Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to create salt dough and use it to make fun and creative art pieces.

Materials and Prep

You will need:
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of salt
- 1 cup of water
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters (optional)
- Baking sheet
- Oven
- Apron or old clothes to protect from getting messy
Before starting, make sure to cover the work area with a protective surface and preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C).

Activities

1. Mix the flour and salt in the mixing bowl.
2. Gradually add the water and mix until it forms a dough.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth.
4. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness.
5. Use cookie cutters to create shapes or use your hands to mold the dough into your desired shapes.
6. Place the dough shapes on a baking sheet and bake for 2 hours, or until hard.
7. Once cooled, you can paint and decorate your salt dough creations!

Second Grade Talking Points

• Salt dough is a special kind of dough that can be used to make sculptures and decorations. You can make it at home with just a few simple ingredients.
• When we mix the flour and salt together, we are creating the base for our salt dough. It's important to mix it well so that the dough holds together.
• After we make the dough, we can use cookie cutters or our hands to shape it into different forms like animals, stars, or hearts. What shape would you like to make?
• Once we have our shapes, we put them in the oven to bake. This helps the dough become hard so that we can paint and decorate it later. It's like making our own art supplies!