Crafts from dough for nominations. Let's sculpt together with the kids! Salt dough - dough recipe and how to work with it. Volumetric figurines of animals

All children love to sculpt - this is an indisputable fact. Even the most notorious little brats, who cannot sit quietly for even five minutes, are attracted to modeling, and while the children “create” their masterpieces, parents have a little respite. Our website has already discussed in detail the materials for modeling, and I would like to dwell separately on salt dough. Its advantages are undeniable - it can be made at home, it is safe and non-toxic, and your child’s crafts can be preserved for many years

Recipe for salted dough for modeling and technology for making crafts

Finding a recipe for salt dough is not difficult. The Internet is literally replete with a variety of recipes and tips. Especially for our readers’ day, we decided to conduct a small experiment and try out several salt dough recipes and check which one will be the best for crafts with children. Parents should not take on all the worries about preparing salt dough. Knead the dough with your child and start creating.

Method for preparing salted dough for modeling according to a classic recipe

Ingredients:

200 g flour;
200 g salt;
125 g water;
1 tablespoon sunflower oil to give the dough elasticity.

Measure out the amount of ingredients for the dough using a measuring cup. We combine the ingredients. If the dough turns out watery, then you need to add a little more flour and salt, because this modeling material should be dense.
Knead the dough with your hands until it stops sticking and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Take it out and start sculpting.

Method for preparing salt dough with the addition of wallpaper glue

Ingredients:

200 g flour (one glass);
200 g salt (half a glass, since salt is heavier than flour);
125 g water;
1 tablespoon sunflower oil;
1 tablespoon wallpaper glue.

We use the same proportions and ingredients as in the classic recipe, but for strength we add one tablespoon of wallpaper glue to the dough. Place the finished dough in the cold for 30 minutes, then take it out and start modeling. In addition, the prepared dough can be packed in a bag and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks; it will not lose its properties.

Method for preparing colored salt dough for modeling

Salt dough can be colored before making crafts using food coloring. It is better to use liquid ones; they give a richer color than powder dyes and improve the quality of the dough.

In order for the white salted modeling dough to turn into colored dough, we divide it into several parts.
We place each part in a separate bag and add a few drops of food coloring depending on the desired color. The more dye we add, the richer the color will be.
After all the parts are painted, put them in the refrigerator. Half an hour and the children can start modeling. This dough can also be used at home. It will undoubtedly bring great pleasure to the child. Colored dough, just like colorless dough, can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Coloring salt dough crafts

Crafts made from salt dough can be painted directly after drying, using either acrylic paints for arts and crafts or gouache. You can cover products with watercolors, but gouache and acrylic give children’s crafts brighter and richer colors; they require practically no water, unlike watercolors. Watercolor is a water-loving paint, and liquid can lead to deformation of an already dried craft.

WITH craft ear made from salt dough

There are two ways to dry salt dough crafts - naturally and using the oven. Natural will take several days, so for impatient kids it is better to use oven drying, taking into account several rules:

Drying should be done at the lowest temperature from 50 to 80 degrees.
During drying, you can open the oven slightly, but during this time you need to take the children out of the kitchen so that they are not tempted to check their product. It is not safe.
Do not put crafts in a hot oven. The oven should heat up along with the product. And you need to remove it only after the oven has completely cooled down.
Drying is best done in several stages. First dry on one side, then turn over and dry on the other.
Drying time is directly related to the thickness of the product. Thinner items dry much faster than thick, voluminous pieces.

Salt dough craft ideas for children under 2 years old

Making crafts from dough helps. But kids quickly lose interest in any activity; dough modeling is no exception. There is no need to come up with complex crafts, otherwise you will have to do them yourself. The first crafts should be simple and should not take much time. The baby’s very first crafts are casts. To begin with, you can invite your child to make animal prints.

Animal prints on salt dough

Roll out a small circle with a rolling pin.
We make prints of various animals on it: small figures are suitable for this.
We place the circle with the imprint on a baking sheet, and after all the crafts are ready, we put them in the oven to dry.
After drying, paint the marks.

A child can simply play with the dough, leaving traces of various animals on it, or these prints can be dried. They will still be useful for future games. For example, you can hide dinosaur prints in a sensory box, and then, together with your child, make amazing excavations and discover fossilized traces of prehistoric lizards.

Casts of arms and legs

Any child will love making casts of their arms, legs and legs. It will also be a memorable gift for all parents, who are kept with the same trepidation as tags from the maternity hospital.

Roll out a circle with a rolling pin (you can make a square or cut out any shape you want).
We invite the child to make a print of his hand separately and his feet separately.
Place the casts on a baking sheet and dry in the oven.
After drying, paint with your child.

You can not stop there and make souvenir prints of all family members at once, including your favorite pets.

How to teach a 2-4 year old child to make crafts from salt dough: 2 master classes

Children of two to four years old should also not be expected to show perseverance and patience. Therefore, crafts should be simple enough so that a child can do them on his own, only occasionally resorting to the help of adults.

