How to make a beautifully scented Autumn salt dough recipe for model making and DIY keepsakes with kids. This dough dries hard in the oven and smells wonderful when on display for a long time afterwards!
We made some of our usual, trusty salt dough recipe in Autumnal colours to match some leaves which we had collected, and added some additional spices to make it smell wonderful! If you haven’t made salt dough before, it’s an excellent model making tool, is very quick and inexpensive to put together, and lasts potentially for a very long time. We still have the girls’ salt dough baby hand and foot prints on display which are in great condition!
Autumn salt dough recipe:
1 cup plain flour
1 cup salt
(Up to) 1 cup warm water
Food colouring in Autumnal shades (we used yellow/ orange/ red)
[These are the ones we use for all play recipes They FAR excel compared to liquid colours!]
1 tsp nutmeg (for the browner shade of dough)
1 tbsp cinnamon
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then add the warm water in small amounts, mixing as you go. It should come together to resemble a slightly sticky dough, but not so sticky that any residue comes off on your fingers. If this happens then you have added too much water and you need to add some more flour to balance it out. It’s very similar to making a cooking dough and can be saved quite easily.
I divided my mixture into three and added food colouring to the different balls of dough. It is easiest of all to add the colouring to the water before you mix it in, as this makes it give an even colour.
Once we had made the dough, we then added in the spices. We added the cinnamon to all of the dough, but saved the 1 tsp of nutmeg for the browner shade which we had created. This helped to give it most of its colour.
Use this Autumn salt dough recipe to roll out and cut leaf and pumpkin shapes, print real leaves into or make models. Keep the dough thin (around 1cm or below) and lay the finished creations out on a baking sheet in the oven at a very low temperature (I put mine between 100 degrees C and 140 degrees C) for around 3 hours. If they are still doughy or soft after this time, simply turn them over and heat again. The idea is to use the oven to air dry them and harden them, not to “cook” them. Once cool they can be covered in mode lodge, glaze , painted or simply left as they are!
Here are the leaf shaped cutters we used with this salt dough recipe. They are small but perfectly formed and there are a great variety of leaf shapes and types.
And here is the post showing the gorgeous Leaf Print Ornaments which we made using the dough!
Happy Autumn crafting!
See all our other SALT DOUGH RECIPES & ACTIVITIES HERE
See over 50 AUTUMN PLAY & LEARNING IDEAS HERE
Follow my Autumn Play Pinterest Board for daily inspiration from around the web too!
Follow Anna @ The Imagination Tree’s board Autumn Play and Learning on Pinterest.
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What a simple yet fab idea, def will be trying these with the children
just did this for my 2.5 year old. I used about 1/2 – 3/4 c. of water then had to still balance it out with flour. I didn’t have the same dye so used whatever I already had and the colors weren’t as vibrant. Needless to say that was 30 minutes ago and my daughter is *still* playing with the dough. She is using the using a cookie cutter, a fork to make designs and combining the colors. I would say… huge success!!! Thank you for sharing. btw… Love the fragrant smells of fall this craft provides 🙂
Hello Ana! Thanks for the great recipe for Autum slat dough. Couple quick questions: Do you find yourself adding more flour when it’s taken out to play with again? How much Wilton gel did you use? I did not seem to get very vibrant colors! Just wondering what might make a difference. Thank you!
Can I make this dough ahead and save it for the kids to make the leaves later? If so, does it need to be refrigerated?
Thanks!
Hi Ana. I just happened to find your recipe on Pinterest and I can’t wait to try it. I SO LOVE the smell of cinnamon especially in the Fall and Winter seasons so this sounds perfect, thank you for sharing your creative activities, these are great ideas!! 🙂
I am looking for frozen water and baking soda recipe without adding vinegar and just watercoloring like an ice skating ring. Ariel
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