The weather is getting cooler here, so we’ve been staying in a bit more. Not to say that I don’t still bundle up the kiddos and get outside, but gone are the days are spending 2+ hours at a park every afternoon. I love the cooler fall weather – long sleeve shirts, a cuddly blanket and book, steaming cups of coffee and tea….but the kids don’t quite appreciate those things like me 🙂 So, I have to be a little more on top of the mom game these days and plan more indoor activities so we aren’t all just watching tv. Thankfully, I have a super crafty mom, and I can always count on Nana to help with the entertaining! Here’s an easy Nana craft to do with your kids, and it can be adapted for any holiday. Plus, this project gets completed in stages, so even if your kids don’t have a long attention span for crafts, they can spend a few minutes on it – go play – and come back to it later.

The first step of any craft project is gather your supplies. To make a salt picture you will need:

• Cardstock or sturdy paper
• A tray or box to put the paper in and collect excess salt
• Liquid glue
• Large container of salt
• Water color paints (or washable acrylic paint thinned with water)
• Paint brushes

Now comes the fun part!

1. Decide on your project theme. We did snowflakes because straight lines were easy for the kids to make with glue bottles and the picture still looked pretty if they got a little “wild” 🙂
2. Have the kids “draw” with glue on the paper (for younger kids it would be helpful to first draw in pencil the design and have them trace with the glue). Make sure you get a nice, thick line of glue that will hold salt.
3. While the glue is wet, sprinkle (or pour like my kids did!) salt onto the glue, making sure to cover all of the glue. Carefully shake off the excess so you are left with only salt on the glue lines.
4. Let the glue/salt dry. This took about an hour, depending on thickness of glue. Great time for a snack or free play 🙂
5. When everything is dry, dip the paint brush in water and then the watercolor paints. Dab the salt with the paintbrush and watch as the color spreads throughout the design! The wetter the paintbrush, the more the color will spread on the salt.

This is such an easy and fun project. Let the kids get creative, and enjoy your dried salt pictures!