Imaginative play rolled into sight word sort activity: an unusually clever way to make what was once dull, suddenly burst with potential.
One thing my kids really missed from our Pre-Covid life is grocery shopping. I never knew how much I'd miss taking them to the grocery store and all the sweet interactions we would have as we walked around picking out what we needed (and yes, tantrums too).
Now I go to Trader Joe's (heaven?) once a week and when I come home, the kids are SO excited to look at what I got. They love to sort out the food items and learn what goes in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Since groceries became so high interest for them, I created a grocery sorting sight words activity for them.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Pick 4-5 sight words your child is working on for this activity. Don't know which ones you should start with? Check out this list. Write them in big lettering on white paper and cut them out. Tape them onto your grocery bags.
Using dot stickers (we love these), write those same sight words multiple times on the sheet. Then peel off the stickers and place them on play food or real food before placing it in your grocery basket.
With my girls, I pretended I had done the shopping in the grocery store and had come to the checkout counter to pay.
Often the bagging clerk will separate the groceries into bags based on where they go: fridge, freezer, or pantry, but for our sight words sorting activity we would be reading each word and putting it in the matching sight word's bag.
This activity got some great sight words reading in as Big Sis sorted the sight words on the produce to the bag. It was also a great way to talk about real life skills, like grocery shopping.
Here are 16 of my favorite, highly engaging sight word activities perfect for kindergarten through second grade. You'll never need another sight words worksheet again.
Water beads lend themselves to that zen sensory play that keeps kids entertained and creative. This craft had my kids concentrating quietly as they learned about the rainbow of colors while practicing their pincer grip for some fine motor fun.
Create a beautiful recycled relaxation bottle with water beads for a craft that's packed with learning.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Get your water beads ready in a super science experiment you can view HERE. As a reminder, always use supervision when playing with water beads as they are a choking hazard. Safety is the number one priority!
A rainbow Relaxation Bottle is made of water beads and recycled bottle.
Little Sis is still learning colors at just around 2 years old. As your child names and sorts each color they're building oral language skills as well as the beginning math skill of categorizing!
Big Sis knows her colors, but she is, like many 4 year olds, obsessed with rainbows. This was a great opportunity to teach her about ROYGBIV, red-orange-yellow-blue-indigo-violet, the order of rainbow colors.
We wrote down all the colors in the correct order, placing one of each color next to the word in case she couldn't read it on her own.
As I mentioned, sorting and categorizing colors is a beginning math skill, but there is a lot more math hiding in this project.
Rainbow Water Bead Crafts incorporate STEM
When you look at your craft bottle, in order to create the rainbow effect, you're going to have to put in even layers of each color.
Big Sis took on this problem to solve, by deciding that there should be about two layers of each color so that we could see each color clearly and it wouldn't mix up with the ones above and below.
For older children, they could measure their bottles and then divide by the number of colors then mark the bottles - a simple, hands-on way to introduce fractions or explain division.
Another way to ensure equal layers would be to count the balls in each layer and make sure to include the same number each time.
So many math concepts!
My husband laughs at how I hoard clear glass and plastic containers.
The reason is twofold. Firstly, I'm a crafter by nature. I can see the potential for creativity in almost anything, but secondly, I'm really working on lowering the amount of waste I make.
I have an incredible Zero-waste friend who has inspired me to reduce my carbon footprint by becoming more mindful about the trash my family and I create. I hope that as I change my habits that things like reusing objects instead of throwing them away, recycling, and composting become more natural to my kids, enough for them to become lifelong habits.
Anyway, the girls selected these from my "don't throw away" collection which brought up the topic of why I have that collection.
Even Lil Sis isn't too little for some earth friendly projects. We talked about how those items could be recycled but it would take a lot of energy and time to be converted but that if we used them the way they are, they would be turned into something beautiful that's also useful.
Another important environmental discussion was about how we use the water beads to make our craft safely!
The number one rule is that water beads stay in the tub and don't get thrown around the yard, but that if that happens, we sweep them up so that animals don't eat them and get sick. Keeping our earth healthy is our job!
During the crafting I asked the girls how they felt and they said calm. We tried to pinpoint what about the craft made them feel calm. Was it the water beads? Was it working with their hands? Was it the soothing colors or the diligent sorting and productive plunking of the beads into the bottle?
