The Possibilites of Salt Dough

In the last post, I shared a story about the children’s new interest in play dough. To recap, the children began playing with play dough and discovered it contained a scent. Next, the children mixed different types of dough in hopes of creating new fragrances. To read the entire story and what we learned, read part one in the blog archives.

The next day, the children came to me with an idea to create new dough items for a play candy shop. Instead of using pre-made dough, the children wanted to make their own. I searched in the classic book Mudworks and found a recipe for basic salt dough we could bake or air dry before painting.

The children enjoyed exploring playdough and wanted to grow the experience. Working together, we found a recipe for salt dough that would cure in the oven. The children wanted to create items for a candy shop. When educators and children come together, work and play are exciting. Our role as educators is to help children connect projects to their interests.

Together, we collected the materials to make salt dough. One child read the recipe while other children mixed the ingredients. My role was to observe and make suggestions if necessary. As the children started mixing the ingredients, anticipation grew. Children carefully mixed flour, salt, and water together. A few children blended the dough by hand. As the children worked the dough, they commented that it was very sticky.

I was observing the children make the dough. Watching the dough creation process, I did not notice any missing steps or missing ingredients. If I see an error in their recipe, should I say something? I like the children to take in the experience and learn by doing. It turns out that the children placed twice as much flour in the bowl as required and created a super sticky doughy paste.

The children mixing the dough started lifting their hands out of the bowl. A giant ball of sticky, drippy dough was on the end of each hand. The children looked at me with questioning expressions. I suggested they try and remove the dough from their hands. Some dough peeled away, but most of the dough was stuck. I helped the children pull as much dough off their hands as possible. Then I suggested they wash the rest of the dough off. After cleaning up, I told the children we could go over the recipe together.

After hand washing, the children and I worked on repairing the dough. We reviewed the recipe and discovered that too much flour was in the mixture. To compensate, we added more salt and water to the existing dough. When it was time to remix the dough, the children were hesitant to mix it with their hands. I shared with the children that the dough would be sticky initially, and blending new ingredients in it would transform it into a nice consistency.

The children shared concerns about the stickiness of the dough. They did not want to mix it by hand the second time. They told me it felt weird and smelled terrible. To help reassure their worries, I mixed the dough a little. Then I demonstrated by lifting my hands that the stickiness was going away. Our role as educators is to step in whenever necessary and help the children get past the moments they are stuck on a project.

With the dough finally mixed, the children started to create items for their candy shop. They used plastic knives and tongue depressors to carve the dough. Some children used cookie cutters to create specific shapes like stars, circles, and hexagons. The children created more unusual shapes by hand building. After making items for the candy store, we placed them on a cookie sheet for baking.

We do not have a full-size oven in our program. Like most school-age programs, the program takes place in a multi-purpose space. Our options were to use a toaster oven or take items home to bake. I chose the latter. In school-age care, we often adapt our work with children based on the type of classroom space. School-age educators must take many steps to adjust projects to support the children’s work.

The following day, I returned the baked items to the children after curing them in the oven. What happened next will be the subject of a new post. Join us for part three of the children’s dough exploration and read about the lessons we learned while working together as a learning community.

What projects have you created with young children that did not go as planned?

What new learning sprouted from that experience?