Fun and Easy Cross Craft for Kids

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We tried our hand at salt  paintings, and it was so much fun! Easy, fast, and seriously… did I mention fun?! To say that the children were delighted would be an understatement! You can find all of my cross crafts for kids here. Now I’m going to show you exactly how to make this fun and easy cross craft for kids.

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This craft can be done with all ages- from preschoolers through adults! (Yes, even I had a lot of fun making this one!) You probably already have the supplies you need laying around your house.

Supplies Needed to Make Salt Paintings With Kids:

  • Black Construction Paper
  • White Glue
  • Salt
  • Watercolor paints
  • Paint Brush

Start by “drawing” your picture on your black paper with the white glue. (Keep this to simple outlines. It doesn’t work well when you fill big chunks of the paper in with glue.)

cross craft for kids

Next, sprinkle salt all over the glue.

hwo to make a salt painting

Then pour off the excess salt. Salt is so cheap that we just dumped ours in the trash, but you could certainly pour it onto the next picture for the next child. You probably don’t want to pour it back into your salt container for eating. You do not have to wait for the glue to dry before painting! We started painting immediately, and it was just fine.

salt painting how to

Now comes the FUN part!!! Start painting with the watercolor paints. Because the salt is so absorbent, you just touch your paintbrush to the salt and the color spreads like magic!

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salt painting cross

The reason why you want to use black paper is so if any of the paint gets somewhere that’s not the salt, you don’t see it. Encourage the children to just touch their paintbrushes to the salt and let it spread. You  have to be gentle so as not to disturb the wet glue under the salt.

salt painting fun

I let my preschool class be a little more “free form” with their original glue pictures.

preschool craft salt painting

They were squealing with delight when their paintbrushes touched the salt!

salt paintings with preschoolers

We also made a picture where we helped them write their names with the glue.

This was super fun, and I totally recommend it for everyone to try with their kids. However, I’m going to describe this more as “process art” which means it’s more about the process than the finished product. When it’s all finished and dry, they don’t hold up well long term. This is not the masterpiece to display proudly in their bedrooms for years to come (unless you want to be vacuuming salt off the floor for years to come).

So when you’re finished, take a picture, keep it around for a few days, and then hide it under something in the trash can when your kids aren’t looking. 😉

You can find all of my cross crafts for kids here. Tons of ideas for all ages!

Comments

  1. Jen Owens says

    Do you need to let the glue dry first?

    Thanks!

    • No, you do not. I will update the post to make that more clear. Thanks for the great question. 🙂

  2. Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with those of us like me, who lack it!

  3. Love this!

  4. I love it. I will do it tomorrow with my kids in the kindergarten.
    lovely greetz from germany

  5. Love this! I miss teaching preschool and kindergarten!!

  6. Did you use Kosher Salt or Table Salt?

  7. This was so much fun. Thank you! My 3 year old and I had so much fun doing this together.

  8. Grace Houle says

    I am looking forward to trying this!

  9. This is a great idea! I’m making this with my primary-grade Sunday School class tomorrow. We are Methodist, and will be outlining the Methodist cross and flame with the glue, then adding the salt. I was looking for a simple and engaging activity–thanks so much for sharing!

  10. Oh I am so glad to know that someone other than me hides things in the garbage!
    Will try this next week for my CCD kids–they have painted with shaving cream and sweetened condensed milk, now salt. Very fun! Thank you!

  11. Is there anything you could spray over the finished product that would help preserve the picture so you could keep it?

    • Mine have been on our wall now for 2 years and are fine but yes you could totally coat them in modpodge or even clear contact paper to give them a little bit of a seal and keep them nice. This was a super fun project! You should totally try it. 🙂

  12. Daune Arsnow says

    Thank you for this great craft idea!

  13. Thank you, this was so much fun for my toddler and may I say for me too.