At this age, the baby is captivated by role-playing games; both boys and girls will be interested in the game of shopping. To have something to fill your grocery basket, you can make a loaf, bagels, pizza, chocolate bar and other food products from salted dough.

Craft "Loaf"

Take a small piece of dough and form it into a loaf.
We make cuts.
We send our loaf to the oven to dry.
After drying, paint the craft with acrylic paints.

Craft "Baranka"

Take several small pieces of dough.
We make sausages out of them and roll them into bagels.
We send the bagels to dry in the oven.
After drying, coat the bagels with paints and string them on a thread.
The bunch of bagels is ready.

Craft “Pizza”

Take a small piece of dough and form a round pizza base.
We form small circles from small pieces and use a brush and water to attach them to the pizza base.
Place the pizza in the oven to dry.
After drying, paint.

The dough products are ready, you can take them to the “grocery store” and fill the buyer’s basket with them, then prepare a “lunch” from them.

Testoplasty (flour paste or bioceramics) is a fascinating type of needlework that does not require large amounts of money or special skills. Making salt dough is a pleasure. Moreover, this process will be equally interesting for both children and adults. An incredibly plastic, pliable and absolutely safe material for creativity makes wonderful figurines.

We invite you to immerse yourself in the world of art without leaving your apartment! To make it easier for you to learn a new activity, we have prepared useful tips and master classes.

1 Features of working with salt dough
- 1.1 How to prepare play dough
- 1.2 Tools needed for creativity
- 1.3 Basic drying methods
- 1.5 Why varnishing is needed
- 1.6 Possible problems and their solutions
2 Crafts made from salt dough
- 2.3 Symbolic mukosol figures
3 Useful tips

Features of working with salt dough

The origins of this type of creativity are deeply rooted in the history of our culture. The same Kolobok is an excellent artistic example of a product made from salt dough.

Anyone can work with the dough. Surely you have a handful of flour at home! In addition, the dough is much more plastic than gypsum and more durable than plasticine.

How to prepare play dough

If you have finally decided to master the process of making crafts, then it would be useful to learn how to make salt dough. We offer several recipe options from which you can choose any one you like.

1 tbsp. fine salt;
1 tbsp. flour;
5 tbsp. l. sunflower oil;
water;
colored gouache or natural juice.

Thoroughly stir the dry ingredients in a deep container, pour in the oil and a little water. To give the dough a certain color, carefully stir in juice (for example, carrot or beetroot).

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

Mix everything and knead the dough like dumplings. To sculpt thin relief figures, add one more thing to choose from: 1 tbsp. l. PVA glue, 1 tbsp. l. starch or a mixture of wallpaper glue and water.

2 tbsp. wheat flour;
1 tbsp. salt;
125 ml water;
1 tbsp. l. hand cream (vegetable oil).

Combine all ingredients and knead thoroughly until smooth. You can use a blender or mixer to speed up the process. The dough turns out very soft and pliable.

1 tbsp. flour;
1 tbsp. finely ground salts;
125 ml water.

This is a recipe for salt dough for sculpting large products. First of all, combine the salt with the flour, and then add water little by little, kneading until an elastic mass is obtained.

1.5 tbsp. flour;
1 tbsp. salt;
4 tbsp. l. glycerin (sold at the pharmacy);
2 tbsp. l. wallpaper glue + 125-150 ml of water.

This dough is well suited for making delicate works. We recommend using a mixer for mixing - it makes the task much easier.

Tools you need for creativity

In addition to the fact that you need to learn how to make salted dough for modeling, it is also important to prepare the necessary tools and a set of accessories:

All this will be useful to you for creative work with the dough.

Basic drying methods

When the product is ready, it must be properly dried. There are several methods. Let's look at the most popular of them.

Method 1 - In the oven (preheated)

Drying in a slightly open oven at a temperature of 55-80 °C (the craft is placed in a preheated oven). Place the product on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a heat-resistant bowl. The process may take about an hour or longer depending on the size of the figurine.

Method 2 - Natural conditions

This means drying in the open air (but not in direct sunlight). This method takes longer than the first, but is more effective. It is best to place the product on a wooden or plastic surface. Air drying takes about 3-4 days. But we do not recommend drying it on a radiator - this can lead to the craft cracking and crumbling.

Method 3 - In the oven (cold)

According to this method, crafts made from salt dough must be placed in a cold oven and only then turned on, eventually heating up to 150 °C. The products should cool there while the oven cools down.

Figures made from unpainted dough are attractive in themselves. However, after drying, they can be decorated with gouache, watercolor or acrylic paints. They are good because they dry quickly, do not smudge and do not leave marks on your hands.

Coloring methods:

Mix watercolor paints with water with a brush and apply to the product so that they do not spread.
Mix gouache with PVA glue and evenly cover the craft with this mixture.
You can give the dough a certain color while kneading. Divide it into parts - there should be as many of them as the shades you need to paint. Roll them into balls, make a hole in the middle of each and drop a couple of drops of food coloring diluted in water there. After this, knead the dough so that it colors evenly.

Modeling from salt dough also allows you to use various elements for decoration. These can be cereals, pasta, buttons, shells, beads, all kinds of threads and ribbons. The scope for imagination is unlimited!