Big Sis was able to really articulate that she felt calm when she was working quietly with water beads. It also soothed her that we were sitting outside.
It's valuable information, because, I'll be honest after 4 months in quarantine, there are days when our house is anything BUT calm. So we discussed further..."Thank you for telling me how it makes you calm to create quietly. Do you think the next time you're feeling overwhelmed you might like to do another quiet project like this? Or maybe we could try a change of scenery since you like going outside?"
She said yes and then asked if we could add those strategies to her Calm Map.
The Calm Map is an activity I created in The Fun Club as part of our social-emotional curriculum. It's a literal map for the kids to refer to when they're feeling big feelings and want to calm down. Ours is displayed on the wall, and we added these ideas to it.
Want to know more about The Fun Club? Each week we do 5 hands-on simple but fun activities: 2 math, 2 literacy, and 1 social and emotional learning. Learn more by visiting www.forwardwithfun.com/the-fun-club.
I hope you enjoy this water beads craft as much as we did!
Those dominoes you played with as a kid are the perfect toy to use in endless math activities for preschool!
Have a set of dominoes yet? If you don't, try these:
Each of these preschool math activities build foundational skills with counting, number recognition, the beginnings of adding, and subitizing.
Subitizing is a math skill where kids learn to recognize a quantity quickly by sight. So kids would see domino an instantly know that it was 5 on one side and 3 on the other. To read more about this preschool math skill, check out this subitizing post by Thoughtco.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post..
This math activity for preschoolers will have them adding, they just don't know it! A play on the classic card game, "War," more is based on the same principles and develops addition skills as well as knowledge of more and less.
Anyone else have a kid obsessed with cars? Beep Beep! We pretended each domino was a car that needed to be parked in it's parking spot. Want this hands on learning game to try with your preschooler?
Grab it below totally free!
Play based learning is all about diving into your child's interests in play to help them learn, so cars were a no brainer for us. This game helps preschoolers build foundational math skills like counting, adding, and one to one correspondence (counting one object for every number said).
Welcome to Domino Exercise Class! This is the perfect math activity for very active preschoolers who don't like to sit still.
Who doesn't love a good snacktivity, aka SNACK ACTIVITY, to teach math?
This play based learning activity allows kids to play with food to create alternative representations of equations. In this math activity your preschooler will be increasing number sense, building knowledge of addition equations, and experiment with decomposing numbers. Who knew such a simple activity could pack in so much learning.
If you love snacktivities, you're gonna also need to check out this math activity called PUNCH MATH. Trust me, it's awesome.
Pick a domino, any domino! Congrats, you've just picked the domino number of the day.
By creating this counting collection you're developing your preschooler's understanding that a number can be made in so many different ways. As they learn through playing the Number of the Day, they're building number sense, decomposing numbers, and counting in lots of out of the box ways. This open ended game can be played over and over, just pick a new domino tomorrow.
Searching for beginning sounds worksheets? You won't find those here. My goal in creating Forward with Fun is all about using play to create unique and memorable learning. Kids are more likely to engage and remember new skills when they are actively participating in experience, especially if it's a game! That's the secret to getting kids to LOVE learning!
Isolating beginning sounds is part of a set of early reading skills called phonemic awareness, the understanding that words are made up of sounds. When kids connect a specific sound to a letter name, that is called phonics.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
I'm sure the set-up laid out before your child is sure to inspire and delight them. To invite them to play share your Bag of Items.
As you pull items out, one at a time, ask your child whaat sound they hear at the beginning of the word, then find the matching letter on the ground. Once they find the letter that makes the beginning sound of that item they can jump, hop, or STOMP the Play-doh ball next to it!
Here is an example from our beginning sounds STOMP game.
Me: What's this? A hammer. What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word hammer?
Big Sis: /h/ /h/ Hammer.
Me: What letter makes the /h/ sound?
Big Sis: The H!
Me: Alright, let's stomp the H!
If your child doesn't know a letter sound, remind them. No big deal. We love to sing this phonics song we heard from a Leap Frog toy, "The B says /b/. The B says /b/. Every letter makes a sound. The B says /b/." If they don't know any letters, start with 2-3 objects. You can always simplify a game so they can still get important practice in with beginning sounds without knowing many letters names.
Before starting kindergarten, kids should be able to write their names and name some letters and sounds. (To grab your FREE kindergarten readiness checklist, check out this post.)
