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Salt Dough Projects to Make for Dad

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Father's Day crafts for kids to make.

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with project ideas for holidays that can also be considered learning activities, but I think making things with salt dough fits that category.

If the kids help you make the dough, you’re getting some math in with measuring, science in the mixing of ingredients to make the dough, and a bit of sensory play as you work the dough. And making the project itself is art, so there’s a lot going on in these simple projects.

There are lots of recipes for salt dough and air-dry clay out there, but an easy one is to mix a cup of salt and two cups of flour with enough water to make a rollable, moldable dough (start with about 3/4 of a cup of water).

What to do with the salt dough once it’s made? Here are some great ideas to make for Father’s Day:

And while this one is clay, not salt dough, the DIY Marbled Clay jewelry dish from Rhythms of Play is gorgeous, too. And in a similar vein, but a little more involved/time consuming/messy, there’s the Father’s Day stepping stone from Kids Activities Blog.

Do you like to make gifts for Father’s Day? I’d love to hear what you’re planning.

Did you know Father’s Day was founded in Washington in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd, Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there and the day was created to honour him and it’s achievements as a single father.

Looking for more salt dough projects? check these salt dough crafts out on our sister site Craftbits.com

If you are looking for an airdrying clay as an alternative I highly recommend Das Airdrying white clay  I have been using it for over 30 years and it never fails me.

Comments

  2. Thanks for sharing this list! I love finding ways for the kids to make gifts instead of purchasing something from the store.

Have you read?

Gross Motor Math Ideas

With little kids especially, linking learning to physical activity really does help them learn. Movement can help kids focus, and it just keeps them from sitting still all day, which isn’t good for anyone. 

The good news is lots of different learning activities can be adopted to get kids moving while they learn, so let’s look at some math and number activities that use gross motor skills. 

Probably the most obvious thing would be hopscotch, which helps kids count while they hop. You can also mix up the numbers, do skip counting with the numbers, give kids a simple math problem and have them hop to the correct answer, and on and on. 

This number hop game from Gift of Curiosity is a more chaotic version, with number flash cards on the floor that kids can hop, skip or jump to as you call them out (this one is more for individual number identification than counting). It’s a great indoor option if it’s too hot, cold or rainy out to do traditional hopscotch, too. 

This painter’s tape number line idea from Days with Grey doesn’t involve quite as much movement, but kids can move around while they place things on the number line and work on learning about one to one correspondence. In the blog post they use shoes, but you can count anything you’ve got handy. (Be warned when I visited this website had an ad that continually took up the whole page, but you can get the idea pretty quickly.)

One of the important tasks of learning numbers is learning a parent’s phone number just in case it’s ever needed, or how to dial 911 in case on an emergency. Teaching Mama has a great way to practice telephone numbers and get some movement in with a giant telephone keypad made out of paper plates. You can also use this for counting practice, but it’s a great idea for learning phone numbers, too. 

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