Sparkly Cornstarch Salt Clay

We love anything simple and easy to do at our house–if it’s too complicated it doesn’t happen around here! That’s why I’m thrilled to have my friend Erica from What Do We Do All Day? here sharing a simple (and sparkly) cornstarch salt clay recipe. I bet you have all the ingredients you need to make it right now!

Kids love to make little souvenirs and sculptures out of clay or dough. This cornstarch salt clay recipe is super easy and makes a nice, permanent alternative to play dough. It uses inexpensive household ingredients and we were surprised that the salt created a lovely, shiny sparkle! It’s hard to see in the photos, but it’s there!

Cornstarch salt dough is a great after school activity, a play date idea or an easy art project for an art club. It’s so easy to make a batch of clay ahead of time and it will stay soft if placed in an air tight bag.

Cornstarch Salt Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups salt
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2/3 plus 1/2 cup water
• Optional: food coloring

Instructions:

• Mix salt and 2/3 cup water, and food coloring if desired, in a medium sized pot.
• Heat about 3-4 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add cornstarch and 1/2 cup water.
• Stir quickly.
• If the mixture seems too thin you can heat, while stirring to thicken.

When the cornstarch salt clay is cool, either store in air tight container for later or start sculpting!

For added fun:

Provide kids with a selection of beads, sequins, or other small objects for decoration. Be sure to press hard into the clay.

Use cookie cutters to create shapes.

Use utensils like forks and potato mashers to create textures.

Place finished sculptures aside to dry. Depending on the thickness of the sculpted object, this may take several days. We found that some items cracked slightly, but it was minimal.

Dry sculptures can be painted with acrylic paint or decorated with markers.

Cornstarch salt clay art objects dry very hard and make great gifts for grandparents!

Erica (aka “Mom and Kiddo”) is a Stay-At-Home Mom to two very rowdy boys, ages 4 and 8. She created the site What Do We Do All Day? where she blogs about children’s books, indoor activities for kids and everyday learning ideas. You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest or Google+.