Mastery of all letter names and their corresponding sounds are expected at the end of kindergarten, according to USA Common Core standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.D
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.D
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
When your child starts showing interest in books and the words on the page, you can begin pointing out letters. This can be as early as 2 or even as late as 4 years old. All kids are different and show interest at different ages.
Wondering how to teach CVC words to beginning readers? Let's do it with 11 fun games. CVC words are consonant-vowel-consonant words. These phonetically spelled words are the building blocks of kindergarten reading and writing.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
CVC stands for consonant-vowel-consonant. These are the first words that kids read by decoding, otherwise known as sounding out. By the end of kindergarten all kids are expected to read all CVC words that use all vowels, except irregular ones like words that end in "r."
CVC words make sense to kindergarten readers, because they are phonetic (sound as they're spelled). Examples of CVC words include Bob, mat, kit, peg, fog, gum.
Most children learn "a" as their first vowel. For that reason I recommend teaching kids to sound out CVC words that have an "a" in the middle first. Stick with one word family like the -am, -an, -ad, or -at word family (you'll want these freebies).
The first 8 activities are best for how to teach CVC words to beginners. Activities 8-11 focus on how to teach CVC word families and are better for children who are sounding CVC words out with independence.
All you need are letters, a muffin pan, and these epic picture cards for 4 ways to play. You can grab the cvc words list with pictures here.
My most reluctant readers love this game so much, they don't even know I've tricked them into reading CVC words. Seriously, this is in my top 3 games I've ever made! Kids stack the CVC word paper cups in different configurations based on the pictures.
I've made 5 sets of challenges, one for CVC words of each vowel sound and 2 bonus sets for those readers who are ready for the /sh/ and /ch/ sounds.
Get stacking!
When I discovered magnetic bingo chips, I nearly lost my mind. This is one of the most engaging ways I have used for how to teach CVC words. Print out the FREE CVC words cards. Then place one magnetic bingo chip on each dot. Finally give your child their magnetic wand to touch each of the chips with as they sound out the word. Viola!
Where could it be? Read the word and lift the cup. This hands on reading game is perfect for beginners, since you can play with as many or as few CVC words as you'd like, preventing visual overwhelm!
KindergartenWorksheetsandGames.com brings this hands on game where kids have to find the beginning sound for each picture to crack the code. Once the pictures are complete, they reveal a CVC word at the bottom. How fun!
An important part of how to teach CVC words is not just blending the words but for children to understand the word they just read. In this magnetic letter game, kids will make their own CVC words and determine whether they're real words or silly words.
The Coogam magnet letters are perfect to use when teaching CVC words, because the vowels are red and the consonants are blue, making it really easy for children to make their own CVC words.
For additional practice with nonsense CVC words, you have got to check out this video version of the Real or Silly word game by the extremely silly Mr. B's brain.
Got a wiggly kid in need of reading practice? They'll love this SPLAT the CVC word game as you call out CVC words and they make them go SPLAT! Use 5 words with beginners and increase as they build fluency (that means are able to read faster).
Rather than matching CVCs on a worksheet, let's make it FUN! Grab your free CVC words with pictures HERE and play a classic game of memory or give each student one card and have them find their partner! There are so many ways to practice reading CVC words with these pictures and words.
Kids love any kind of activity where they get to go on a "hunt," right? So if you've got an active kiddo, this is JUST how to teach CVC words so they'll be super into it. First hide the Post-its around the house or classroom; then have your child find them and return them to the home base.
Write CVC words in from 3 different word families on dot stickers, then place the stickers on the Duplos. Next, hide the Duplo bricks around the house and have your little one find them.
Then comes the reading part. Each brick must be sorted with the ones in its word family. Once all the bricks in the family are reunited, build a tower with them to complete the game.
This fun game is ICanTeachMyChild.com's take on how to teach CVC words, and it is ridiculously fun. You're going to need some ping pong balls and containers to try to match the words on the ping pong balls to the word family cups.
Children usually begin reading CVC words in kindergarten, when they are 4-6 years old. This can sometimes happen earlier or a little later. A lot of the "when" is based on when children are exposed to things such as letters and sounds, and also when they begin to master phonemic awareness skills (the ability to manipulate sounds like isolate the first sounds in words).