Why is varnishing needed?

Finished products are varnished so that the paint does not fade or wash off, and the appearance of the work does not deteriorate over time. Varnishing is used if necessary and solely at the request of the author.

You can add shine to the product with varnish:

liquid - you need to cover the product with it in several layers, the result is ruddy and natural;
thick - it better protects the craft from moisture; you can use either a varnish that imparts a mirror shine or a matte one.

It is preferable to use aerosol varnish. A single application is enough for the colors to sparkle brighter and the work to become protected from damage.

Although, practice shows that proper drying allows you to not even resort to varnishing - the product will retain its original appearance for many years.

Possible problems and their solutions

Here is a list of problems that may arise when drying or decorating a toy made from salt dough:

The dough has bubbles or cracks after drying. This may be caused by the wrong choice of flour or failure to follow drying rules. The simplest and most inexpensive flour for modeling is suitable - low-grade rye or wheat. And the product should be dried without undue haste in a slightly preheated oven with the door ajar. In general, it is better if the craft dries naturally.
The product is cracked after painting. This can happen if you start painting a craft that has not yet dried enough. Let it dry in the fresh air, smooth out any rough edges with sandpaper and repaint.
The product is cracked due to its large thickness. In this case, you need to remove excess dough from the back or bottom. In order for a large product to dry evenly in the oven, it must be turned over periodically.
An element has broken off. You can try gluing it with PVA glue, but it’s better to just smooth out the unevenness and decorate it with some kind of decoration.
The craft has faded after painting. An additional coating of varnish can restore the color to its former richness and make the craft brighter.

Crafts made from salt dough

According to some assumptions, the first dough moldings were used by cooks to decorate baked goods. Today, you can sculpt anything from such a wonderful material: paintings, souvenir figurines, and toys.

So, when you already know how to make salt dough, let's start creating crafts from it.

Want something interesting?

You will need:

fine table salt;
Wheat flour;
cold water;
foil;
brush;
whitewash;
gouache;
black marker.

Step-by-step sequence of actions:

Combine flour and fine salt in equal proportions, add a little water.
Knead the elastic dough and send it to cool in the refrigerator for two hours.
After this time, you can start sculpting. Make 4 balls from the salt dough. These will be the sheep's feet. Place them as shown in the picture.
Roll up a piece of foil and place it in the dough ball. Then you need to roll a ball out of the flatbread - this is the body of the lamb, it needs to be laid on top of the paws.
Now use pieces of dough to form a head, curled horns, ears and eyes.
To get something like curly sheep's wool, roll a lot of small balls and place them evenly on the back of our animal.
The workpiece is ready. All that remains is to place it in the oven, preheated to the minimum temperature. The sheep should dry thoroughly without cracking. At a temperature of 50 °C it will take about 3 hours to dry and up to half an hour to cool.
Then cover the entire surface of the figure with white. Wait until they are completely dry.
Color the sheep with gouache. And using a permanent marker you can draw eyelashes, a mouth, outline horns and other details as desired.
Finally, varnish the lamb. The varnish will add shine and smoothness, giving the craft a finished look.

Testoplasty allows you to create not only small voluminous souvenirs, but also entire paintings from salt dough. Of course, creating them will require some skills, patience and perseverance. However, the result can exceed all expectations, becoming a wonderful gift for loved ones or decorating the interior of your home.

We act in stages:

Creating a painting, like any other dough craft, begins with preparing the dough itself. There are many different variations of recipes, but the most popular is this: 1 tbsp. finely ground salt, 2 tbsp. flour, 200 ml water. Knead elastic salted dough for crafts, pack it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
Take out the finished material and you can start creating by pinching off a piece of dough from the bag (it crusts quite quickly in the air).
To connect parts together, use water rather than glue.
It is most convenient to create a picture on foil. It is necessary to dry the result: in the oven or in the air.
When the craft is dry, paint it with gouache and cover it with two layers of varnish.
Finally, attach the picture to canvas or any other fabric in the frame.

All kinds of cats, birds, snowmen, bears, dachshunds, flowers and much more look very beautiful. You can create paintings based on the plot of a particular fairy tale - this will be especially interesting for children. You can see some examples of work for inspiration in the pictures.

Symbolic mucous figurines

Salt dough is a great alternative to clay. And crafts made from it can become a unique decoration for your home or an original idea for a gift. It has long been believed that flour in the house is a symbol of prosperity and family well-being.

Regardless of what kind of figures you plan to make, the dough for them can be prepared according to one of the recipes given above.

Here are some more examples of mukosolek designs that are easy to make and look amazing!

Each recipe for salted dough for crafts involves using exclusively wheat or rye flour (but definitely not pancake flour) and finely ground salt (not iodized, since the dough will not be homogeneous, but with large inclusions).
The mixing water should be very cold. Add it in portions, carefully kneading the dough. Depending on the flour you choose, different amounts of water may be required.
The dough should not stick to your hands or crumble. If it doesn't stick well, add a little water, and if it sticks, add a little flour.
Salt dough is perfectly stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Use it piece by piece as needed, because the finished dough in the air quickly becomes covered with a dry crust, which spoils the appearance of the products. The test shelf life is 1 week.
Crafts made from small elements look more elegant. To ensure that the parts adhere well to each other, moisten the joints with water using a brush.
To tint the dough itself, add a little food coloring diluted in water (for Easter eggs). You can create new shades from dough of different colors: to do this, simply knead the multi-colored pieces with your fingers.

