Home > Crafts for and with Kids > Fabulous Salt Dough Recipes to try
ByCerys ParkerPublished on
Salt dough is one of my favourite materials to make and use with the kids – it’s easily available and because it’s mouldable we can make what we want like Christmas Decorations or Rainbow Fish and then dry them to keep them. A word of warning – salt dough will keep for a while, however it does need to be kept in dry conditions – any sort of moisture will get into the finished ornaments if not sealed and start to destroy them. Sealing is easy some PVA/White school glue will coating will provide a great water resistance but still won’t make them suitable for keeping outdoors unless it never rains where you are. But there’s not just one way to make salt dough – so we’ve put together some of our favourite Salt Dough Recipes for you to try.
Now there are lots of different dough recipes and clay recipes but this time around I’m just focusing on salt dough – with 3 main ingredients flour, salt and water we’ve found a few different recipes for you to try!
Easy Salt Dough Recipes
Our favourite and go to recipe for making any salt dough ornaments is our quick and easy microwavable salt dough recipe – it’s so simple to make and takes around 3 minutes for an average sized ornament.
Of course, that’s not the only salt dough recipe – when we make larger models then the microwave won’t work as well and then we like using our classic salt dough recipe. It does take a little longer but it gives us the option of air drying it for a couple of days (often needed with BIG models) or drying them in the oven.
Coloured Salt Dough Recipes
My kids LOVE to paint the salt dough ornaments but sometimes you want to have your salt dough coloured to start off with then I use the Coloured Salt Dough Recipe from Nurturestore it’s simple and easy to make – we always seem to have some coloured salt on hand like she does from spelling practice and writing trays.
The opposite happens though sometimes we want to remove the colour from the salt dough and yes you could make the white baker’s clay we have but it takes longer! Domestically Blissfull has the solution with this guide on how to whiten salt dough – perfect for some homemade gift tags.
Not to be microwaved but this Rainbow Glitter Salt dough from The Imagination Tree would be a great material to use for decorations and ornaments.
Red Ted Art makes marbled salt dough to create beads a great alternative for painting.
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Scented Salt Dough Recipes
A few years ago we experimented with scented salt dough for Christmas and it was a hit – our Christmas scented salt dough smells like gingerbread cookies and the smell lasted through the whole of the Christmas season. I used the garland we made on the mini tree in our kitchen and every time we brushed it as we baked the scent was released.
If you find ginger a little over powering then why not try this Cinnamon versionfrom Tara Dennis.
Over on Lemon Lime Adventures, they experimented with Peppermint Essential Oil in their scented salt dough recipe.
Find the scents of Christmas a little too much then why not try this Almond Scented versionfrom The OT Toolbox.
The SuburbanMom has a citrus recipe that she used for some easter decorations but would be perfect for spring crafting.
I’m off to hunt to find the oil used in this Watermelon Recipe from Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails as I can’t imagine anything smelling better during the summer months.
To finish off the seasons why not make some pumpkin spice scented salt dough with this recipe fromJennifer Rizzo.
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Author
Cerys Parker
Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.
