If you want an easy activity to do with the kids to get them in the mood for the holidays, making salt dough ornaments is just what you need. It's simple, fun, and leaves you with something your kids can hang on the tree and feel proud of! You can also make handprints or footprints out of this just as easily. Made with 3 simple ingredients of plain flour, water and salt - perfect to make with kids and lasts for years.
You only need a few ingredients and utensils to make this work - a large bowl for mixing, a wooden spoon, some flour, salt, and warm water. If you have a toddler, get them into a learning tower, give them the ingredients and make some memories together.
Whether you are making Christmas ornaments or handprints or footprints for your child - the recipe is the same.
It is a perfect indoor activity for kids before Christmas.
Simple and lasts for years. And we will take you through it step by step.
Ingredients
- Plain Flour - You can use any flour for this recipe but I prefer to use white plan flour because it gives a nice white color. This way you can easily add color or even leave as it is. Opt for the cheapest you can find because it really makes no difference in this recipe.
- Salt - the reason it is called salt dough. Salt is needed as a preservative. If you just had bread and water, in a few days you would find a very mouldy ornament sitting on your kitchen counter. We used table salt in this recipe, you can use any fine salt but since you won't be eating this go for the cheapest you can find.
- Warm water - helps the dough stick together easier and is much nicer to knead than cold dough.
How to make it?
We will go through it step by step so we are sure you will have the best salt dough and a great afternoon with your kids.
1. Take a large bowl and mix the flour and salt.
2. Add warm water bit by bit while slowly stirring.
3. Stir until a dough starts forming. If it is too loose add a bit more flour, if it is too firm add a tiny bit of water until you get the right consistency.
4. You should have a nice dough ball.
5. Lay the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it out.
6. Flatten it out until it is about ¼ inch (approx. ½ cm) thick.
7. Take cookie cutters and cut out the shapes you need. If you want to make a handprint you can use a large teacup or a bowl to make a round shape and then let your child print their hand onto it.
8. Peel away the remainder of the dough from around the cookies.
9. Repeat the process with the leftover dough that you have removed from the cutouts.
10. Use a chopstick, straw or skewers to make holes at the top of each shape if you will be using them as hanging ornaments. You can also use a fork or a toothpick if you want to add any decorations before baking.
11. Transfer the parchment paper to a baking tray and preheat the oven to 300°F/ 150°C.
12. Remove from the oven after an hour. They should be hard when they come out.
13. Once cooled, paint them or decorate them with non-toxic paint. Once dry from decorating thread a ribbon on them and hang them on the tree.
FAQ
You can use whatever paints you have on hand as long as they are non-toxic and safe for children to use (if you are making it with children). We use non-toxic acrylic paints. But remember, even if the paint is non-toxic that does not mean that it is safe to be ingested.
If you are worried about using any paint you can leave them as they are, and before they go into the oven decorate them by making shapes or holes in them with a toothpick or fork.
The salt within the dough does a great job on preserving these but if you want to make sure they last even longer and the decorations keep you can use Mod Podge or spray each side with a coat of polyurethane spray. I personally don't because I like to keep things as non-toxic as possible.
This sometimes happens. To minimize this you can keep the oven on lower and bake for longer. However, for some shapes like the bells puffing up works.
You can, but they may crack more. If you do want to make them thicker, once you cut them thicker just bake them for longer.
Top Tips
- Use the cheapest flour and salt you can find – you're not eating these so it really does not make a difference
- When making the dough if it is looser add more flour, if it is too hard add more water. It should be a nice dough ball when finished with kneading
- Let the ornaments fully cool before paining them
- Store them in bubble wrap between holidays to reduce their moisture exposure
Other recipes to make with kids
- My son loves making these naturally sweetened Gingerbread cookies that are decorated with a super easy royal icing
- Or these delicious no-bake Healthy Ferrero treats
If you like this recipe, rate it below and leave us a comment.
Easy Salt Dough For Ornaments and Handprints
EQUIPMENT
- Stainless Steel Baking Trays
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup table salt
- ¾ cup warm water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F/ 150°C.
- Take a large bowl and mix the flour and salt.
- Add warm water bit by bit while slowly stirring. Stir until a dough starts forming. If it is too loose add a bit more flour, if it is too firm add a tiny bit of water until you get the right consistency.
- Lay the dough between two pieces or parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it out until it is about ¼ inch (approx. ½ cm) thick.
- Take cookie cutters and cut out the shapes you need. If you want to make a handprint you can use a large teacup or a bowl to make a round shape and then let your child print their hand onto it.
- Use a chopstick, straw or skewers to make holes at the top of each shape if you will be using them as hanging ornaments. You can also use a fork or a toothpick if you want to add any decorations before baking.
- Tranafer to parchment paper and bake for an hour. They should be hard when they come out.
- Once cooled, paint them or decorate them. Once dry from decorating thread a ribbon on them and hang them around your hole.
Notes
- Non-edible!
- Use the cheapest flour and salt you can find as it really does not make a difference
- If you think the dough is puffing up, reduce heat and bake for longer than the indicated time
- If the dough is still soft after an hour of baking bake for a little longer
- Let the ornaments fully cool before paining them
- Use non-toxic paint as it will most likely end up on skin and maybe even a kid's mouth.
- Store them in bubble wrap between holidays to reduce their moisture exposure
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