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✂️ Salt dough Christmas decorations: easy recipe for kids
Age: 3+ · Time: 60 min
Salt dough is the original homemade Christmas decoration: three cheap ingredients from the kitchen cupboard, a few biscuit cutters, and an afternoon of rolling, cutting and painting. The handprint ones in particular become treasured keepsakes that come out of the decoration box year after year.
The dough is soft and easy to handle, so even three-year-olds can roll and cut their own shapes.
Tips
- Use fine table salt, not sea salt flakes, for a smooth finish.
- If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. If it crumbles, add a splash of water.
- Write the date on the back of handprint decorations with a pen before you seal them.
Ideas
- Handprint baubles: press a hand into a large circle of dough and trim around it.
- Name tags: cut rectangles, press letters in with a pencil, and use them as present tags.
- Stamped stars: press lace, leaves or a fork into the dough for pretty textures, then paint them white or gold.
For little helpers
Children can measure, mix, knead, roll, cut and paint. The oven and the varnish are grown-up jobs.
You need
- 250 g plain flour
- 125 g table salt
- 125 ml lukewarm water
- a mixing bowl and a rolling pin
- Christmas biscuit cutters
- a straw or a pencil to make hanging holes
- a baking tray and baking paper
- acrylic or poster paints and brushes
- PVA glue mixed with a little water, or clear varnish (for an adult)
- ribbon or string
Steps
- Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the water a little at a time and stir, then knead with your hands for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy, like play dough.
- Heat the oven to 120°C (100°C fan, gas mark 1/2) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Roll the dough out to about 5 mm thick. Not too thick, or it takes ages to dry.
- Cut shapes with cutters, or press your child's hand into a circle of dough for a handprint keepsake.
- Make a hanging hole near the top of each shape with a straw.
- Bake for 2-3 hours, turning halfway, until completely hard and dry. Thicker shapes need longer. (No oven? Leave them to air-dry on a rack for 2-3 days.)
- Let them cool completely, then paint and decorate.
- Once the paint is dry, a grown-up brushes them with watered-down PVA or clear varnish to seal and protect them.
- Thread a ribbon through the hole and hang them on the tree.
Questions
Why did my salt dough puff up or crack?
The oven was too hot. Keep it low and slow at about 120°C. If you see bubbles, prick them with a cocktail stick and turn the oven down a little.
Is salt dough safe for children?
It is non-toxic, but it contains a lot of salt, which is harmful if eaten in quantity, especially for pets. Supervise young children and store finished decorations out of reach of dogs.
How long do salt dough decorations last?
Sealed and stored in a dry place, they can last for many years. Wrap them in tissue paper and keep them with the rest of your Christmas decorations.