Here's a simple, cheap, fun craft, toddler safe, for anyone. Fun for holidays, for art classes, for when your kids are acting like 14 Border collies strapped together...
Flour Salt Clay
These are a few salt-flour sculpts I made years ago, some have disintegrated, some are still fine. They will last for years if kept in a dry place. They do absorb airborne moisture if in a wettish spot. They make great hanging ornaments.
You can use cookie cutters (the dogs and small horse), and bend and reposition them as you wish. You can add textures, eyes, details (the dogs' fluffy tails).
You can paint them when dry/baked. Acrylics, poster paint, even watercolor, all work great.
You can mix food coloring with small batches of dough to make colored dough, and use that for different parts of your "cookie".
NO SPRAY PAINT OR SEALERS SHOULD EVER BE USED INDOORS!!!
This is a great way to teach smaller kids some kitchen skills as well as sculpting and art skills. Measure, level the measuring cups, mix, knead, roll. You might want to lay down a plastic tablecloth.
TOOLS:
You can build up a 3D model using aluminum foil and wire as a base. Don't make the dough layer too thick (like, an inch is OK, but 3" is probably going to lead to not drying, not baking, and cracking).
You can insert a plain paper clip (not the coated ones) or other small wire in the top to hang it. You can also make a hole with straw or dowel or pencil to put a ribbon through.
Use any available objects to sculpt: pencils, pens, kitchen utensils, popsicle sticks, dowels, sticks from the yard, paper clips, actual clay sculpting tools, the other end of a small paintbrush.
I let mine dry overnight before baking them. This keeps them flatter and truer to your sculpt. Baking them while wet makes them a bit puffy.
Recipes vary from 1-1 to 1-4 salt-flour. I go heavy on the salt. This could be a science experiment. Salt has been used for millennia to preserve food. How does this work?
Mod Podge is a combination of non-toxic waterbase medium and acrylic and is safe for use on children's toys. Mod Podge products are not food-safe formulas and should be avoided when making toys for teething children.
While this is clearly made of food, and is therefore not toxic to smol humans, do keep it away from pets who might ingest too much salt, or paper clips, ribbons, paint, sealers or other items you've added to it.
You can use cookie cutters (the dogs and small horse), and bend and reposition them as you wish. You can add textures, eyes, details (the dogs' fluffy tails).
You can paint them when dry/baked. Acrylics, poster paint, even watercolor, all work great.
You can mix food coloring with small batches of dough to make colored dough, and use that for different parts of your "cookie".
- 1 part flour (NO SELF RISING FLOUR!!!...it will make your cookie very puffy)
- 1 part salt
- (1 cup to 1 cup, or 2 cups to 2 cups, etc)
- Keep a bit of dry flour/salt mix aside...
- Start with less than 1 part water! If you screwed up and it got too gloopy, add more flour/salt.
- You can roll it out after mixing, and knead it a bit.
- Mold flat on a cookie sheet, or use a cookie cutter. You can also make hand and footprints, as well as pet pawprints.
- let dry overnight if you can (baking them right away can make them puffy, if you must bake NOW, use lower heat for longer)
- bake at about 250 to 350 F (keep an eye on them) until toasty looking
- use acrylic craft paint (permanent, waterproof, not for toddlers) or tempera (water soluble, opaque, washable) to paint them
- AVOID SPRAY PAINT!!! It's not only more expensive, but unnecessary and toxic.
- AVOID SPRAY SEALERS!!! More expensive than ModPodge, and toxic toxic toxic.
- when they are utterly DRY you can do a coat of ModPodge sealer, though the salt will preserve them itself. The ModPodge may prevent them absorbing moisture from the environment. It is water based, non toxic and not too stinky.
NO SPRAY PAINT OR SEALERS SHOULD EVER BE USED INDOORS!!!
This is a great way to teach smaller kids some kitchen skills as well as sculpting and art skills. Measure, level the measuring cups, mix, knead, roll. You might want to lay down a plastic tablecloth.
TOOLS:
- mixing bowls
- spoons ( a big wooden one is great)
- cookie sheets
- cookie cutters
- measuring cups
- table knife to level your measurements
- rolling pin and parchment paper (optional, cause you can just put flour on top if too sticky)
- sculpting tools: a clay sculpting set, kitchen utensils, pencils, pens, toothpicks, dowels, steel wool, rubber stamps, items from the yard like leaves and evergreen stems, twigs etc
- paint (acrylic, tempera/poster paint, watercolor)
- food coloring if adding directly to dough to make colored dough
- brushes
- paper clips (not the coated ones)
- or baking twine
- ribbon if doing hanging ornaments
You can build up a 3D model using aluminum foil and wire as a base. Don't make the dough layer too thick (like, an inch is OK, but 3" is probably going to lead to not drying, not baking, and cracking).
You can insert a plain paper clip (not the coated ones) or other small wire in the top to hang it. You can also make a hole with straw or dowel or pencil to put a ribbon through.
Use any available objects to sculpt: pencils, pens, kitchen utensils, popsicle sticks, dowels, sticks from the yard, paper clips, actual clay sculpting tools, the other end of a small paintbrush.
I let mine dry overnight before baking them. This keeps them flatter and truer to your sculpt. Baking them while wet makes them a bit puffy.
Recipes vary from 1-1 to 1-4 salt-flour. I go heavy on the salt. This could be a science experiment. Salt has been used for millennia to preserve food. How does this work?
Mod Podge is a combination of non-toxic waterbase medium and acrylic and is safe for use on children's toys. Mod Podge products are not food-safe formulas and should be avoided when making toys for teething children.
While this is clearly made of food, and is therefore not toxic to smol humans, do keep it away from pets who might ingest too much salt, or paper clips, ribbons, paint, sealers or other items you've added to it.
