press pine needles or beads into dough or decorate with permanent marker or paint once dry.
Knead the dough until the color or glitter is evenly distributed.
Consider braiding or combining colors for a tie-dye or swirling effect.
Create DIY gifts: Holiday ornaments, beads or wine glass markers, etc.
Ornaments: Use cookie cutters or small round jars/cans to shape holiday-themed or flat circular ornaments or holiday decor:
Winter: Snowflake, mitten, snowman
Spring/Summer: Flower, Sun, Butterfly
Autumn: Maple & Oak Leaves, Apples, acorn, squirrel, pumpkin
Christmas: Tree, angel, stocking, reindeer
Hanukkah: Dreidel, Menorah, candle
Thanksgiving: Turkey, corn on the cob, Pilgrim hat, Cornucopia (horn of plenty)
Halloween: Ghost, Pumpkin, Witch’s Hat, Broom
Easter: Egg, Bunny, Basket, baby chick
Beads: Form small round balls of alternating colors or combine colors for a swirled, speckled or tie dye effect.
Wine Glass Markers: Press small balls of dough into small flat pancakes. Make sure they are each a different color or consider pressing a different color bead or drawing a different letter or symbol (sun, star, heart, flower, fish) into each to differentiate the glass markers.
Use a toothpick, chopstick or pencil point to create hole to thread ribbon, embroidery floss, twine or wire through to create ornament, wine glass marker, string of beads, etc.
Incorporate Nature: Consider pressing pine needles, pine cones, leaves, acorns, Maple seeds, Crab apples, herbs, shells and other nature items (or beads) into the dough to leave natural impressions.
Ornaments: Use cookie cutters or small round jars or cans to shape holiday-themed or flat circular ornaments or holiday decor: Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, etc.
Use a toothpick, chopstick or pencil point to create hole to thread ribbon, embroidery floss, twine or wire through to create ornament, wine glass marker, string of beads, etc.
Let air dry for 2 - 7 days.
Alternatively, bake at 200°F (93°C) for 30 minutes to several hours depending on thickness of dough.
Thread ribbon, embroidery floss, twine or wire through holes to create ornament, wine glass marker, string of beads, etc.
Decorate your home with DIY ornaments or wrap in tissue paper and ribbon or twine to give DIY gifts to family, friends and teachers.
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Want to teach early childhood learning skills in just minutes a day? Enjoy simple questions, conversation starters and no prep activities to teach preschool math, STEM, sight words, literacy, character education and more in just minutes a day throughout your daily routine.
You can connect and learn with your 2, 3, 4 or 5 year old child and prepare toddlers and young kids for preschool and kindergarten in just minutes a day.
Why wait? Want to make an easy homemade salt dough recipe with organic or gluten-free flour, three simple ingredients - flour, salt, water - plus natural dyes - for homemade DIY salt dough ornaments, beads, holiday decor, DIY craft gifts and more? Plus, enjoy educational ideas for using salt dough and playdough to encourage early childhood learning skills.