We have a new favorite dough around these parts …. Playdough is still our go to for most things, and of course our couldn’t be easier no cook playdough recipe still gets used almost weekly. But this new dough in town has some interesting fun added features – You can bake it and paint it. So, what is this new dough? Well, it’s actually not new … but new for us … Salt Dough! Oh the fun of painting salt dough!
If you were like us and hadn’t really experimented with salt dough, you may wish to start. It is so so easy to make, easy to mold and shape, easy to bake, and easy to paint! I had thought it was good for big kids – but it is also great for little ones.
To make salt dough you only need 3 ingredients: Salt, flour, and water. We use the recipe from The Imagination Tree. You can get the measurements for the recipe and a simple how-to right here from The Imagination Tree.
Once you have created with the salt dough and baked it, you can paint it!
Painting Salt Dough
Painting salt dough is very easy. We have done some experimenting with the best paint for salt dough. We have tried acrylic paint, tempra paint, and water colors. Truly, all worked! But the winner for best paint for salt dough? Water colors – by far!
Painting salt dough with water colors is really a great activity for little kids and big kids. It is very forgiving and the paint easily spreads on the salt dough with added water. Sam, my preschooler enjoyed painting salt dough hearts. He painted them easily, and then painted some polka dots on top too. This is another reason why water colors are the best paint for salt dough – it soaks into the dough drying quickly, allowing for second coats very quickly. Ideal for preschoolers!
Madeline, my 11 year old, also liked painting the salt dough with water colors. She made a planet for a project she was working on. The water colors were definitely the best paint to use on the salt dough for blending. The paint was easily blended on the dough with a little added water. It was also very forgiving, allowing for paint to be covered up if it turned out the wrong shade.
I love art projects that all of my kids can do together. Painting salt dough was a great one! A nice change from our regular playdough AND from our regular painting!
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We love salt dough! Because you can dry it and paint it and keep your art for longer 🙂 We’ve just made hearts and flowers with my preschoolers and Mr Frog 🙂
Love this idea! Must you bake the salt dough? if so, how long and is it done before or after painting?
Hi Onit, great question. You don’t have to bake it – it will air dry. But it can be baked to dry faster. Around 200 degrees for an hour or so depending on thickness.
do you paint with the watercolors BEFORE or AFTER baking??
Great question! We painted after. I have not tried before … perhaps it would look really neat! We will have to give it a try.
Have you ever used a base coat/primer and if so how long did you let it dry
Hi Hilary, I have not! Sorry – but if you do, please pop back to let others know. Thank you!
My granddaughter and I made the hand prints and painted it with acrylic paint and glitter. It has turned out Great! Thank you for your help.
Oh wonderful! Thank you so much for letting me know. Everything is better with glitter! I hope you had fun and made some lovely memories.