My favorite book series for beginning readers that I recommend to every family are the Bob books. Their books are truly decodable, so there are no tricky words that make kids confused.
I cannot recommend the BOB series enough because the books are simple, short, and not too many words on the page. They combine CVC words and sight words to create fun and easy to follow stories kids enjoy.
I use these books for all my kindergarteners and my own child. Have you found a series of decodable readers you like to use for teaching CVC words?
When trick or treating was cancelled due to Covid-19 in Los Angeles, I knew I needed to create an October full of Halloween activities for preschool and kindergarten in my home.
Halloween themed learning activities help me teach my kiddos with fun hands-on ways while also theming it up for my favorite holiday.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Whether you're looking for math, STEM, reading, or just arts and crafts - We've got you covered!
This easy Halloween activity for preschoolers teaches number identification, and counting with one to one correspondence.
To help your little one really master counting and number identification you want to make sure you check out another one of our favorite activities: Punch Math.
Similar to candy corn counting, this activity may suit kindergarteners better as it incorporates addition.
For more fun beginning addition activities check out these hands-on domino games.
For some water play and counting get out those itsy bitsy pumpkins and write numbers 1-10 on the bottom of them in Sharpie. Fill up a container with water and stick them in so the numbers are hidden.
On a large piece of cardboard make ten circles and then draw 1-10 dots in each one. You can arrange like dice or any other way.
Grab some scooping devices from the kitchen and have your children rescue the pumpkins and return them to the correct number.
This was so easy and ended up becoming an October staple around here. I didn't even dye the rice I put into this bin (but if you want to do that, it only takes 1 minute and you can find out how here).
I just tossed some rice, candy corn, little Target pumpkin containers, and scoopers in a bowl for this epic play set up. Don't forget to put the tray inside a larger bin to avoid messes!
Do you remember dot to dot activities where you'd start at one number and create a picture by following the numbers in order?
This is a Halloween hands on learning version of that classic activity. All you need is a paper plate, marker, yarn, scissors, and a fake plastic spider.
Write numbers all around the plate, making sure they're out of order. The more numbers you have the more spiderweb-like the craft will look. After that, cut a small slit next to each number and insert a long piece of yarn behind the number 1, secured with a small knot.
The rest is super simple, follow the numbers to spin your spiderweb, going under and over, under over. Once you reach the final number, add your creepy crawly arachnid.
Candy corn- It might be gross to some, but it definitely screams Halloween, and I decided it's perfectly shaped to teach coding to Big Sis (4.5 years old).
Using a muffin pan or even a simple hand drawn grid, create a pathway from one end to the other.
The objective: Get the baby pumpkin to its parent.
The skeletons block the road, and the baby pumpkin could get lost, so we need to put out candy corn that point him in the right direction. The candy corn can only go left, right, up or down. The baby pumpkin will follow the direction of each candy corn.
To make this spooky Halloween coding activity a bit more challenging, you could kids remove the redundant codes (any candy corn that goes the same way twice). But since this was our first coding activity, I kept her design the way it was.
For Lil Sis (age 2+) I set out 3 adorable pumpkin cutouts each with it's own number. Then I gave her a cup of candy corn and asked her to put the right number of candy corn on each pumpkin.
Who doesn't love permission to send stuff flying? Create a stem catapult and launch that candy corn!
Grab a pumpkin pie or sugar baby pumpkin for this literacy activity. You'll also need a kid-safe hammer, golf tees, and a Sharpie.
For preschoolers: write letters on the pumpkin to practice letter identification
For kindergarteners: write CVC words or sight words on your pumpkin to practice decoding and sight word skills.
For kids already reading, try this FREE SCAVENGER HUNT. Hats off to this teacher mama, Christine, for sharing! I'm thrilled to easily print, cut, and play along with my kiddos this Halloween!
This easy Halloween craft is a classic. It never seems to amaze the little ones that an apple cut in two makes the perfect pumpkin stamp.
Squirt some WASHABLE orange paint onto a plate and you're ready to go.
I love to create a "buffet" of choices for decorating our pumpkins. For example I include googly eyes, green leaves, maybe a little stem cut out, and other shapes.
My one tip for Halloween crafts for preschoolers (or really any craft/art) is to really be as hands-off as possible. If we help them, they begin to think their version wasn't good enough. When kids create on their own, it might end up wonky, we empower them as artists.