Testoplasty is not just children's fun, but also a correctional activity that allows you to develop fine motor skills, perseverance and imagination of children, cultivating aesthetic taste. And for adults, this is a great way to express themselves and recuperate. We wish you inspiration, and let creativity be only a joy!

Sep 11, 2017 abraxams

There are many recipes for creating dough, but the basis is always the same. To prepare it, all the ingredients can be found in any kitchen. Anything you need:

Flour (one glass)
Salt (one glass)
Water (1/2 cup)

To prepare, take a deep bowl and mix all the dry ingredients. Add water and mix all ingredients thoroughly. The dough must be kneaded until it stops sticking to your hands, it should not crumble. If you do everything correctly, you will have an elastic, dense dough.

For all kinds of crafts, it can be of varying density and consistency.

Thick dough is suitable for creating three-dimensional crafts; it holds its shape perfectly;
A universal dough suitable for beginners; it makes excellent crafts, figurines and small paintings;
Softer, more pliable dough is intended for making flowers.

Drying salt dough crafts

To ensure that the product does not crumble and hardens well, it must be dried.

Let's consider methods of drying the finished product.

After finishing working with the product, simply leave it to dry naturally. The main condition for this method is to avoid direct sunlight. Otherwise, your craft will become covered with cracks. Place the finished craft on a straight, smooth surface and allow it time to dry. This method takes from 3 to 5 days, depending on the size of the product.

Another drying method will not take so much time. The finished craft can be dried in the oven. With such drying, the entire procedure will take no more than 5-6 hours. But here you need to show patience and attentiveness. The drying temperature should be no more than 100 degrees. The product must be dried at intervals of 1-2 hours.

Painting of products

You can also paint the workpiece in different colors during the cooking process: add food coloring and mix thoroughly.

After painting, let it dry and finally varnish. This will protect the paint from fading and the product from excess moisture.

Salt dough figurines - master classes

Star

To make a dough star you will need the following supplies:

Dough;
Star mold or stack for cutting out shapes;
A thin stick.

Procedure:

Make a ball out of the dough and roll it out into a flat cake.
Use a mold to cut out a star (if you don’t have a mold, use a special stick for cutting plasticine).
Use a toothpick to make dots on the star and draw eyes and a mouth.
For decoration, you can paint it in different colors.
Make a small hole at the top through which you can thread the ribbon. And you have a wonderful Christmas tree decoration!

Caterpillar

The child can make this craft himself, you will only help him. To make a caterpillar, prepare:

Dough (pre-color it green);
Penknife;
Glue (preferably PVA);

Procedure:

So, for a fun caterpillar, make 6-7 identical balls.
Draw or stick on eyes and a nose on the caterpillar's head.
Glue the balls to each other. Dry the craft, then coat it with varnish. Your caterpillar is ready!

Hedgehog

To make a hedgehog from puff pastry you will need:

dough;
Scissors;
Glue;
Dye;

Procedure:

Make an oval-shaped hedgehog and make an elongated nose.
Glue two small balls and make eyes for the hedgehog.
Using scissors, make cuts along the back that imitate needles.
Dry the future hedgehog after complete drying, paint it with paint. After complete drying, coat with varnish.

Funny fish

To make a fish you need:

Dough;
Wand;
Marker cap;
Ruler.

Procedure:

Roll out the dough to 3.5mm thickness. Use a glass to make a circle. Using your fingers, pinch the circle on one side, this will be the tail of the future fish.
Use a stick to form a mouth on the opposite side.
Using the edge of a ruler, squeeze out prints on the tail and highlight the fins.
Use small pieces of dough to make eyes for your fish.
Use a marker cap to make fish scales.
Decorate the tail with thin strips of dough, this will add additional volume.
After drying, color your fish and feel free to make a wish!

Rose

To make beautiful flowers, take:

Dough preparation;
Pencil;
Paints;
Cutting stack;

Procedure:

Form the dough into balls, making five balls for the petals and two for the leaves.
Roll out the balls into round cakes and begin to form a flower.
Carefully apply your cakes to the pencil and form petals. After you have created a bud, carefully remove it from the pencil and place it on a board, removing the excess with a stack.
Cut out petals from the remaining cakes and glue them to the sides of the bud.
Dry your rose, paint it and let it dry completely.
Apply varnish.

Your rose will delight you for a long time and will not fade!

Show your imagination! Use a variety of materials to decorate crafts. Glue a magnet to a small craft and your child’s creativity will always be on display. Small crafts make wonderful pendants or Christmas tree decorations.

Crafts made from this material will make wonderful gifts for the holidays.

Try to use your imagination together with your child and start making incredibly beautiful products.

