We love toddler-friendly crafts and activities! Salt Dough is always a good one. But there’s no chance my toddler would wait 2 or 3 hours to play with the figures until they get out of the oven. This is why we love this No Bake Salt Dough Recipe! 1 or 2 minutes on the microwave and sorted! Let me tell you all about it.
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What do you need?
For this No Bake Salt Dough Recipe you need:
- 1 cup of salt
- 1 cup of water
- 2 cups of flour
- Non-toxic paints (UK link / US link)
- Paint brushes (UK link / US link)
Step-by-step No Bake Salt Dough Recipe for Kids
Ready? Just 7 steps for the No Bake Salt Dough Recipe. Here they are:
- Mix the salt, water and flour together until you have a smooth dough.
- Roll out the dough until it is approximately 8mm thick.
- Make shapes! There are many ways. You can use cookie cutters. Alternatively, do the shapes yourself with your hands or using a knife but try to end with shapes about 8mm thick. Another option is to cut a paper with the shape you want, and then carefully cut the dough around the template.
- Put the shapes on a microwavable plate.
- Heat for 1-2 minutes on the lowest heat setting of the microwave.
- Leave them to cool and harden.
- They are ready to be painted. Leave them to dry, and that’s it!
Make sure the little ones know that these are not edible. I’m sure they are very salty but with little ones you never know, right?
If you change your mind and want to bake the shapes, place them on a baking tray and bake them in the oven for 2-3 hours on the lowest heat. Then leave them to cool and harden.
Because the dough contains salt, it may hurt to touch it if you have cuts on your hands (cheeky cat like mine, maybe?), so you might want to wear gloves.
If you want to keep the ornaments for a long time, you should spray them with clear spray paint (UK link / US link) to seal them.
No Bake Salt Dough Recipe ideas
With that recipe you can do lots of salt dough ornaments and decorations. The following categories have ideas depending on what ornaments you are thinking about doing.
Please note most of these sites include baking instructions. But you can still use the No Bake recipe and do similar ornaments! Be mindful of what you put inside the microwave for those recipes that have extra materials.
Animals & Nature Salt Dough ornaments
Salt Dough Starfish by Little Bins for Little Hands:
Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils by Make Life Lovely:
Salt Dough Ladybird Keepsake Magnets by Messy Little Monster:
Salt Dough Flower Fingerprints by Meaningful Mama:
Salt Dough Rainbow Handprint Keepsake by Teach Me Mommy:
Earth Day Salt Dough Necklaces by Natural Beach Living:
Spring & Easter Salt Dough ornaments
Salt Dough Easter Eggs by The Best Ideas for Kids:
Salt Dough Easter Chicken Keepsake by Teach Me Mommy:
Salt Dough Carrot, Egg & Bunny ornaments by First Day of Home:
Autumn & Halloween Salt Dough ornaments
Salt Dough Leaf ornaments by The Imagination Tree:
Halloween Salt Dough ornaments by The Craft Train:
Handprint Spider Salt Dough by Hello Wonderful:
Winter & Christmas Salt Dough ornaments
Fingerprint Christmas Tree Salt Dough ornament by Messy Little Monster:
Fingerprint Snowman Salt Dough ornament by Messy Little Monster:
Salt Dough Footprint Reindeer ornaments by Crafty Morning:
