Elastic play dough. Let's sculpt together with the kids! Salt dough - dough recipe and how to work with it. What can be made from salt dough

For those parents who are afraid to give plasticine to a too young child, but want their child to learn how to sculpt from childhood, salt dough has been created. Previously, only a mother could prepare this for her child, but today its factory version has taken a full-fledged place next to other products in children's toy stores. Although this mass was not invented yesterday, for many it still remains a bit of a mystery.

Peculiarities

The positive role of modeling in the process of child development has long been beyond the slightest doubt - it has a good effect on both the physical and mental components. At the same time, it is quite obvious that the earlier you start, the more impressive results could be achieved. At the same time, plasticine, the main material for children’s creativity today, is not recommended for use by children under 3 years of age, and in the future its use is desirable in the presence of adults.

In this context, dough can be an excellent alternative for young children. Made at home, its composition differs little from what is used for home baking, except that it is prepared a little differently, and almost always with the addition of a huge amount of salt, because This is the only way to guarantee that the child will not pull the modeling mixture into his mouth.

However, even if it does, it’s okay, because the product is made exclusively from edible ingredients that do not require much chewing and are easy to swallow.

Industrial production somewhat expands the range of ingredients - the composition may include additional plasticizers, dyes, and even glitter. Typically, manufacturers focus on the same theoretical suitability for food, although sparkles are unlikely to be beneficial to a child’s body. However, not all companies monitor this point so carefully, selling softer types of plasticine under the guise of modeling dough.

Since we are talking about consistency, it should be noted that modeling dough has another important indicator for kids - it is very soft. This mass does not need to be kneaded first; it is immediately ready to create masterpieces. At the same time, this feature does not allow the material to maintain an overly complex shape with small details. The mixture is very afraid of open air - it dries out in it, losing elasticity and becoming brittle. If desired, finished products made from it can be preserved by special drying or baking.

What is it for?

First of all, modeling dough helps a child develop fine motor skills and train finger muscles, and also greatly contributes to the development of imagination and creative inclinations. However, only adults see the purpose of the mass this way, while the kids themselves perceive children’s dough as another toy from which they can create various crafts, which they can then be proud of if the final result is successful.

This material is not very suitable for sculpting large volumetric figures with small details, since it holds its own weight rather poorly. For this reason, it is much more often used for sculpting small-sized figures, creating various compositions from them, and also as a raw material for creating three-dimensional paintings.

If, when focusing on achieving the first two goals, you still have to think about whether your plan will work out or not, then you can look for inspiration for paintings almost anywhere. Subjects are most often taken from nature - children sculpt simple landscapes, animals, flowers, the same sun. However, you don’t have to stop there - if you have talent, at later stages you can move on to making serious images, or even characters from your favorite cartoons. Fairytale castles, fairies - even Shrek and the Fixies!

You also need to understand that different types of crafts are assessed differently by the children themselves. Kids usually want toys, so they are more interested in three-dimensional figures. Compositions and paintings are already real creativity, it is not intended for play, but it will help to gain recognition, respect and praise from others; therefore, such sculpting results will be more interesting to older children.

How to properly knead with your own hands?

Many housewives, realizing that the recipe for the mixture is actually very simple, prefer not to buy the mass, but to knead it themselves. This is very easy to do, given that the ingredients included in the composition can usually be found in any apartment, and if not, they can be bought literally everywhere. Making the mass yourself will be much cheaper than purchasing it, and in terms of properties it will not be inferior to many varieties of store-bought products - you just need to know the correct proportions.

If you are far from a master, but still want to try making homemade plasticine yourself, pay attention to the best recipe in terms of simplicity. The materials used for preparation will surprise you with their simplicity - the mass is made from flour and salt, and also contains ordinary water. The exact proportions differ due to the fact that the final mass can be of different thicknesses, but usually they are indicated as a glass of flour and half a glass of salt per half a glass of water, and then experiment.

For a more elastic state, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and an extremely improved version is prepared with citric acid (two teaspoons).

However, for modeling, not ordinary dough is used, but choux dough. The described ingredients are not just mixed, but placed in a saucepan over medium heat. The exact time is never specified because pots and stoves vary greatly, but if the modeling mass has thickened and become homogeneous, it’s time to pull it out.

During the heating process, the mixture must be stirred to achieve homogeneity of the mass, but even after removing it from the pan, it is carefully kneaded again on a flat surface sprinkled with a small amount of flour. The finished dough holds its shape well, does not stick to your hands and does not contain lumps.

Of course, homemade types of plasticine do not end with just this recipe. In fact, you can have a thick notebook and fill it all with different plasticine recipes, but the most popular is another recipe that involves alternative ingredients and made with starch. To do this, two glasses of ordinary baking soda are mixed with a cup of cornstarch and half a glass of water, after which the procedure is similar to that already described above. There is no salt included in this recipe, so small children can simply eat this type of mixture.

For greater durability of crafts, they also use a recipe with PVA glue - products made from it are somewhat reminiscent of papier-mâché. A glass of finely ground salt is mixed with the same amount of flour, into which a mixture of about half (or a little more) a glass of water and a tablespoon of glue is gradually poured. You should stop adding water at the moment when the future “paper” dough stops absorbing it. After this, the mass is thoroughly kneaded, since the grains of salt do not have time to dissolve in it, and the recipe does not require heat treatment.

How to make colored dough at home?

Making salt dough at home doesn't require much effort, but you want the result to be like Play-Doh - bright and beautiful. To do this, dyes are added to the dough - this is possible both at the preparation stage and if there is already a ready-made colorless mass.

To achieve the desired effect, you can use special food colorings, which are sold in many culinary stores. They are liquids that are mixed into water during the cooking process (if it is in the recipe), and after cooking, such a dye can be mixed into the colorless dough. Experts point out that this way you can color the dough easily and quickly, but the result may not be very impressive - the mass will take on a shade rather than a color, and for the normal brightness of the purchased dye you need a lot.

By the way, you don’t have to buy dye, using all the same natural ingredients. Most often, vegetable and fruit juices are used in this role: beets give red, carrots orange, and so on.

You can squeeze this juice yourself or buy it; alternatively, any drinks of the appropriate color will do. To give the dough a yellow tint, various mild seasonings are often used, and coffee or tea is used to make the dough brown. However, it is worth considering that such a substance is not a specially selected dye at all, so the result may turn out to be even more faded.

You can color the dough not with food coloring, but ordinary gouache- the diagram looks exactly the same. At the same time, it is not at all difficult to get such paint, because it is used for creative learning in children's educational institutions, and is inexpensive, but the color gives a very bright one, which is what we need. However, it is noted that such an ingredient liquefies the mass very much, Therefore, adding a certain amount of flour is mandatory when using this method.

How can I paint the finished product?

Coloring dough as a raw material is suitable for creating simple crafts, but complex compositions with a large number of multi-colored details are easier to make from a monochromatic mass, which then, after drying or baking, will be painted on top. At the same time, the specifics of the material dictate its own characteristics of the coloring procedure.

People with extensive experience working with modeling dough indicate that it is best to paint finished crafts with acrylic paint, because only This way you can guarantee that the product will not get dirty and the colors on it will not be smudged. It is permissible to use watercolor, but since dry dough is very afraid of water, the paint should be mixed extremely thickly - this will also help it not to spread.

When painting with watercolors, there is still a high risk of smearing the contours, so the figure must be Be sure to varnish after painting. Gouache is also used for coloring finished products, but in order for it to adhere normally to the surface of the figurine, it must first be mixed with a small amount of PVA glue.

Varnishing, by the way, is recommended for all types of dyes, because it can protect the surface from accidental ingress of water, and bright colors from fading. Liquid varnish is absorbed into the craft, which requires repeated varnishing and is a procedure that takes many days, but the result is bright, not just shiny.

Thick varnish is also used, but is still less common.

How to dry?

When dried, dough crafts last much longer, but in order for them not to fall apart over time, it is necessary to withstand the procedure. It is worth noting that there is no exact description of it anywhere - it all depends on the specifics of the source material and the exact drying parameters.

Play dough hardens even just on open air- Beginners usually rely on this method. The main disadvantage of this type of drying is the drying time: the dough dries on average one millimeter deep per day, so a voluminous figure of even a small size can take weeks to dry.

You can speed up the process by organizing drying on radiators, but there is also a risk here - due to the heterogeneity of the consistency (soft dough inside, hard outside), the product is likely to deform.

For this reason masterpieces are better baked, and a microwave is not suitable for such purposes at all - you only need to use an oven. There are many detailed descriptions of the process indicating the exact duration and temperature, but in fact no one knows exactly how long it takes for a dough craft to dry in the oven - it depends on both the shape of the craft and the shape of the oven.

It is even noted that the baking sheet can also influence the procedure - black provides more effective drying, and therefore it is necessary to either reduce the temperature by twenty degrees or shorten the baking period.

In general, baking lasts several hours at a temperature that gradually increases from 50 to 150 degrees. If the dough has been pre-colored, the upper temperature limit is 125 degrees, since more intense heating will destroy the dye. It is not forbidden to extend the baking process over several days. You can check the conditional readiness of the product using the sound it makes when gently tapping on the surface - the solid filling responds with a ringing, cheerful sound.

How to store?

Despite the fact that baby salted play dough can be kneaded at any time, mothers still prefer to find a way to preserve the mass for a certain long time, rather than re-prepare it every time the child has a corresponding need. It should be noted here that such a mixture will definitely dry out and lose elasticity, but there is a difference - after a month, or after a couple of days.

The most obvious method of mass storage, also used by industrial manufacturers, is hermetic storage. The store-bought product is sold in special jars with a tight lid, and if there are any left in the house from a previous purchase, it is best to use them. Alternatively, you can tightly wrap the dough pieces in cellophane or polyethylene, however, this method is less reliable.

Storing in the refrigerator can also help prevent drying out, since cold in principle slows down most chemical processes.

If you need to save the finished product, then, first of all, you need to carefully protect it from water, since even a small drop will leave a very noticeable mark. To give strength to the figurine, it is best to bake it - then it will become quite hard and not very susceptible to external mechanical influence. Additional varnishing of the baked product will protect it even from accidental moisture, so you can be proud of your creation for a long time.

Edible dough for pie decorations

If a child makes really interesting figures, and does it from potentially edible material, you can use this in home cooking. If the baby is old enough to understand that playing with dough products won’t last long anyway, he will most likely be glad to have the opportunity to pleasantly surprise everyone by taking a direct part in creating the pie. This does not mean, of course, puff pastry, or even ordinary pizza dough, but the dough, which you can make with your own hands, molds perfectly, and most importantly, it amazes with its taste!

The first recipe is very simple - mix half a glass of Nutella with the same amount of flour, adding a tablespoon of powdered sugar. The finished mixture is much thicker than regular Nutella, which allows it to hold its shape, but still tastes very much like the original ingredient.

Products made from mucosol (testoplastics, bioceramics) are very popular and for good reason - this material is suitable for activities with children; many different souvenirs and gifts can be made from it. Moreover, they do not always need to be baked - crafts made from colored dough are not suitable for baking; it is better to dry them in air or on a radiator. Making salt dough is not difficult - the materials for it are usually available in any home. So let's figure out how to cook it? What to start with so that the products do not crack? Read our material and choose the best recipe!

Salt dough is a good replacement for the well-known plasticine. It is much more pleasant to work with it, because it is softer, does not stick to your hands and allows you to preserve your masterpiece for many years. Its advantages also include safety and the ability to cook at home. How to make salt dough at home is the first question that arises when getting acquainted with this type of needlework. And for good reason, because homemade salted dough (do not confuse it with puff pastry under any circumstances) will cost an order of magnitude cheaper than store-bought dough.

Salt dough is a good replacement for the well-known plasticine

To prepare the dough, simple ingredients such as salt, water and flour are used. In addition to the listed products, some recipes also contain PVA glue, glycerin, and potato starch.

Note: not every salt is suitable for making dough. When choosing, it is best to give preference to the “Extra” brand. It is fine and dissolves well without forming lumps.

Let's move directly to the recipes.

Salty dough made from salt and flour: 2 methods of preparation

Method 1.

Ingredients:

flour - 1.5 tbsp;
salt - 1 tbsp.;
water - 125 ml.

Pour water into a clean, dry bowl, then add salt and stir until it is completely or partially dissolved. Then add flour and knead the dough.

The dough is easy to make

Method 2.

a glass of flour;
a glass of salt;
125 ml water.

Mix flour and salt, then add all the water in several additions and knead the dough. This recipe is great for making crafts that don't have small parts.

How to make salt dough with PVA glue

In this recipe, PVA glue is added to the standard ingredients. The composition of such a test will be as follows:

1 tbsp. finely ground salts (preferably “Extra”);
2 tbsp. flour;
1 tbsp. water;
1-2 tbsp. spoons of PVA glue.

Directions: Mix dry ingredients first. Then add PVA glue to the water prepared for the test and mix thoroughly. Combine both mixtures and knead the dough.

Recipe for making salt dough with glycerin

In order to give their crafts shine, after making and drying, many craftsmen coat them with varnish. However, this is not at all a mandatory measure, since the desired result can be achieved by adding glycerin to the dough. You can buy it at any pharmacy.

Ingredients:

300g flour;
200g salt;
4 tbsp. l. glycerin;
2 tbsp. l. dry wallpaper glue;
125 ml water.

