Do you want to build a snowman? This kid-made, story inspired ornament is easy to make and fun to paint! All you need is a batch of salt dough and a little creativity for this this hands-on, fine motor and math salt dough ornament craft.
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This Olaf Salt Dough Ornament is part of Mama Miss’ 10 Days of a Kid-Made Christmas series. This year, the theme is Ornaments Inspired by Children’s Books, and 70+ bloggers are each coming up with an ornament for a different children’s book. Our collection of Frozen books inspired this fun to make, salt dough ornament with materials and ingredients you most likely have in your pantry and art closet!
Olaf Salt Dough Ornament
Ingredients Needed for the alt Dough Ornament
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
Equipment Used for the Salt Dough Ornaments
Medium bowl
Wooden spoon
Measuring cups
Cookie Sheet
Straw
Paintbrush
Acrylic paint
Googly eyes
Glue
Ribbon
Directions for Making the Frozen Olaf Salt Dough Ornament
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Measure and thoroughly mix the flour, salt, and water in a medium size bowl.
3. Knead the mixture on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
4. Roll spheres of varying sizes (Use math vocabulary to sneak in some academics!)
5. Put the spheres in order from least to greatest (YUP – more math!)
6. Arrange the spheres in a snowman shape. Press and squish the joints together. I turned the kids over and mushed the back part together so it would stay better once baked.
7. Make and add arms, a nose, and hair or a hat.
8. Gently lift and put on an ungreased baking sheet.
9. Use the straw to poke a hole near the top where the ribbon will go.
10. Bake for 2-3 hours, flipping once during baking.
11. Allow to cool.
12. Let your child paint their snowman.
13. Glue on eyes.
14. Thread and tie a ribbon through the hole.
15. Hang from your Christmas tree.
Teacher Notes:
- Younger children can make these ornaments, but they will most likely resemble their own snowman. Celebrate their creativity. If you want a snowman to look a particular way – join the kids and make one too!
- These cute little snowman ornaments make great gift toppers. Coat with clear acrylic paint for a longer lasting ornament.
- The salt dough will keep in the fridge for several days. If your child works better in short periods of work time, just put the dough in a sealed bag and put it in the fridge.
Frozen Book Collection
Frozen Board Books
Frozen Step into Reading Books
Frozen Picture Books
Frozen Chapter Books
Don’t forget to add this to your Winter, Literacy, or Frozen Crafts Pinterest Board!
Melissa says
December 4, 2014 at 11:23 pmOddly enough – we just saw Frozen for the first time (the whole movie) – V&T were never really into it until recently 🙂 Their favorite was Olaf – love this ornament Amanda – he's so fun!!
Becky says
December 5, 2014 at 7:40 amI just saw this on pinterest, and then discovered it was from the cool series of DIY Christmas ornaments! I LOVE it!!! 🙂
Natalie PlanetSmartyPants says
December 5, 2014 at 1:49 pmLove the ornament and the tutorial with it! My 8 year old is about the only girl on Earth who does not care about Frozen at all 🙂