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Sculpt your own Salt Dough Snowperson
Celebrating Black History Month
James Dorsey an internationally-known sculpture artist that lives in Pickering, Ontario. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he became a jet aircraft mechanic for the US Air Force. He left that behind when he immigrated to Canada and studied Visual Arts and Education at York University. He has dedicated his life to teaching and carving sculptures out of recycled cedar Hydro poles. His work is both culturally significant and environmentally friendly.
Today we are making a salt dough snowperson. This sensory activity provides your child with a hands-on learning opportunity to observe, measure, and explore different textures all while strengthening those fine motor and language skills.
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- 1 cup flour
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- ½ cup salt
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- ½ cup water
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- Large bowl
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- Loose parts such as tooth picks, popsicle sticks, cardboard, shredded paper, rocks, buttons, ribbons etc.
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1. Place loose parts in small bowls or plates. This will be an inviting set-up for your child.
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2. Ask your child to stir salt, flour and water in a large bowl.
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3. Knead the dough with hands to bring the dough together. If needed, add a bit of additional flour at a time to reduce the stickiness.
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4. Make salt dough in different sizes and shapes you like.
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5. Use loose parts you collected to decorate your salt dough snowperson.
Invite your child to prepare the salt dough with you. During the process, enrich your child's vocabulary by narrating the steps to them. For example, “We are stirring the salt, flour and water altogether” and “We are kneading the dough”. Once the dough is ready, your child won’t need a lot of direction. You can prompt them by saying “I will make a snowperson; can you make one too?”. Allow them to start and simply observe what they’re doing. They might make a flat, round or square snowperson. This is a great sensory activity that can strengthen those tiny hand muscles for future writing skills. You can chat along the way and ask open-ended questions like “How does the dough feel?” and “Tell me about your snowperson. What’s their name? Why did you choose…?”. Sensory activities like this are open-ended and allow children to explore endlessly and make new connections to their world.
EarlyON