The dough will turn out beautiful

Preparation:

First, mix the salt and flour. Then dilute the wallpaper glue in water and add glycerin to it. Combine both mixtures and knead a stiff dough.

Salt dough without flour and salt

Ingredients:

a glass of starch;
2 cups of soda;
1/2 glass of water.

To prepare this dough, it is best to take a saucepan, since it starts over the fire. Pour starch and soda into the prepared container. Gradually stirring the mixture, pour water into it. Then place the container on the stove over low heat and cook until the mixture forms a ball. Remove the dough from the heat, place it on a floured surface and knead thoroughly.

Important: properly prepared dough should be homogeneous and not sticky. To obtain this effect, you need to follow the proportions and knead it well. Since the dough dries quickly, it should be stored in a plastic bag. Shelf life in the refrigerator varies from a couple of weeks to several months (depending on the composition).

How to make salt dough: a simple recipe (video)

How to make crafts from salt dough at home: lessons for beginners

To make crafts, you do not need any special tools. You can easily get by with what you have at home. Below are some examples of simple crafts that even beginners can do.

Beads

Tear off a small piece of dough and divide it into smaller pieces of equal size.
Roll them into balls.
Insert a toothpick into each ball and leave it like that for several days to dry. To ensure even drying, it is recommended to turn the balls over from time to time.
After the balls have dried, the toothpicks must be carefully removed. From the resulting beads you can assemble beads by threading a cord or ribbon through them. Beads can also be painted and varnished.

Making crafts does not require any special tools.

Puzzles

Draw or download from the Internet and print a figurine of some animal, car, flower, etc.
Transfer the design to cardboard and cut along the outline. This will give you a stencil.
Roll out the dough into a layer, attach a stencil to it and cut out the shape.
Leave overnight to dry. In the morning, using a sharp knife, divide the figure into several parts and leave them until completely dry.
That's all, the puzzle is ready. All that remains is to color it to your liking.

Roses

Form a small piece of dough into a cone. This will be the middle of the flower.
Rose petals are made from small balls, slightly tapered downwards. The balls are rolled out into flat oval cakes, reminiscent of a flower petal in shape, and glued to the base using PVA glue.
The first two petals are glued opposite each other. They form a bud. The remaining petals are glued in a circle.
As the flower is made, it should be left to dry. This will avoid its deformation.
The last petals are glued only from the bottom. The top edges bend slightly back, and the sides are pressed against the base.
After drying, the rose can be painted in your favorite color.

You can make a rose very beautiful

In addition to crafts for the soul, you can also make practical items used in the household from salt dough.

Casket

Manufacturing process step by step:

Take an unnecessary jar of chips, mayonnaise, sour cream, and so on. Trim it to the height you need.
Roll out the dough into a thin layer. Lubricate the prepared base with PVA glue on the outside. Cover it with dough so that there is not a single air bubble between them. Fold the top edges inside the mold and remove excess.
Using available materials (beads, buttons, lace, etc.), process the outside of the box. You can glue lace or other material with non-fraying edges inside.
The base is ready, all that remains is to make a lid for it. For this you will need the most ordinary foil. Lay it on the table, place the base of the box on top of it upside down. Next, use a pen or pencil to outline the edges.
Set the base aside and start sculpting the lid. Make a small ball from the dough, place it in foil with the edges of the lid marked and roll it out to the desired size. The top of the lid can be decorated with a flower, a berry, and so on, at your discretion.
The base can be either left to dry in the fresh air or dried in the microwave. It all depends on what form was used inside the box.
After drying, the box can be decorated as you wish.

How to paint dough crafts?

You can color the salt dough both during kneading, using food coloring or natural juices (beets, carrots, cocoa, turmeric, etc.), and after making the craft. For this, acrylic paints, gouache or marker are used.

You can color the salt dough while kneading.

It is worth noting that at the time of painting the color may seem very saturated, and after drying it may fade slightly. Varnish (acrylic, parquet, for wood) will help to return it.

How to dry finished products?

Drying salt dough plays an important role. Often it is she who can ruin the finished work. The most optimal is free drying in the open air. However, sometimes it takes quite a long time. You can significantly reduce it with the help of an oven, but even here there are a few simple rules:

the products are placed in a cold oven;
the minimum temperature regime is selected;
The oven door must not be closed all the way;
the products are not removed immediately after turning off the oven, but gradually cool down along with it;
after a short break, the product is turned over and dried at the same temperature on the reverse side.

