Looking for a fun and creative winter craft that’s easy to set up and full of hands-on learning? This Salt Painted Snowflake Craft is perfect for kids of all ages! With just a few simple materials, your child can create beautiful, textured snowflakes that sparkle just like real ones. Plus, we’ve included a free snowflake printable to make the setup even easier.
This activity combines art and science, as kids explore the way salt reacts with paint to create unique patterns. It’s a wonderful way to spend a cozy afternoon indoors while fostering creativity and fine motor skills.
Why You’ll Love This Salt Painted Snowflake Craft
This craft is simple, inexpensive, and incredibly engaging for kids. The salt creates a textured, icy effect that adds an extra layer of magic to their artwork. Parents and teachers will love how it encourages creativity, introduces kids to basic scientific principles, and leaves you with a stunning piece of winter art.
Materials You’ll Need
- Free snowflake printable (find the link below)
- White or blue construction paper or thick paper
- White school glue
- Salt (table salt works best)
- Watercolors or liquid food coloring mixed with water
- Paintbrushes
- Tray or newspaper (to catch excess salt)
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Print and Prepare the Snowflake Template
Download and print the free snowflake template on white or blue construction paper. If your printer can handle it thick paper works best to hold the glue and salt without curling. Place the paper on a tray or a protected surface to make cleanup easier.
- Outline the Snowflakes with Glue
Using white school glue, carefully trace over the lines of the snowflake design on the printable. You can encourage your child to do this step themselves for fine motor skill practice, but younger kids may need assistance.
- Sprinkle Salt Over the Glue
Generously sprinkle salt over the wet glue, ensuring all the lines are fully covered. Gently shake off the excess salt into the tray or a trash bin.
- Add the Watercolor Magic
Prepare your watercolors or liquid food coloring mixed with water. Using a paintbrush, gently touch the tip of the brush to the salted lines. Watch as the color spreads and creates a magical effect! Experiment with different colors to make your snowflake vibrant and unique.
- Let It Dry
Allow the craft to dry completely before handling it. This step is essential for the salt and paint to set and preserve the textured look.
Tips for Success
- Use Thick Paper: Cardstock is ideal to prevent the paper from warping under the weight of the glue and salt.
- Encourage Creativity: Let kids mix colors or experiment with blending to create their own unique snowflake designs.
- Minimize Mess: Work on a tray or cover your table with newspaper to make cleanup quick and easy.
Free Snowflake Printable
To make this craft even easier, we’ve created a free snowflake printable that you can download and print. It features a variety of snowflake designs perfect for salt painting.
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