Our distant ancestors decorated the surface of loaves with figurative images of spikelets, berries, and leaves before baking to attract good luck and receive blessings from their deities. Today we do this without any religious background, just for beauty.

In addition to decorating edible products, the use of a dough of a special composition allows you to create very impressive and beautiful decorative figures, pictures and flowers. In this case, the dough perfectly replaces more difficult and expensive materials, so it is ideal for young children. But this is such an exciting activity that even respectable adults enjoy doing it.

Anyone can use salt dough for self-expression and relaxation; it is only important to know how to make a durable and flexible material, as well as to properly dry and paint the finished product.

Subtleties of preparing dough for crafts

The modeling of products itself is no different from working with plasticine or other similar materials. The advantage of salted dough is that it is more flexible, less dirty on hands and surrounding objects, provides more opportunities for complex work, and is also perfectly preserved after proper drying, becoming hard and durable.

The difficulty is how to prepare the right dough that will not stick to your hands and tools, and will not crack or crumble. To do this, you need to use a few simple tips:
Do not use pancake flour for work - it is more sticky and the dough will turn out to be of poor consistency.
Use only “Extra” fine salt. Coarse salt will create a rough crumbly dough due to grains when kneading directly in dry form, and dissolving such salt in water will take too long. In addition, rock salt can contain impurities that will stain the play dough, but “Extra” salt is purified and very fine.

By diluting the flour with ice water, you can get an excellent, plastic and very homogeneous dough.

Using these simple tips, you can start working with your children to create a variety of amazingly beautiful products. Salt dough is a simple, inexpensive and very accessible material for creativity, and children are simply crazy about such useful entertainment.

Tools and materials used

When we sculpt from salt dough, we need special tools to work. All of them are available in our homes, in kitchens or among office supplies, materials for sewing and handicrafts.

Basic tools and materials for work:

Rolling pin for rolling out dough. If it is not there or the existing one is too large for children’s hands, you can find a replacement in the form of an ordinary glass bottle.
Knife for cutting dough. Children can be given a plastic knife from a set of colored plasticine.
Board for rolling out dough and making products.
Paints for coloring (watercolor, acrylic, gouache - any water-soluble dyes).
Finishing varnishes (water-based, best in aerosols). Additionally, you can use spray varnishes “with special effects” - “snow”, with sparkles, gold, silver or other metallic varnish.
Set of brushes for coloring.
Container with water.
Cookie molds.
A variety of items to add texture to the finished product - toothbrushes, combs, knitting needles, buttons, lace and much more.

For small children, it is worth providing special clothing, as they can get very dirty. Before work, stock up on a pack of dry and wet wipes - they are convenient not only to clean your hands, but also to blot your brushes from excess paint. This will prevent the dyes from spreading over the finished item.

Three best recipes

To knead the salt dough, you can use your own hands or entrust this process to modern technology - a mixer or dough mixer. With their help you can obtain a particularly smooth and elastic dough.

To ensure that the finished product does not crumble, you must first add the required volume of water to the salt, and then mix it thoroughly with the flour. It is important to mix the product well until completely homogeneous, otherwise, when drying, the finished item may crack or fall apart into separate pieces.

Basic recipe:

A glass of flour (wheat or rye).
A glass of finely ground salt, “Extra” type.
Half a glass of ice water.

Mix the ingredients and knead the dough until smooth. This recipe is great for crafts with delicate details: flowers, leaves, ornamental plants, and so on.

Recipe for plastic soft dough:

Flour - one glass.
Fine salt - one glass.
The water is very cold - half a glass.
Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons.

Instead of oil, you can take glycerin, a fairly rich cream or cooking oil. The introduction of fats or oils into a salt dough recipe allows you to make its consistency more plastic and elastic, and also avoid cracking of the product after drying. This option is especially suitable for “thick-walled” products that may crack if the dough is completely dry.

To work with thin parts or many small elements, you will need to use an improved salt dough recipe:

1.5 cups flour.
1 glass of salt.
0.5 glasses of water.
2 - 3 tablespoons of PVA glue, Methylane wallpaper glue or any other water-soluble glue.

This dough holds its shape perfectly, you can make small thin elements from it, and with definitely “stuffed” hands you can make things that are outwardly indistinguishable from good porcelain.

Any recipe for salt dough can be regarded as a basis, since you can endlessly modify it “to suit yourself”, experimenting with various ingredients until you get the correct composition.

How to perfectly dry salt dough

The main difficulty for beginners is the technology of drying the finished product. Drying can be done in different ways:

“Bake” in a heated oven like regular cookies, at a temperature ranging from 50 to 80 degrees (depending on the size and thickness of the product). The finished item is placed on parchment paper for baking and placed in a preheated oven for about an hour. The duration of processing depends on the dimensions of the product. Do not remove the item from the oven until the oven has cooled completely.
Drying in a cold oven, that is, the product is placed in a cold oven, the heat is turned on and brought to the desired temperature. Everything else is exactly the same as in the previous paragraph.
It is best to simply air dry products made from dough with salt, although this takes a lot of time. A well-dried craft becomes durable, hard and not subject to external influences. Regular drying is great for small items or items with delicate parts.