Salt dough: how to make an analogue (video)

Dough modeling is a simple and low-cost type of needlework, suitable for both adults and children. With its help, children develop hand motor skills, imagination, desire and perseverance, while adults can diversify the interior of their home and enjoy their work.

Modeling classes develop hand strength and fine motor skills of the fingers. It is useful to sculpt not only for children, but also for adults, because there are many nerve endings at the fingertips, the massage of which while working with plastic material leads to good health. You can sculpt not only from plasticine and clay, but also from salt dough. It is made simply and quickly, no special financial investments are required, but crafts made from such dough are stored for a long time, they can be painted and varnished.

Knowing the recipe for salted modeling dough, you can create many interesting crafts. These include Christmas tree decorations for the New Year, toy products for playing shop or playing “mother and daughter”. Decorative interior decorations, pictures, figurines look beautiful. You can make an original pendant for a girl’s neck or a pendant for a bag.

After all, you can make any figure from salt dough. It could be a fairy-tale character, a favorite cartoon character, a flower or a star, a car or a voluminous funny cat. In this article we will look at several recipes on how to create salt dough, how to store and bake it at home.

The easiest recipe for salted play dough

This is a classic version of preparing this dough. In order to do everything correctly, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

a glass of white wheat flour;
the same amount of fine salt, such as “Extra”;
half a glass of cool water.

First, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then gradually pour in the liquid in small portions. You need to stir constantly so that the dough does not form lumps and is homogeneous. At the end of cooking, the dough should be smooth and dense, but not hard.

Be sure to check the integrity of the skin on your hands, as salt greatly irritates the skin, which will cause pain and severe itching. Then rinse your hands with clean water and apply oil or hand cream.

Glycerin based dough

This recipe for salted modeling dough is suitable for those craftsmen who want to give their crafts a natural shine, without the use of acrylic varnish. Glycerin, which is part of the ingredients for preparing this type of dough, ensures that the finished products will have a glossy surface even without varnish.

You will need to prepare the following components:

half a liter of boiling water;
two glasses of wheat flour;
half a teaspoon of liquid glycerin;
2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
half a glass of salt;
2 tbsp. l. cream of tartar;
food coloring of any required color.

In a large container, mix salt and flour, add vegetable oil and cream of tartar. Place a pan of water on the fire. After it boils, add the resulting mass to it and boil until smooth. After a while, glycerin and food coloring are added.

When the salted dough is ready, you need to cool it and knead it with your hands until it sticks to your palms. If there is not enough flour, you need to add a little while kneading.

Mixture with PVA glue

As you already understand from the title of this section, we will talk about a recipe for salted modeling dough with the addition of PVA glue. Have to take:

two glasses of white flour;
half as much salt, it is advisable to take only fine “Extra” salt;
lukewarm water - half a cup;
50 ml of white thick PVA glue.

First, as usual, mix the dry ingredients - flour and salt. Then warm water is poured in and the composition is thoroughly mixed. Some people use a blender to achieve smoothness faster, but it doesn't really matter. You can mix the mixture perfectly with your hands. When the dough has the desired consistency, add PVA glue to the bowl and knead again.

After obtaining a beautiful, homogeneous dough, you need to roll an even and smooth ball, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for a while.

Salted play dough with starch

Let's consider another option for preparing dough for making crafts, which uses starch. The composition is as follows:

one tablespoon of starch;
the remaining proportions of salted play dough are equal: one glass each of water, flour and fine salt.

First you need to dissolve the starch in half a portion of water. There should be no lumps, the powder dissolves completely, resulting in a homogeneous white liquid. The rest of the water is poured into the pan and brought to a boil. Then the starch liquid is slowly poured in and with constant stirring we achieve a thick jelly.

Mix salt and flour in a large bowl, then add cooled jelly in small portions, stirring constantly. The dough should not be too soft, otherwise the crafts will not hold the required shape and will fall apart.

The salted dough should be tight enough so that it can be, for example, rolled out with a rolling pin and squeezed out with molds, or molded into a sculpture so that it has the correct outline.

Favorite recipe for children

This salted play dough at home is created with additional ingredients that allow products made from it to glow in the dark. Let's look at the composition of such a test:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil;
two glasses of flour (wheat);
the same amount of warm water;
100 grams of fine salt;
4 teaspoons cream of tartar;
2 capsules or tablets of vitamin E.

First, a dry mixture of flour, salt, and cream of tartar is mixed. A tablet crushed into a fine powder is also added there. After thorough mixing, add water and vegetable oil. But this is not the whole cooking process. The resulting homogeneous mass must be put on fire and simmered over low heat until the mixture begins to stick; the consistency should resemble regular plasticine.

