Salt Dough Crafts for St. Patty's

Salt dough is a great tactile medium for kids and is a snap to make in the kitchen. Get your child in the St. Patrick's Day spirit by sculpting festive salt dough pins and magnets in the shape of shamrocks, leprechaun hats, pots of gold, or any other shape your child likes. Wear them on St. Patrick's Day to avoid getting pinched!

What You Need:

• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups flour plus ¼ to ½ cup, divided
• ¾ cup water
• Cookie cutters (optional)
• Food coloring (optional)
• Spatula
• Parchment paper
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Polyurethane or clear varnish
• Magnets
• Pin backings
• Hot glue gun

What You Do:

1. In a large bowl, have your child combine the salt, flour, and water. Mix with your hands until the dough is nice and smooth. Gradually add the extra flour as you continue kneading until the dough is no longer sticky.
2. Sprinkle a little flour on a piece of wax paper. You can either work with the dough as is and paint it after you bake it, or you can add several drops of food coloring to the dough now. If using food coloring, add it to the dough and let your child knead it until it changes color and reaches a nice even shade.
3. Let your child use her imagination to create all sorts of shapes with the dough. You can also give her cookie cutters to create more specific images.
4. When your child is almost done making her creations, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour.
5. Use a spatula to carefully transfer the dough shapes from the wax paper to the parchment paper.
6. Bake the dough for approximately two hours or until they're dry. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
7. Once they're cool, have your child paint them. Set aside to dry.
8. Once the paint is dry, spray them with a coat of polyurethane varnish to preserve them longer.
9. Glue magnets or pin backings to your salt sculptures with the hot glue gun and display!