This week we started off making salt dough. Salt dough is similar to playdough, but it is meant to be baked and decorated like clay. If you’re interested in trying this at home, click here for a simple recipe (or here, for a gluten-free recipe) To make the dough each child was given a bowl and spoon for mixing and a cup to scoop out the dry ingredients. After mixing the flour and salt, I offered them a squeeze bottle of water (with only a little water) to add to the bowl. We added more flour and water when needed, then mixed and mixed until the dough was just right! 
Once the dough was the right consistency, the kids dumped it out onto their mats to begin their work. They used cookie cutters, pizza cutters, plastic knives, and clay tools to mold their dough. I also brought out some spray bottles and more flour to keep the dough moist and pliable.
Sometimes the dough was too sticky so we had to add more flour!
After a while of working with the dough, the children began to check out the shelves for new materials and tools.
For the children who were ready to move on, I put their dough creations on the shelf to dry and brought out some paper, colored glue, and plastic lids.
The children then squeezed the glue into the plastic lid, which is used as a mold. Once the glue dries, you can pop it out of the lid to create a transparent window hanging (this fun idea came from a great blog called Darling Clementine- check it out here).
But of course the best part of this activity is the squeezing!
Where there is glue, there is almost always glitter and collage materials!
This week instead of the usual paint, I put markers at the easels. Some kids really enjoyed the change!
