Craft a salt dough sculpture

Making salt dough sculptures is a fun and creative activity for the kids. The mixture is easy to make; you only need salt and dough! Colors can be added with food dyes or spices. Adding oil or paste will create a more pliable dough. This how-to teaches how to make and bake a salt dough sculpture. The shapes and designs are left to your imagination!

Tools & Ingredients

• Oven
• Mixing Bowl (small bowls for individual colors)
• Measuring cups
• Flour
• Salt
• Water
• Optional: Oil or Paste
• Optional: Coloring Agents (food coloring or spices)
• Optional: Shaping Tools

Instructions

The amount of modeling dough you make depends on how many sculptures are being made, and how large you are making them.

1. 1
   Rule of thumb for one batch

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   4 cups of flour + 1 cup of salt + 2 cups of hot water. If you want to make more than that, double or triple the ingredients.

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2. 2
   Mix ingredients

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   Mix the flour, salt, and warm water together in the mixing bowl to form a dough.

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3. 3
   Make elastic

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   Knead the dough with your hands until the dough becomes elastic.

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4. 4
   How to knead the dough

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   1. Flatten. Press your fingers, knuckles, or the heel of your palms down into the dough.
   2. Roll. Roll the dough into a ball.
   3. Turn. Turn the dough ball at least 90 degrees
   4. Repeat until the dough is elastic.
   5. If the dough is too dry, add a bit of water.

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5. 5
   Add oil

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   If you want more pliable dough, add a little oil to the mixture.

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6. 6
   Add food coloring if you're planning on creating some colored sculptures

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   1. If you're only going to use ONE color, you can do this during the kneading process.
   2. If you plan on using several colors, you'll need to separate the dough and then color each one, having a bowl for each different color for each.
   3. At this time, consider adding sprinkles or tempura paint.

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7. 7
   Shape

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   Sculpt the dough with your hands into whatever shapes you wish!

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8. 8
   Use tools to design

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   Standard kitchen tools work great for adding details to sculptures. Cut details into the dough with butter knives or the handle end of a spoon, forks, maybe cookie cutters.

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9. 9
   Bake

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   1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F .
   2. Bake for at least 10 minutes. The baking duration depends on the size and thickness of the sculpture. Check larger pieces frequently to avoid burning.

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10. 10
    Let harden

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    Let the sculpture cool down. Larger pieces will take much longer to cool.

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11. 11
    Once the sculpture has cooled, you can paint it, add a little glue and glitter, whatever your imagination inspires

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    Have fun!

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• Store unused dough in the refrigerator. It will last quite a long time. Cover the dough. If it is dry when you next want to use it, simply add more water to moisten the mixture.
• Air-dry smaller pieces. Smaller sculptures can be air-dried for several days instead of baked.
• Cover the sculpture with aluminum foil to prevent browning. This is especially useful if you need to bake a large piece.

How to create clay for a sculpture? How to harden a sculpture?

What ingredients do I need. What measuring cups do I need? Do I need a microwave or an oven to harden a sculpture.

You can't actually make clay because it is a form of dirt that you add other elements too in order to make it pliable. You can Google your local area and see if there is a place to dig it up or purchase it in a craft supply/dollar store. The salt dough recipe above can be used like you would clay and there are baking instructions. If you want the orange hue from clay then tint your salt dough. Here are more DIY "clay" recipes: Air dry:

1. 1
   2 cups baking soda

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2. 2
   1 cup cornstarch

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3. 3
   1.5 cups cold water

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Mix all ingredients together. Store in a container with a tight lid. This recipe has been used for centuries to make clay ornaments and sculptures.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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