If you’re looking for a fun, hands-on project for the whole family this holiday season, this is it. These adorable little ornaments are packed full of fine motor as well as upper body strengthening and bilateral coordination tasks. Give away these sweet ornaments to family and friends or decorate gifts or your home. Plus, salt dough ornaments are a great occupational therapy-based activity, so get out your rolling pin and cookie cutters and let’s get started.
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Fine Motor Nature Walks
Yesterday afternoon, I went for a walk with a dear friend down to the river. It was a beautiful, warm and breezy fall day. As I was walking with my friend, I picked up beautiful, large acorns, and a fuzzy dried soy bean from the field. We heard a Great Horned Owl repeatedly give its hoot as if she was calling out to us, thanks to the Merlin app. Such a simple thing as going for a nature walk, can turn into a great fine motor and sensory activity, not to mention the social and communication aspects as well.
As we go into winter, with colder shorter days among us here in the northern hemisphere, I plan to go for a nature walk several times a week, and if possible, with a friend. I love being in nature, but I don’t always embrace the winter like I should. So, here’s to wintering, nature walks, and community. Plus, I’ll be looking for little nature treasures along the way.
What Are Salt Dough Ornaments?
Salt dough ornaments are a type of handmade ornament made with three ingredients which include flour, salt, and water. These holiday ornaments are baked at a low temperature, drying out the dough. Once baked, dried, and cooled these adorable little ornaments can then be painted and hung on the Christmas tree, given away, or added to gifts for a bit of holiday flare. In addition, hand and foot prints can also be made and preserved using this recipe as well.
Additionally, these and the cinnamon applesauce ornaments are both great upper body and fine motor strengthening activities for children and adults who want to focus on improving their hand and upper body strength through a purposeful activity. Before we jump into the project, let’s take a closer look at the fine motor and upper body strengthening tasks involved in this project.
Occupational Therapy Fine Motor Focus
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I love projects that incorporate a range of fine motor skills as well upper body strengthening and bilateral coordination skills. Plus, getting your hands messy while mixing and rolling the dough makes this activity a great tactile sensory activity as well. Keep in mind, these holiday ornaments are a great activity for not only kids, but for individuals of all ages who want to improve their bilateral coordination and fine motor skills through a purposeful hands-on activity.
*Even though upper body and fine motor exercises are listed below, it’s important to not let the dough dry out, but have fun and squeeze some exercises in. Contact your personal occupational therapist for specific fine motor exercises based on your needs.
Upper Body Strengthening
Upper body strengthening refers to the development of the muscles in the upper body including the shoulder, upper extremities (arms), and upper chest and back. Salt dough ornaments are a great upper body strengthening activity. For example, mixing the dough by hand, and rolling out the dough using a rolling pin. Here are a few ways to focus on upper body strengthening:
- After mixing the dough, use your hands to squeeze and shape all the dough at once into a smooth ball using both hands out in front of you. Make sure to keep for hands and arms off the countertop, and out in front of you to enhance this upper body strengthening activity.
- Make large balls of dough, and smash with the palm of your hand against the countertop. Repeat with both hands.
- Lastly, knead the dough by hand on the countertop.
Fine Motor Strengthening
Fine motor strengthening refers to the development of the small muscles in the hands including the fingers, thumbs, and palm. This is required to hold a pencil, manipulate buttons, and scissor. Furthermore, fine motor strength is required throughout the day to participate in meaningful tasks such as daily skills and hobbies.
This project focuses on both upper body and fine motor strengthening while stirring the ingredients together, rolling out the dough, tying the string on, and when using cookie cutters. In addition to this, here are several ways to focus specifically on fine motor strengthening during this project:
- Grab a ball of dough, flatten between the palms of your hand. Snip or cut using play doh or safety scissors. This is a great bilateral coordination activity as well.
- Make a ping pong sized ball. Place a ball of dough between the sides of two fingers and squeeze your fingers together. Repeat with all other fingers.
- Make a quick pinch pot from a ball of dough.
- Using a medium sized ball of dough, repeatedly squeeze the ball of dough together, rotate in hand and squeeze again. Practice with both hands at the same time and/or separately.