Many kids get discouraged when it comes to creating art because their drawings/paintings don't look like what they wanted. However, if we emphasize effort and the process more than product, kids are more likely to enjoy creating art.
For more colorful fun discover my ultimate mom hack for mess free painting!
Let's face it, carving is a lot of work, and my kids want in on the fun. This is a SAFE way to get your kid pumpkin "carving."
Use blue painters tape to discuss shapes and your kid's vision for the Jack-o-lantern. Then, tape a face onto their pumpkin (or better yet have them do it).
Next kids get to paint over the tape and all around the pumpkin before waiting for it to dry.
Once it's dry, they can peel off the tape (which happens to be a wonderful fine motor skills activity) to reveal the face they made.
Try not to change or add anything to make it look more like your vision for the pumpkin. By leaving our kids' art as is, we show them that their art doesn't need to "fixed" to be beautiful.
I'm so over using worksheets for writing numbers. I've never seen a child have an "aha moment" after doing a worksheet.
As a mom and a kindergarten teacher, I love to cater to active learners who learn best with hands-on learning, aka learning by doing. With this number writing activity kids are practicing writing numbers while also searching, imagining, discovering, and playing.
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Writing Numbers Excavation Set Up
To start, ask your child what they know about excavation. When have they seen it, and what kinds of jobs do it. We came up with paleontologists and archaeologists.
Writing Numbers Activity
Excavating means to remove dirt carefully to find what's buried underneath. Both paleontologists and archaeologists use special tools to carefully remove the dirt in order not to harm the buried items: dinosaur bones or human artifacts!
Invite your child to play archaeologist using their paintbrush to gently brush away the sensory beads, beans, kernels, etc. to uncover the mysterious numbers beneath.
Adding the element of imaginative play always brings up the engagement level of an activity. Bonus: being an archaeologist who gently brushes the sensory items back and forth is my way of getting my kids to keep the sensory items on the actual tray and avoid the mess.
A good archaeologist always keeps track of their findings by writing them down. As your child uncovers each number, their job is to write the number on their blank paper.
Just like that writing numbers becomes a game, a mystery, and imaginative play.
You can toss that number writing worksheet now!
If writing is not your child's preferred task, it can be a battle to get them to write, even if they love reading and know their letters. This could be a sign that writing is difficult for them due to poor fine motor skills.
If your child's handwriting with a pencil is shaky, weak, or very very light, it means they need to work on their fine motor skills!
Fine motor muscles are the small muscles in the hands and wrists that little ones need to develop before being able to pick up a pencil. Pencils aren't even the best writing utensil to start with!
To develop proper pencil form, give your child small broken crayon pieces. They'll need to push down (just like with pencils) to be able to write and since the pieces are broken, it'll force their small hands to hold the crayon with a better grasp.
For more ways to build your child's fine motor skills which will make writing numbers (and writing altogether) check out my 9 favorite activities for fine motor development!
To teach my little ones about Hanukkah, I gathered up the simplest and most fun Hanukkah activities for preschoolers that touch on all the most important themes and items in Hanukkah: the menorah, dreidels, and the Star of David to represent the Macabees.
Growing up, I always felt left out of Christmas and it seemed for my family, Hanukkah was kind of an afterthought. Sometimes we would light the candles; sometimes we didn't. I wanted in on the festivities!
I'm hoping to build my children's excitement for the Festival of Lights while they're still young, so we can build family traditions for years to come. So to pump them up, we will be doing tons of Hanukkah preschool and pre-k activities. Join us!
*As an Amazon affiliate, I may get a small commission for purchases made through links in this post.
Nervous about your child lighting the candles on Hanukkah? With this simple toilet paper roll craft, kids can add and remove lights without any fire.
This was a great matching, fine motor planning activity for my little one, and a math opportunity with my older preschooler. For example, one can explore symmetry with the menorah with the "Shamash" candle being in the middle.
The twist? Before placing in the "lights," stick in a item like a sticker, mini dino, lollipop, or tattoo. Each night have your child reveal a little toy inside a candle as a treat!
Place contact paper sticky side out on the wall or on the floor. Then, tape it in place with blue painters tape. (Want a tutorial on how to do that? See my video here.)
Then cut and shape a dreidel onto the paper.