Recipe for making three-dimensional sculptures

If you make salted play dough according to the recipe described below, it will be very strong and dense. Any figures will keep their shape well, will not deform when drying and will not spread. It's easy to do. Have to take:

200 grams of wheat flour;
fine salt - twice as much - 400 grams;
300 grams of ice water.

Unlike other recipes, this one first dissolves the salt in cold water. Only after complete dissolution should you add flour in small portions. When the dough has acquired a thick consistency, knead it into a dense and tight dough with your hands.

Dough storage

Now you know how to knead salted dough for modeling. It's easy and pretty quick. This dough is easy to work with; it is quite elastic. It can be rolled out with a rolling pin, making flat shapes that are cut out with a knife and squeezed out with cookie cutters.

If you didn’t use all the dough at once or made a large portion, then you still need to figure out how to store salted play dough. You need to make a round ball from the remainder and put it in a whole plastic bag, which is tied with a tight knot. You need to store the dough in the refrigerator: in the door or on the top shelf. The temperature there is a little warmer than in its other departments.

Before using it again, you need to take the dough out first so that it warms up and becomes soft and pliable again. In this way, you can store the finished salt dough for up to 1-1.5 months.

Drying crafts

If you are not just sculpting for fun with children, but want the products to last for a long time, then after creating the figures you need to dry them. This process is performed in several ways:

in the oven;
on the radiator;
near the fireplace;
in hot weather - on the windowsill or on the balcony.

If the crafts are thin, they can dry naturally in a warm place. This is in the heat - on a sunny balcony or windowsill. If the figure is voluminous, you can dry it first naturally and finish drying it in the oven.

In winter, you can place thin parts on the radiator on fabric or foil. If you use a fireplace at home, you can place the products at a close distance from it on a table or even on the floor on a napkin.

If you decide to use an oven, then you need to follow several useful recommendations:

There is no need to preheat the oven in advance; the temperature rises gradually so that the products do not crack or burn.
It is better to dry on dark baking sheets; according to the experience of many craftsmen, drying there occurs at a faster pace, since the dark surface retains heat better.
Work is carried out with the door open.
The duration of drying of products depends on the thickness. If the dough is up to 2 cm, it will take three hours to dry. The first - at a temperature of 75 °C, the next - 100 °C, the last - 150 °C. If the parts are thicker than 2 cm, then it will take longer to stay in the oven: 2 hours - at 50 °C, 3 hours - at 75 °C and the last 2 hours - at 100 °C.

Don't forget to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't swell or burn. The process is lengthy, but after proper drying, the parts become strong and can last for a long time.

Dough coloring

If you want to make colored salted play dough, use liquid food coloring. Add a couple of drops from the bottle to the finished dough and knead thoroughly until smooth. This is convenient, but with this method the dough turns out pastel colors. You can’t make bright, saturated colors this way, unless you pour out a whole bottle of dye, and this is costly in terms of money.

It is much cheaper to use gouache to color the dough. You need to take a little paint on a spoon and put it in a container with dough, then mix everything thoroughly. The color is bright and saturated.

In the article we told you all the main points necessary to get started. Sculpt, create your masterpieces with your children, create!

Are considered:
1) Material for creativity does not require financial investments, because most often the components necessary for its preparation are at hand.
2) Salt dough is easily washed off your hands and does not stain clothes or the surface used for modeling.
3) The mass does not stick to your hands during use, holds its shape perfectly and has high density.
4) You can dry the molded figures both in the open air and in the oven.
5) Both food coloring and standard coloring materials (gouache, acrylic paints, watercolors, etc.) can be used as a means for coloring crafts.
6) Coating finished products with varnish significantly increases the length of time they retain their original attractiveness.

It is better to take the most ordinary flour for salt dough without all kinds of additives and impurities. For example, flour that is labeled “for pizza,” “pancake,” or “for pancakes” is completely unsuitable for preparing the material. Crafts made from such products can rise well when dried, and then even crack. Avoid rye flour as well - the dough from it will certainly turn out hard and inelastic, and it will be very difficult to sculpt from it.

Use regular fine table salt for the dough. Iodized and sea salt are not suitable - their large grains will not dissolve, and the dough will turn out to be uneven and speckled. As for water, it is better to use cold water, and you should not pour salt and flour with the entire volume of liquid at once; it is better to add water a little at a time and immediately knead the dough thoroughly.