- Using small balls of dough, pinch each ball to flatten using the pincer grasp. The pincer grasp uses the pads of the thumb and index fingers to pick up small items, and in this case flatten the dough balls.
- Lastly, roll out a snake any size. Using the pincer grasp again, make indentions along the snake by using the pads of the index and thumb together.
Bilateral Coordination
Bilateral coordination is the ability to coordinate both sides of the body together in an activity. When effective bilateral coordination skills are seen, it is an indicator that both sides of the brain are communicating effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, bilateral coordination is an important life skill needed for completing tasks and activities throughout the day. For example, bilateral coordination is needed for food prep (ie: peeling potatoes and mixing a bowl of dough), buttoning, sports, and school-based skills such as scissoring.
This project specifically works on bilateral coordination while stirring the ingredients and holding the bowl, tying the strings on, and also while rolling out the dough. As well as that, bilateral coordination is also seen when using cookie cutters with both hands.
- Roll a medium sized piece of dough into a snake. Make a quick coil pot.
- Grab a large ball of dough, and with both hands rip it into two. Push it back together with your hands, and repeat.
- Roll a section of the dough into a log using both hands working together.
- Roll a small piece of dough into ball between your hands.
- Make a pinch pot.
- Lastly, roll out another small snake. Snip it into pieces using playdoh scissors or safety scissors.
A Note On Smell Sensitivities
I specifically wanted to create a quick and easy ornament recipe for the blog that is friendly for individuals who have olfactory (smell) sensitivities. Unlike the cinnamon applesauce ornaments on the blog which have a strong cinnamon smell, this recipe keeps any odors to a minimum.
Projects With A Purpose
Projects With A Purpose is a section of my website where I lay out ideas for sharing some of The DIY Therapist projects with others. These salt dough ornaments are a great way to share some holiday cheer with others. For example, completed ornaments can be given to residents at a local senior care center as a holiday gift. On the other hand, these ornaments can be prepared and baked at home, and given to a local pediatric therapy center or a senior care center as a craft project that can be painted individually or as a group.
Things To Consider Before Donating
- Decide where you would like to donate ornaments to be decorated or give ornaments away as gifts.
- If you plan to give ornaments as a gift to residents at a senior care center, contact them ahead of time to schedule a day and time to spread a little holiday cheer. Find out how many residents you should make ornaments for. On the other hand, if you plan to donate baked, unpainted ornaments to either a pediatric therapy center, your local Boys and Girls Club or senior care center as a craft project, find out how many ornaments you should make. Also, find out if they have paint and paintbrushes, and even mod podge to seal.
How To Make Salt Dough Ornaments
Materials
- Medium sized bowl
- Parchment paper
- Wooden spoon
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters
- Straw (I used a large sized straw)
- Toothpick
- Yarn or twine
- Scissors
- Acrylic paint (not washable) or washable tempera paint (optional)
- Paint brushes (optional)
- Mod podge (optional for sealing)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Salt
- 3/4 cup plus 3-4 tablespoons of water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degree Fahrenheit.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix all the flour, salt, and 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of water together using a wooden spoon. Add a 4th tablespoon of water if the dough remains too dry and does not all come together. Add an additional tablespoon of water if needed. If your dough is too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour.
- Next, between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out the dough into 1/4″ thickness.
- Cut out ornaments with cookie cutters.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a straw, punch a hole out of the top of the ornament for stringing. Remove the excess dough to using a toothpick.
- If you are making regular ornaments, bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours based on the thickness of your ornaments. However, if you made thicker hand print ornaments, bake for 2-3 hours.
- Next, let cool completely, flip, and let sit out over night before painting.
- To preserve and seal, add a coat of mod podge to both sides and edges after paint has completely dried.
- Next, using twine or yarn, tie a loop through the hole in order to hang.
- Lastly, store in an air tight container unless in use.
Wasn’t this a fun holiday activity? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy Holidays!
Other Projects You Might Be Interested In
Resources
Upper Body And Fine Motor Exercises
- Bilateral coordination article by Child’s Play Therapy Center
- Functional upper body strengthening exercises for adults by the Note Ninjas.
- Fine motor strengthening activities for kids by the NAPA Center.
This Recipe Was Adapted From
- Yummy Toddler Food blog