Looking for a simple homemade ornament that kids can make? These Salt Dough Ornaments are perfect for children of all ages – younger kids can help make and roll the dough, and cut and decorate shapes, older children can take charge of the process from start to finish.
For more Christmas ornament DIY tutorials for children from preschool to school age in our post, Christmas Decorations for Kids to Make.
Salt Dough Ornaments: Recipe & Tutorial
Don’t have the ingredients for salt dough handy? Our three ingredient Air Dry Modelling Clay will work too.
You will need – for salt dough:
- 1½ cups white flour
- 1 cup salt
- ¾ cup water
- Additional flour for dusting hands
- Baking paper
- Baking tray
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters
For decorating:
- Child friendly acrylic paint
- String or yarn
How to make:
1. Preheat the oven on low to 200˚F/100˚C.
2. Mix the flour and salt together well.
3. Slowly add the water.
4. Mix well.
5. Dust hands with flour. Form dough into a ball. Set aside.
6. Line a work area with baking paper.
7. Dust your hands and lined area with flour. You’ll want to make sure you cover the area well or the dough will stick to the paper. Place the dough ball on the dusted table area.
8. Roll the dough out to desired thickness with a floured rolling pin.
9. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough.
Tip: After pushing the cookie cutter down into the dough, we wiggled it around a little bit to help the dough lift from the baking paper.
10. Line the baking tray with baking paper.
11. Place the salt dough shapes onto the baking tray, keeping them at least 2-3cm/1 inch apart.
Tip: If you have excess dough left over, you can roll it back up into a ball and then re-roll the dough out to create more shapes.
12. Add holes to the dough toward the top of each shape with a drinking straw.
13. Bake in the oven for two to three hours.
14. When the dough is completely dry, paint the shapes.
Allow paint to dry.
15. Add string or yarn through the hols to create your ornaments.
Now they are ready to hang on your tree!
You can also use this same process to make salt dough necklaces – a great gift kids can make. Perfect for Mother’s Day.
More Christmas craft fun:
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
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