To provide the modeling mass with certain properties during the preparation of salt dough, you can also use additional components. So, dry wallpaper glue will make future ones more durable, hand cream and vegetable oil will give the material plasticity, and food coloring will color the mass in the desired color.

Classic salt dough with a minimum amount of ingredients is ideal. To prepare it, combine half a glass of fine salt and a slightly smaller amount of water at room temperature in a deep bowl. Stir the mixture thoroughly and set it aside for 25 minutes to infuse.

Pour half a glass of flour into the saline solution, stir the mixture thoroughly with a fork, knife or whisk. Try to immediately break up any lumps that arise to obtain an elastic, homogeneous mass. If the dough turns out runny, add more flour. Make sure that the mass does not crumble or fall apart; knead it with your hands until it turns into a stiff dough. Check the readiness of the material with your finger. Leave its trace in the mass, and if the print does not “float” but holds its shape, the salt dough is ready for modeling.

To prepare a material that is more delicate in texture, different from traditional salted dough and has a lower density, you will need 2 cups of water, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, as well as 1 tablespoon each of vegetable oil and citric acid. Such a mass does not stick to your hands at all, is easy to process and does not require much effort when forming various figures, which is why it is considered an ideal material for children's creativity.

To prepare the choux pastry, pour the water into a small saucepan and heat it without bringing it to a boil. Add vegetable oil to the liquid. Combine the dry ingredients in a deep bowl, mix well and gradually add hot water, stirring the mixture periodically with a fork or whisk. At first, the dough will seem very liquid to you, but over time the flour will brew and the mass will become denser. Knead the material until it turns into an elastic, viscous dough, ideal for forming a wide variety of figures.

If you add food coloring in powder, liquid or tablet form to the salt dough at the stage of mixing the ingredients, you can immediately obtain modeling material of a certain shade. To prepare colored salt dough, in a deep cup, combine 300 g of flour, 300 g of salt and 200 ml of water, knead a thick dough that does not stick to your hands.

Divide the mass into several parts, each of which will later acquire a certain shade. Make a small depression in each piece with your finger, add a few drops of water and dye into the hole, wait until the mixture is absorbed and knead the dough again. If the color mixture dries out, add a small amount of vegetable oil to it. Carry out the same procedure with all remaining pieces. Place the colored material in plastic bags and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.

The next integral step in creating salt dough figurines is drying them in the oven, during which several important recommendations should be taken into account:
- the approximate time for drying products in an electric cabinet at temperatures of 75 and 100°C is an hour, at a temperature of 120°C - 45 minutes, at a temperature of 150°C - half an hour (in a gas oven this process will take 2 times longer);
- for drying items decorated with beads, rhinestones and other decorative elements, set the temperature not exceeding 120°C;
- periodically turn the crafts over to achieve maximum uniform drying;
- To prevent the figures from sticking to the baking sheet, place food foil on it.

A very popular creative material for parents and children is play dough. In stores today you can easily purchase entire sets for dough, consisting of dough of various colors. Purchasing such a creative item will require significant financial expenses, and since the dough quickly loses its properties, such expenses will have to be made periodically. Play dough is very easy to make at home, and there are many recipes for making it.

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Why is dough used?

The dough is a very plastic mass from which a wide variety of dough can be made. Compared to plasticine, this material has a number of undoubted advantages:

it is much more flexible and softer;
the material does not have a specific odor;
it is impossible for them to spoil clothes, since it is easily washed;
the material does not cause allergic reactions;
the material is safe for children of all ages, even if the baby tastes it, this will not lead to negative consequences;
All the necessary ingredients for the composition are usually on hand, and if they are not available at home, purchasing them will not require significant financial costs.

Dough can be considered an ideal material that can be effectively used in educational activities with children. It is not without reason that they say that the mind of a small child develops through his fingertips. Modeling classes develop a child’s fine motor skills, allowing them to activate points in the brain responsible for the development of coordination, precision of movements and speech skills. promotes the comprehensive development of the child:

You can start modeling with plasticine for children at the age of 8-9 months. From the age of one and a half years, you can conduct full-fledged classes, giving the child knowledge about the world around him, developing skills in working with materials in the manufacture of simple figures.

Kinds

Today there are a huge number of different recipes for making dough with your own hands at home. Since its production does not take much time and effort, it is worth trying to experiment and make plastic material according to different recipes. Thus, everyone will be able to choose their own recipe for the “ideal” dough.

The most popular types are:

salty classic;
brewed over fire;
with starch;
microwaved;
with the addition of glycerin, baby cream, vegetable oil.

