This is a part of Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting. It is an erratically maintained write-up of crafts that I try. I rate each craft based on a complex algorithm that graphs ease of setup and cleanup against its ability to hold the attention of a child. If you like to make your child's Halloween costumes, cakes from scratch, and other elaborate crafts, this blog is probably way too simple for you.
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Name:
Alex Elliot
Home:
MA, US
About Me:
Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 3.5 year old and a 1 year old.
Yes, I know you're asking yourself, "Is there any craft that A. Elliot thinks is really great?" (Because clearly pondering about my blog is the most important thing you can be doing.) There actually are a few crafts that I would not hestitate to recommend. One of them is coloring salt.
I'll admit when I first heard of this at a meeting I attended, I rolled my eyes and thought "you couldn't pay me to do this craft". It just sounded way too complicated. However, after listening closely I decided that maybe it wasn't so bad after all. In fact after a little tweaking, I liked it so much I decided to have the kids do it at my older son's (OS) 3rd birthday party.
Here's what you need: small containers (baby food jars/containers are ideal), Kosher salt, colored chalk (the thicker the better. Those Crayola Easter Egg chalks work the best), funnel (optional).
Pour a small amount of Kosher salt in the baby food jar. Have your child stir the salt with a piece of chalk. For a toddler you can put the piece of chalk in a jar with a lid and have the child shake it. When the salt becames a shade that your child is happy with, take the funnel and pour the newly colored salt from the jar into a clean one. Repeat above steps with a new color of chalk. When it is time to pour out the new, colored salt, pour it on top of the other colored salt. Continue until the jar is full. For the more advanced salt artists, poke a hole through several layers of the salt with a toothpick to allow the colors to swirl. If your child is under the age of five, it is inevitable that he will shake his finished product turning all of the salt into an odd but uniform gray color.
The reasons I like this craft are that it's easy, it keeps OS entertained, and it is cheap. I have had a couple people inquire about resusing the salt. This goes past what I will do to recycle. However, you could put the salt on a coffee filter and pour cold water over it to "clean" it. I haven't actually done this, but hey, my year of organic chemistry with lab says it should work fine. Honestly, though one box of Kosher salt can be the source of many many colored projects if you choose.
I'm giving "ease of setup/cleanup" a 7 instead of a higher mark simply because you may not have the materials on hand.
A. Elliot's Ratings: Ease of setup/cleanup (1-10 with 1 being most difficult): 7 Attention Getting (1-10 with 1 generating least interest; this excludes dogs): 8
