Modelling With Salt Dough, PlayDough And Clay

Use sensory materials to support imagination and creativity as well modelling scientific concepts.

The benefits of playing with clay and similar materials

Clay, salt dough and playdough have similar properties in that they are pliable and easy to mould. There are some really great benefits to providing children with the opportunity to model with different tactile materials.

• Supports cognitive development – modelling can inspire creativity as well as introduce problem solving. As children shape and mould, they activate both sides of their brain - the right side for creativity and the left for structuring and planning.
• Support emotional development – modelling can relieve stress and anxiety by promoting a sense of relaxation. Children can use the modelling material to express their feelings.
• Developing fine motor skills – modelling with different materials can strengthen the muscles in children’s hands and fingers.
• Sensory development – modelling is a multisensory activity which can enhance children’s awareness of the environment around them.
• Developing creativity – modelling allows children to create and use their imagination without fear of making mistakes. They can experiment and explore their ideas.

What are the advantages of using salt dough?

Salt dough is a cheap and easy way to make a sensory material to use within imaginative activities. The great thing about using salt dough is when it dries and hardens, children can paint it adding another layer of creativity to the activity.

One of our favourite activities using salt dough was making coprolite models (fossilised dinosaur poo). We added coffee to the dough mixture to make it the perfect ‘poo’ colour and created different shapes to show they came from different animals. Inside the models we placed small pieces of green paper to represent leaves and bits of dried pasta to represent animal bones.

Once the models were dry and hardened, we acted as palaeologists to think about which type of dinosaur may have created the samples and what they ate by looking inside.

How can I make salt dough?

The boys used to really enjoy making the salt dough – possibly more than actually playing with it! So, I really recommend making the dough as part of your activity. You can’t really go wrong in making the dough – if it’s too dry, add a little more water. If it’s too wet, add a little more flour.

The measurements for this salt dough recipe are in cups, making it an easy way to introduce measuring ingredients to young children. We just used a plastic cup and measured the ingredients by eye.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of table salt
• 1/2 cup of plain flour
• 3/4 cup of water

Method

1. Measure and pour 1 cup of table salt into a bowl.
2. Measure and pour ½ a cup of plain flour into the bowl.
3. Mix the flour and salt with your hands.
4. Measure ¾ cup of water.
5. Pour the water into the bowl a little at a time and continue mixing with your hands.
6. Repeat until all the water is gone and the mixture is a dough-like consistency.

Drying the salt dough

Once your child has made their final creations, the dough will need to air dry over three days. You can also dry it in the oven on a low heat. The amount of time it takes to harden will depend on the size of the sculpture.

Why use playdough in learning activities?

When the children were young, I often gave them the opportunity to play with playdough as an open ended and creative activity. I thought this would be something they would eventually grow out of playing with; however, we have found playdough to be such a versatile and fantastic resource that we continue to use it within our home as both a creative and educational tool.

Playdough is a great way to demonstrate scientific ideas and present different concepts. We have used playdough to show the layers of earth, demonstrate the formation of particles in different states of matter and most recently we made a model of the digestive system.

In this instance we used a different colour for each body part. The children then shaped the different parts of the digestive system before fitting them together to show the process of the digestive system.

Make your own playdough

Like the salt dough, this is also really cheap and easy to make. Adding a little oil to the recipe makes the dough really soft and malleable to shape. Another advantage of using home-made playdough is you can add some colour to the dough. Add a couple drops of food colouring and experiment with the colours you can make.

Ingredients:

To make your own playdough you will need the following ingredients. This will make one playdough ball. You can add food colouring to make the playdough the colour you want.

• 8 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp table salt
• 60ml warm water
• Food colouring
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Storing the playdough

Your child can begin to use the playdough straight away or you can store the playdough for another time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in a plastic container.

Using clay to make Roman coins

Clay is more expensive than salt dough and playdough and you need to purchase clay from a shop. You can often find three different colours: white, terracotta and grey. We have used different colours depending on the activity. White clay is great if your child will want to paint their model. Terracotta clay brings a historical element to the activity and we used this to make Roman coins and pots from the Bronze Age. More recently we sculpted a volcano using grey clay, giving the final model a rock-like look.

This material is stiffer and you will need to keep your hands moist whilst modelling it. Whereas salt dough and playdough are great for exploring and experimenting, clay is a stronger material and once dry, can be kept as a permanent item.

Here is a video explaining two different techniques used to make clay pots in the Bronze Age.

Which is your favourite sensory material to model with? We hope you have fun with your children exploring and experimenting with these different materials. Here are some topics to inspire you.

Key Stage One Art in Nature	Key Stage Two Bronze - Stone Age	Key Stage Two Digestive System	Hands-On Education's Volcanoes