Crafts with salt paste are much more than a simple activity for children to entertain themselves at home, they also provide many advantages from a physical and cognitive point of view. It is an excellent exercise for developing fine motor skills and pincer grasp, while also improving concentration and training patience. It also stimulates creativity and imagination, helps foster problem solving and strengthens children’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

In addition to this, salt paste is a simpler and cheaper alternative to traditional modeling clay or modeling clay, and it can also be prepared at home. In Child Stage, we explain step by step how to make a salt paste that children can use to bring to life any figure they can think of.

Materials and accessories you will need to make salt paste salt

• 3 measures of flour
• 1 measure of salt
• 1 measure of water
• Food coloring or temperas, optional
• Plastic bag or cling film
• Measuring container
• Mixing container
• Wooden board
• Spoon to mix, although you can also work with your hands

Note: It is worth clarifying that the measurements can vary according to the amount of salt paste you want to prepare. However, in any case you must preserve its proportions. For example, if you use three glasses of flour, add a glass of salt and another of water. If you prefer to work with measurements per gram, for 300 grams of flour add 100 grams of salt and 100 ml of water.

Prepare the salt dough, step by step

1. In a bowl, mix the flour with the salt and the food coloring. Ideally, you should use food coloring to avoid possible poisoning.
2. Little by little, add the water to the mixture and knead with encircling movements until the dough does not stick to the walls of the container. Be careful not to add too much water as the dough could become very sticky and difficult to work with.
3. On the wooden board, sprinkle some flour and place the dough. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
4. Put the dough in a plastic bag and let it rest for about an hour to get the right consistency.
5. After this time, the dough will be ready so that the children can shape it into their favorite figures.

Once ready, the salt dough can be keep for several days in the fridge. It is recommended to store it wrapped in a plastic bag or transparent film to prevent it from drying out. To use it, it is suggested to take out only the approximate amount to be used a while beforehand.

How to make crafts with salt paste?

Salt paste is worked in the same way as plasticine or modeling clay. Thanks to its great elasticity and malleability, children can use salt paste to shape any figure they want to represent, they only need let their imagination fly to create the most impressive designs they have ever made with their own hands.

Once the children finish their salt dough figures, it is recommended to bake them in the oven at 100º until they are well harsh. They can also be left to dry in the open air, but this process can take up to 15 hours and if there is too much humidity it is likely that they will not dry completely.

It is worth clarifying that a peculiarity What distinguishes this material from other similar materials is that the salt paste can be painted, so when the little ones finish creating their designs and they have dried, they can color them to make them look much more realistic. Also, unlike clay figures, dry salt dough designs tend to keep for much longer without losing their shape or colors, making them an excellent gift choice.