Fun Things to do with the Kids this Christmas Eve – How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments

One of my family’s favorite Christmas traditions growing up was painting ornaments on Christmas Eve. Now that I have young children of my own, I have just rediscovered how affordable and easy these are to make. Salt Dough Ornaments have been around for ages and something as simple as mixing flour, salt, and water was the recipe that I needed for a new tradition with my kids this year.

I love finding recipes that incorporate ingredients that I already have at home and it’s easy enough that my kids were happy to help.

Recipe

4 Cups of flour (I just use the cheapest kind available)

1 Cup table salt

1.5 Cup water

Mix the dry ingredients first and slowly add water mixing with a spoon.

The dough will become too rough to mix with a spoon, so we just used our hands!

Once the dough was moldable, we rolled some out and used cookie cutters to make different shapes, using a straw to make the hole.

We also made some free form Santas and they dried surprisingly well. I think for our next batch, the kids want to try making some other creatures (dinosaurs, snails, and sharks were a few that I heard them getting enthusiastic about — we’ll see how those turn out).

Once the dough ornaments are made, we put them on cookie sheets and cooked  them in the oven on a low temp of 250 degrees for 2-3 hrs. The Santas took longer to dry/cook.

When all our ornaments were dry and cooled, we pulled out the acrylic paint we had selected from the craft store and painted away! Tempera paint works well but you can also use markers.

If you’re looking to have the ornaments last longer than a few years, I recommend getting some Modge Podge or a similar sealant to ensure the paint lasts.

2020 has had me looking for more activities to do at home with the kids and this one was a huge hit for all!