At home, you can prepare not only the usual classic dough, but also colorful or glow in the dark. Food coloring or spices may be added to add color.

If, when purchased in a store, the product turns out to be of unsatisfactory quality, then the money will be wasted. When making it yourself, even if using the recipe it was not possible to achieve the desired end result and the material did not turn out to be the desired consistency, you can always correct the situation by adding the required ingredient.

Most DIY dough recipes use a limited number of ingredients. Typically, the main components include flour, salt and water. All other components are added in order to improve the external qualities, plasticity of the material, and impart a pleasant smell.

How to make salted play dough at home

Today there are many recipes for making dough at home with your own hands. It is recommended to make your first attempts at creating a material for modeling using classic salt dough recipes, and after mastering the basics of creation, you can make the material using more complex recipes. In this case, it is worth taking into account the age characteristics of the child who will work with such material. For kids, it is recommended to choose the simplest recipes with a minimum number of ingredients.

Classic recipe

The most common option is a recipe for regular salt dough. Professional craftsmen were the first to prepare salt dough and used it to make panels, funny figures, and original accessories. The dough according to this recipe is considered safe for working with children, A the simplest recipe for making modeling material.

white flour - 200 grams;
fine salt - 200 grams;
125 ml water.

The salt must be poured into a container with flour and mixed thoroughly. Pour cold water into the dry mixture in small portions, stirring thoroughly after adding each portion. The finished material should be smooth and homogeneous in composition.

The dough according to this recipe turns out to be plastic, but may crumble due to the presence of a large amount of salt. A wide variety of crafts can be made from this material. Long-term storage and use items, such as Christmas tree decorations, can be made from this material.

Colored dough with cream of tartar

Making dough according to this recipe allows you to prepare colored salt dough with a longer shelf life compared to classic salt dough. The shelf life is increased due to the properties of cream of tartar, which prevents crystallization.

To make it you will need the following ingredients:

a cup of cold water;
half a cup of finely ground salt;
a cup of coarse flour;
2 teaspoons cream of tartar;
food coloring;
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

The dough making process is as follows:

Choux pastry with glycerin

Glycerin, when added as a component, adds to the dough craft pleasant shine and does not require subsequent varnish treatment.

For production you will need:

2 cups boiling water;
2 cups plain flour;
0.5 teaspoon glycerin;
2 tablespoons sunflower oil;
2 tablespoons cream of tartar;
0.5 cups fine salt;
food coloring to add color if desired.

It is necessary to prepare a flour base by mixing flour, salt, butter and cream of tartar. Place the resulting mass in water heated to boiling water. Add glycerin and food coloring and cook briefly over low heat until smooth. Cool the resulting mass and mix thoroughly until the stickiness disappears.

The microwave allows you to prepare play dough in a short period of time. For production you will need ingredients in the following proportions:

All ingredients must be mixed thoroughly. The resulting mass is poured into a mold, placed in the microwave at medium power and kept in this mode for 5 minutes. After the dough has cooled, you need to thoroughly mix the resulting mass again.

Dough recipe without water

To make the modeling mixture according to the recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

300 grams of white flour;
2 tablespoons vegetable oil;
2 tablespoons cream of tartar;
food coloring.

All ingredients are mixed in a saucepan. After this, the resulting mass should simmer for some time over low heat with constant stirring until a homogeneous thick mass is achieved. After cooling, the dough can be used to make crafts.

Dough recipe without flour

To make it you will need the following ingredients:

1 cup potato starch;
0.5 glasses of water;
2 cups baking soda;
food coloring.

All ingredients, except water, are mixed in a saucepan. Then water is poured in and the mass is thoroughly mixed. The resulting composition is placed on low heat until a plastic ball forms. After cooling, the dough can be used for creativity.

For crafts with children, it is recommended to use colored dough, which can be easily created by adding various food colorings. Special dyes can be purchased at the store, or you can use home remedies and food as ingredients.

The following ingredients can be used as natural dyes to create a specific color:

powder cocoa to create brown color;
brilliant green to create turquoise shades;
to create red colors cherry or currant juice.

After adding the dye, it often starts to stick to your hands. To correct the situation it is enough add a small amount of flour to the modeling mixture.

The lifespan of homemade play dough can be quite long. Tight enough for longer storage wrap the mixture in plastic or place in a tightly closed container. It is necessary to store materials for crafts in the refrigerator or cool room.

An important stage in creating crafts from plastic material is the drying process. Depending on the time available, drying may be natural or accelerated. Accelerated drying in most cases is carried out in the oven, but the heating temperature should not exceed 100 0 C.