To make these you will need:

 

mixing bowl

rolling pin

baking tray

pastry cutters

4 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

1 1/2 cups of water

coloured paint (ELC do a nice set of pearlised coloured paints)

ribbon

glitter (optional)

 

To make:

 

Get your kids to mix up the flour, salt and water in the bowl using their hands or a spoon until it forms a dough.

 

Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface and let them knead the dough until smooth.

 

Roll the dough to about half an inch thick.

 

Cut out with pastry cutters. You could also make candy canes to paint red and white. These look really nice.

 

Make a hole near the top for the ribbon.

 

Bake on a tray at 170c 360f or gas mark 4 for about an hour.

 

They should look like biscuits when cooked. They taste foul though so don't eat em!

 

Leave to cool then decorate with paint and glitter if using.

 

When dry they can thread the ribbon through and hang on the tree.

 

You could use a varnish to finish them off if you like.

 

I have kept some for a couple of christmas' but i would advise putting them in a seperate container if you are storing them in case they get damp and soggy.

 

Salt dough can also be used for making other models that can unlike playdough models be baked and kept.