Choose one of the Hebrew letters: נ (nun), ג (gimmel), ה (hey), ש (shin) to put on your dreidel stained glass craft! We read Spin the Dreidel by Alexandra Cooper to refresh on what each letter meant in the game.
Important: If you plan to display your dreidels on a wall, you'll need to make your Hebrew letter reversed for decorating. If you plan to display it on the window, make the letter you choose, in its normal orientation so it can be seen properly on the other side of the window.
The kids chose hei (ה) because it means you get to take half the tokens in the pot and gimmel (ג) because it means you get to take all the tokens in the pot!
Kids can use tissue paper, glitter, or ripped paper scraps to place onto the dreidel shape.
The Star of David is generally recognized as a symbol of Judaism and is most often recognized from the Israeli flag.
Though it is not a Hanukkah symbol, learning about Hanukkah with my preschoolers is also a good time to learn about other culturally relevant symbols.
Using popsicle sticks, playdoh, and other decorative items, we make a Star of David for this hands-on shapes activity.
The kids each made two popsicle triangles and then tried to create the star shape by placing them one on top of another.
After creating our Stars of David we made our own Israeli flags by using white paper, two blue strips, and placing our Star of David right in the middle!
Got a dreidel and some washable paint? My favorite is Crayola washable, because they're actually washable like they say and also affordable!
Make sure to keep the paint in a shoebox so you don't get paint splattered all over the floor.
Spin that dreidel and create magical splatter art with your little one!
To play you'll need Hanukkah gelt, dreidels, and 2 or more players.
The letters on the dreidel stand for a Nes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened there.) In Israel, instead of using a Shin for Sham (there), the dreidels have a Pey(פ) for Po (here).
With one simple Hanukkah activity, preschoolers learn about taking turns, counting, and even the beginning of dividing as we learn to take "half" when landing on Hey.
Will you be playing dreidel this year?
I just found this perfect free printable Hanukkah activity for my preschoolers to do this year! It's quick and simple and can be used in conjunction with talking about all the Hanukkah symbols: dreidel, menorah, Torah, Rabbi, Hamsa, and Israeli Flag. Thanks to Paper Trail Designs!
There's nothing better than creating keepsakes for Christmas your family will cherish for years to come, and these DIY Foot Print ornaments do not disappoint!
Either make the ornament completely from scratch or design your own ornament ball. Both end up lovely and capture your child's sweet little foot like a moment in time.
All you need is salt, flour, and water to make this DIY hand + foot print ornament for Christmas time. Make two and give one to Grandma to have a keepsake! I bet all members of the family would cherish these tiny hand and foot print ornaments reminding us just how small our little ones are.
We've made these salt dough foot print and hand print ornaments every year since the kids were born, and they love revisiting how small their hands and feet were from their first Christmas to now. You can also make them as a little plaque instead of an ornament if you don't want to hang them!
I often double this recipe so that the kids can play with some more of the salt dough while I "bake" their ornaments. There are many developmental benefits of playing with play-dough and in this case, salt dough. These are not limited to better fine motor skills, language development, learning step by step instructions, and building creativity, (naeyc.org).
Step 1: Place the flour and salt in a bowl . (If you want to color your ornament, add food coloring to the water for a solid color. If you want a more marbled looking color effect, add the food coloring to the dough once it's all mixed)
Step 2: Mix the water in with the salt and flour.
Step 3: Combine and knead the dough until you have play dough consistency. If you wanted to add color, you can still do it. The more you knead the dough, they more the color will spread.
Step 4: Roll out the dough on a nonstick baking sheet (don't grease it!) and shape it however you want it to look.
Step 5: Have your child firmly place their hand or foot into the dough, pushing down each finger/toe to ensure you get their handprint or footprint! Gently remove their hand or foot.
Step 6: Use a straw or similarly shaped item to create a hole where you want the top of your handprint ornament to be. You can also add an details you'd like at this stage.
Step 7: Place in the oven for 2 hours on 200 degrees Fahrenheit or 93.33 Celsius, turning over halfway.
Step 8: Remove the ornament and add any final touches. Sometimes we like to paint around the handprint or outline it with a marker. I write the year on the back or front and the child's name! String a piece of ribbon, twine, or even a pipe cleaner through the hole.
Step 9: Hang on tree or display in your home.
If you loved making your own bake-able salt dough, you're going to also love DIY Dinosaur Eggs with a quick 5 ingredient recipe.