Yesterday I got to have some spare time with my little-not-so-little Dino Dude. It was cold and horrible outside, so we stayed in. I like to do something fun on days off of school, so we made salt dough leaves. I will probably make him do things like this until he’s in high school. And long after I’m sure.
To make the dough, I just mixed:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
If it needs more water, add more water. If it needs more flour, add more flour.
Knead it really well, to make the leaves smooth. Lay the leaves underneath the dough and roll an impression into the dough (I had saved some leaves from shoots earlier in the year.) Cut around the shape with a sharp knife (I used an exacto knife) Have the kiddos use a straw to cut out a hole. If you wants to add letters, you can impress them too. You can also write on them after they are baked with a marker. Bake the leaves at 200 degrees for a couple hours. (They might puff up a bit, so if you don’t want them, just let them dry for a few days.) Go play monopoly. Or watch a movie. (We did both around here yesterday, and for some reason my son has a crazy ability to wipe the floor with his opponents when playing monopoly.) We painted ours with water colors. The colors blend much better than acrylic or oil. And dry very quickly. I sprayed them with a quick high shine acrylic setting spray (Mod lodge brand) It dries very quickly, so I did a couple coats. then we hung our leaves. They are above the fire place and of course in the entry way.
.jpg "L1")
.jpg "L2")
.jpg "L3")
.jpg "L4")