I have been itching to create salt dough name plates for my littles ever since I saw the adorable wooden name plates popping up in small shops across the world! It seemed like such a no brainer! I’ve used salt dough to make ornaments, gifts, Easter eggs and so much more. Why wouldn’t I use them to work on name identification with my 3 year old? But, of course, having a 1 1/2 year old, 3 year old and 5 year old, no one wants to be left out. So Mommy made name plates for everyone!
The best part about these salt dough name plates is that, depending on the filler you use, they can be adjusted to fit in at any part of the year. Summer – use shells or sand as a filler. Spring – use leaves, rocks or beads as a filler. Fall – Use tiny pumpkins, acorns, or seeds as a filler. Winter – Use jingle bells, Pom poms, or winter beads. Any other time of the year? Use some simple colored chick peas, dried pasta, gems, buttons, black beans or just about anything else to fill these fun name plates!
Let’s break down how to create these fun and easy salt dough name plates:
Materials
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- Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup water (only pour a little in at a time, you might not need it all!)
- Letters – to press into the dough and create your child’s name – these can be wooden, magnetic, puzzle pieces, play dough stamps or whatever you have on hand! However, I highly recommend creating your child’s name with the first letter capitalized and all the rest lowercase. I know that many people use all capital letters when beginning to teach their child’s name, but coming from a Kindergarten teacher, that just causes a whole lot of confusion in the future!
How To
Now, I used my stand mixer to do the heavy lifting on these. They get a bit tough to mix towards the end. However, you can absolutely do it by hand if you prefer!
*Set your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
Make your salt dough:
1. Combine the flour and salt together.
2. Add the water slowly and mix until a smooth dough ball forms. You may not need all of the water, so add it a little at a time!
3. Grab a rolling pin and roll out the salt dough to your desired thickness. Think about 1/4 – 1/2 inch or so. If it is too thick, it won’t dry out well. If it is too thin, it won’t withstand those sweet little toddler hands! So find the happy medium.
4. Once you have it rolled out, grab your letters and stamp that name! Be sure to press them into the dough a bit and really create an indent for each letter. Otherwise, when your little goes to put your filler inside, they will fall right out! Remove each letter after it is stamped into the salt dough. We definitely don’t want those going in the oven!
5. Once your name is stamped, carefully cut around it with a knife. You can cut in whatever design you would like. I chose to do a rounded rectangle to make it look more like a name plate, but do it however you envision it!
6. Carefully place your salt dough name plate on a cookie tray and into the oven. *I put parchment paper on my tray to be sure that the salt dough wouldn’t stick to it and it wouldn’t be greasy from me oiling the tray.
7. Now…you wait…this could take a while because the salt dough is so large. Start checking it at 2 hours, but it will probably take longer. You will know that it is done when the surface is hard upon touching it and there are no more soft spots on the back. Don’t be alarmed if it takes 5 or 6 hours! It all depends on how thick you made your name.
8. Once your salt dough name plate is cooled down, paint it however you’d like, or keep it natural. Once it is dry, be sure to seal it with Mod Podge so it doesn’t crack or chip apart. It will be fine without being sealed if you are worried about your little putting it in his mouth, but it lasts a lot longer if you seal it!
9. Grab your filler and get the kiddos involved!
Have Fun!
This was such a fun project to do with my littles! I just love it when they ask for their salt dough names. It warms my heart! And, it has truly been an amazing way for my 3 year old to identify the letters in his name! He can spot his name anywhere, but he has only recently started telling me the actual letters that make up his name. This salt dough name plate has a lot to do with that too!
What I love about this, is that it doesn’t have to just be a name. You could create a large roll out with the entire alphabet stamped in, or create a few smaller ones with simple words to encourage reading. The sky is the limit when it comes to salt dough! Look forward to many more salt dough creations from us in the future!
Happy creating!
Looking for some more DIY ideas? Check out these amazing Resin Letters that we created! They have been a huge hit with my littles!