Do not use electrical appliances or a central heating radiator for drying. They dry the dough unevenly, which can cause the item to crack or spoil if it is only dry on one side, has a dry surface and has “damp insides.”

Dyes and finishing materials used

When preparing salt dough, the dye can be introduced directly into the product itself and obtain a material very similar to plasticine. But the difficulty in this case will be working with the material - you will have to connect individual colored parts, and this is too difficult for kids. Everyone loves to work with paints, so for children it is preferable to paint a ready-made monochromatic item.

The easiest way to work is to use water-soluble paints. Acrylic dyes are very good - they give a dense and uniform color, have a large color palette, are easy to use, and dry quickly. But you can also use regular watercolors. It gives an excellent translucent layer, and paints can be layered with glazes to obtain special effects - volume, tone transitions, tints and different textures. If there is a need to obtain an opaque color using watercolors, you can use a white primer. Its role can be white acrylic paint, gouache or tempera with the addition of PVA glue to hold it on the surface of the product.

For finishing, you can use three-dimensional paints, metallic dyes, beads of different sizes and shapes, buttons, rhinestones and other little things that do not deteriorate from high temperatures if you plan to dry them in the oven.

Is it worth varnishing crafts?

In principle, a finished craft made from salt dough holds paint very well, but if you plan to use this thing, for example, for games, or it is a chess piece, a decorative vase, a box, in short, a thing that will suffer from constant touching, then it should be coated varnish. It will not only protect finished products from external influences, but will also give a beautiful glossy shine, which is necessary for many types of crafts.

The easiest way is to use varnish in an aerosol, carrying out the treatment outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. If necessary, varnishing can be repeated several times, thoroughly drying each previous layer. To make it especially decorative, you can use special sprays, for example, with a snow effect or with glitter.

Types of salt dough products

For kids or beginners, you need to use simpler shapes and objects that are understandable to them. You can start sculpting with traditional cats or dogs, fruits and berries, cars and other simple figures without numerous and complex details. Gradually, with the growth of the level of skill and the young sculptors themselves, the work can become more complicated, moving on to the creation of figures, paintings and compositions.

The pinnacle of craftsmanship can be considered the creation of flowers from bioceramics, as salt dough is also called. Of course, even a child can make a simple chamomile, but only an “advanced” user can make a full-fledged bouquet of roses or a flowering branch of jasmine.

To learn how to work with salt dough, you need to follow the instructions step by step and not rush into complex products.

Various panels and paintings made from dough with salt

Creating pictures from dough is not as difficult as it seems. At the first stages of creativity, it is worth using a hint in the form of a photograph of the future “work of art”. For example, let's say you want to create a beautiful autumn landscape. Find a beautiful photo with a few small details and use it for inspiration.

A piece of thin plywood is suitable as a basis for the picture, but if it is unavailable, you can also use thick cardboard. A rolled out layer of dough is placed on the surface of the base. It can be glued with any suitable glue.
All the details of the future painting are cut out or molded from salt dough and superimposed on each other as they move away from the background of the painting. That is, the objects furthest from the viewer will be laid out on the base first. This method will allow you to obtain very neat and expressive three-dimensional images.
The finished painting is thoroughly dried and then painted with suitable paints. After the paints have dried, the painting is varnished and placed in a frame. The product is ready, you can hang it on the wall in your room or give it to someone who can appreciate the creativity and talent of the performer.

If you use foil as a base for the product, the dried and painted part can be easily removed from it and then transferred to any other material. It can be thick fabric stretched over a frame, glass, plastic, even metal. Such flat and at the same time voluminous products can be used to decorate caskets, decorate children's furniture, boxes with various things, or be used for identification, for example, lockers for things in a kindergarten locker room.

Bioceramic figurines and dolls

There is nothing more interesting for kids than sculpting “people”. They really like “cartoon” characters, for example, fixies, Masha from the cartoon about the bear, heroes of comics and fairy tales. From salt dough you can make not only figurines and dolls, but also various houses, benches, trees, fountains - in a word, everything that your imagination can suggest.

If you plan to make fairly large figures, you should take care of the internal frame and stands for stable standing. Matches with the sulfur head removed, plastic and wooden toothpicks are suitable as supports for small plastic pieces; for larger products, cocktail skewers or chopsticks for Asian cuisine may be required. Save the wooden popsicle sticks - they can become the basis for many different products.

For stability, the figures should be placed on a base made of salt dough in the shape of a circle or oval - this will ensure a flat plane.

If the figure is depicted in motion, it may be necessary to create a wire frame - it will help in sculpting and will not allow the finished product to crumble.

In addition to three-dimensional, three-dimensional figures of people and animals, you can create various fruits and vegetables from salt dough. They are beautiful both on their own and as part of various compositions. For example, elegant fruits can be effectively laid out on a beautiful dish and used to decorate the kitchen or dining room.

Flat shapes can be cut out using cookie cutters. Hearts can become original valentines, Christmas trees can decorate the New Year's table, flowers can be used to designate places when seating guests at a holiday. Only imagination can limit the scope of application of various dough products.

