Salt Art for Kids and Adults

Not everyone is an expert at creating elaborate designs inside a glass with sand. Sand art is very popular even to those who are not experts because, no matter if youre skilled or not, it always turns out looking great. The various colors inside the container, all swirled together in intentional or accidental designs, is a thing to behold. People who are skilled can take the colored sand and create the effects of mountains, flying birds, vehicles and more.

If you like sand art youll love a cheaper version that helps you create scenes just like sand art but with common things you might have on hand. Salt and chalk are the ingredients for a sand art knock-off thats fun for kids. Of course, youll get them started but youre liable to get hooked yourself! Colored chalk can be found at most dollar-theme stores and, often, its the sidewalk chalk which is really large. Any type of colored chalk will work to create salt art. The chalk will have to be powdered and that presents the largest challenge but not a huge obstacle. Use a cheese grater and grate the chalk to a fine powder. You can also use a food processor or even a bag-and-beat method. However, chunks of chalk will ruin the look of the salt art so its important that it be powdered.

Salt, when mixed with the colored chalk powder, takes on the look of colored sand. Place some salt in a small bowl and stir in the chalk powder in the color of your choice. Mix more salt or more chalk to make the color be as dark or light as you want. Things will progress along smoothly if you first powder all the chalk and mix up all the different colors you want to use before beginning the salt art. Dont get carried away with the mixtures; you likely dont need a huge amount of any color. Choose the container you want to use to do your artwork. You can order shaped containers, like characters, hearts or standing balls, online. Or, just use a clean glass jar from home. Pour the salt in as you would if you were doing a sand art arrangement. A funnel with a long spout is helpful to hold down the amount of chalk dust you create and to aim the various colors where you want them. Use a cocktail stick or similar implement to create the designs that others will see through the container. Simply pushing the stick into the salt, right next to the glass, can create ridges, dips and other designs with no talent at all. Of course, if youre an expert at sand art designs youll want to take the salt art to a whole new level!