Spectacular flowers and plants made from mucosa

The pinnacle of craftsmanship is the thin and graceful flowers made from flour salt, as salt dough is also called. This work requires great perseverance, talent and accuracy, so it is more suitable for adults and teenagers. Kids can successfully sculpt stylized flowers of simple shapes.

How to make a complex three-dimensional flower, for example, a rose?

You need to take a piece of dough and roll it into a drop-shaped core. The base of the drop is the bottom of the flower.
Then you need to roll out the dough thinly and cut out rose petals of different sizes and shapes from it.
By carefully placing one petal after another on the teardrop-shaped base, you can get a rose blank. To make it look like a real flower, each petal must be carefully bent, giving it a natural shape and outline.
To complete the work, you need to create a flower cup with the sepals turned away, cut out some beautiful leaves with carved edges and connect all the parts together using wire and pieces of salt dough.
The finished crafts are left to dry completely, and then painted in the chosen colors.

Using this principle, you can create any flowers, entire bouquets, complex compositions, and even imitations of plants in pots. The choice of plot depends on the imagination and creativity of the creator. A good example would be a cute cactus that should be kept near the computer. A living plant, even one as resilient as a cactus, may not survive in an office environment, but a lovely prickly creature made from salt dough will survive any cataclysms perfectly.

How to deal with possible problems

In any work, errors may occur, or things may not go at all as expected. Even if you do everything step by step, taking into account all the nuances, product defects may appear. This mainly involves cracking and chipping of individual parts of the product.

Cracks in crafts appear due to incorrect composition of the dough, errors in drying, or the start of painting the finished item when the base is not completely dry. If the cracks are small or the surface of the product is covered with a thin network of small cracks, they can be repaired.

To do this, you need to completely dry the item, and then carefully sand the defects using sandpaper of varying degrees of abrasiveness. You can bring the surface to perfection with “velvet” sandpaper. Then the remaining cracks can be filled with putty with a dough slightly diluted with water and salt. The procedure may have to be repeated several times if the cracks are very deep.

The lesson learned will teach that the basis of a future item needs to be given much more attention than even the finishing - not only the appearance of the product itself, but also the very fact of its existence depends on its quality.

It happens that during the drying process part of the product simply falls off, this especially often happens with thin parts or fragile small fragments. Sometimes elements of the work break off during painting when the impact is too intense. In order to repair a toy with a straight break line, you can use regular PVA glue. Layers of glue must be applied carefully to avoid unsightly streaks. The finished and dried item must be sanded and re-painted and varnished.

If a product made from fresh dough breaks, just moisten the broken areas thoroughly with water, press the individual parts together and wait for them to set. Decorate the dried work as planned.

You can try to restore a damaged figurine with the loss of individual elements by replacing the missing parts with pieces of fresh dough. Dry and fresh pieces may not connect securely, so after the new pieces dry, they may need to be glued together for strength.

Give yourself and your children the pleasure of creativity, because working with dough is easy and enjoyable, and the cost of materials is minimal. The result of the work can exceed any expectations!

An article for those who like to be creative with their children. It contains recipes for salted play dough and many ideas for crafts.

Modeling is a fun and useful activity at the same time. By making figurines, paintings, and compositions from plastic material, the child develops imagination, logical thinking, fine motor skills, and learns perseverance.

Of course, mom can just buy plasticine or some branded modeling compound for the baby. But how high quality and environmentally friendly are these materials? As an alternative, you can use salt dough made with your own hands from inexpensive natural products.

How to make dough for crafts?

Environmental friendliness is not the only advantage of salt dough over plasticine or play-doh.

The recipe according to which the plastic mass is prepared does not cause any difficulties for absolutely anyone. If a child asks to sculpt while at the dacha, for example, and there is no plasticine at hand, his wish can be fulfilled in half an hour
Materials for modeling in the store are quite expensive. Ingredients for salt dough will cost much less
Salted dough, even the one to which paint has been added, does not stain your hands or stick to your fingers. It's soft and pliable
Crafts made from dough can be dried using a special technology. Then they will be stored for a long time and serve as a souvenir, Christmas tree decoration, or children's toy.

IMPORTANT: Even in ancient times, people mastered modeling from dough with salt. A whole art arose, which was called testoplasty. Women and children made very elegant crafts, painted them by hand and used them as decorations for their homes. Figurines symbolizing various benefits were considered expensive gifts, given only to close people. Our ancestors didn’t bother with the salt dough recipe, making the material only from water, flour and salt

Today, salt dough modeling, which has suddenly returned to popularity, is called bioceramics. The recipes for the dough itself are being improved. Unfortunately, some of them involve the use of wallpaper glue, synthetic paints, etc. The concept of absolute naturalness is lost.

Salt play dough has three main components. This:

Additionally widely used:

gelatin
starch
vegetable oil
natural dyes (beet juice, green beans, etc.)
food colorings
gouache or watercolor paints
PVA glue
wallpaper glue

Glue or starch makes ready-made dried dough figures more durable, but it is not advisable to add them to material intended for children under 5 years of age. But dough with butter can be greasy and stain your clothes.

IMPORTANT: You can color both the dough itself while it is being prepared and the finished figurine, then creativity will be doubly more interesting and useful

RECIPE No. 1. Simple dough

You need: wheat flour – 1 cup, extra salt – 1 cup, cold water – 0.5 cups

First of all, the dry ingredients, flour and salt will be combined. If the dough is colored with food coloring or paint, dissolve it in water. Gradually adding colored water to flour and salt, knead a fairly stiff dough, but such that it does not stick to your hands and does not crumble into crumbs.

IMPORTANT: To check whether the mass is suitable for modeling, roll out a smooth ball and press a hole in the middle of it with your finger. The dough should neither spread nor immediately return to shape. The edges of the recess should remain smooth

RECIPE No. 2. Dough with starch

You need: wheat flour - 0.5 cups, starch - 0.5 cups, extra salt - 1 cup, water - 0.5 cups.

Just as in the first case, first mix flour, salt and starch. Next, clean or colored cold water is gradually added. Modeling mass that contains starch becomes more elastic.

In addition to the saltiest modeling dough, you need to prepare:

dostochku
knives - stacks
molds (such, for example, come complete with play-doh dough)
beads, sequins, buttons, other improvised materials for decorating crafts

IMPORTANT: The flour and salt dough can be used several times in a row. To prevent it from drying out, place the material in a plastic bag or wrap it in cling film, then close it in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator.

How to dry dough crafts?

If the dough crafts are small, they will dry out on their own. To prevent cracks from appearing on their surface, they are removed from direct sunlight.

You can also dry the dough figures in the oven at a minimum temperature and always keep the door ajar. Dry the dough in the oven for 3 – 6 hours, depending on the size of the craft. It goes into the oven three times for 1 - 2 hours, with a short break between each time.

Making salt dough with children

You can offer salt dough to your baby for the first time at the age of 1 year. This is not chemical plasticine or play-doh; mom doesn’t have to worry if the baby tastes the material or swallows it. For such small “homemade products”, the dough is prepared without synthetic dyes.

IMPORTANT: Play dough is very salty. As a rule, it is enough for a child to lick it to understand that it is not edible. But if the baby still ate a piece, you just need to give him plenty of drink, and if the mother is still worried, a bag of Smecta

Full-fledged developmental modeling classes are possible with children from 2 years old. From rolling out circles and balls from salt dough, they will smoothly move into real creativity, in which kids will be able to make flowers, animals, favorite fairy-tale and cartoon characters, etc.

The finished result of dough modeling is as important for kids as the process itself. The finished craft evokes strong positive emotions in them.

Crafts from dough for children in kindergarten

There is no need to think that salt dough is a “handicraft” material exclusively for home use. Kindergarten teachers have long taken note of recipes for plastic materials and are happy to replace plasticine with them in developmental classes with students.

So, in nurseries they often make casts of baby hands, circles, mushrooms, “sausages”, snails, etc. In older groups, children are already working on themed crafts, for example, for the holidays.

Crafts from dough for kids. Step-by-step dough crafts

When making dough with kids, you don’t need to come up with ideas for crafts: usually, they are born by themselves the moment your fingers touch the plastic material. Children love to sculpt:

geometric figures
flowers and trees
fruits and vegetables
animals
dinosaurs
little men
fairy-tale creatures
cartoon characters

Adults, mastering testoplasty, can get ideas on the Internet; there are many step-by-step master classes.

IMPORTANT: Good guides for both children and beginning adults are the books “Salt Dough Step by Step” by V. Khomenko and “Miracles from Salt Dough” by A. Firsova

Templates for crafts made from dough. Children's crafts made from salt dough

Crafts made from salt dough can be very beautiful. Children's crafts have their own touching charm. Adults are like pottery.
To get inspired for creativity, you can view a selection of thematic photos with crafts made from salt dough.

Panels and pictures made from salt dough

Such works of bioceramic art can be hung on the wall or placed in a prominent place. Photo frames made from salt dough are also very beautiful.

New Year's crafts made from salt dough

For the New Year, you can make not only Christmas tree decorations from dough, but also gifts - souvenirs for friends in the form of the symbol of the year. In 2016 this is a funny monkey.

Crafts made from salt dough heart

The heart is a symbol of Valentine's Day. Made with your own hands from flour, salt, water and, of course, love, it will turn into a very valuable gift.
A cute angel made from salt dough also looks very cute.

Aircraft craft made from salt dough

Crafts from dough for March 8th. We make flowers from salt dough. Craft roses from dough

Any mother will be touched by a craft given to her by her beloved child for the holiday of March 8th. Most often these are flowers, bouquets, floral arrangements. Roses made from dough will never wither.

Magnificent basket with flowers.

Crafts from dough for Maslenitsa. Easter crafts made from salt dough

Easter crafts made from salt dough will add a special flavor to the bright holiday

Animal crafts made from salt dough

Together with your baby, you can fashion a whole zoo out of salt dough!