I love Christmas it is such a great time to get crafting with the boys in building up the excitement to the big day. A great place for inspiration for all things crafty is over at RedTedArt. This is where I found the Salt Dough Stars Garland. I thought that they would be a great basis for gifts, and I think a personal touch is lovely.
Making the Salt Dough Stars (see RedTedArt for the recipe) helped my son with his development in so many ways. He struggles to pour (knowing when to stop) but he successfully poured the ingredients into the big bowl. He then mixed them all up – and this was great for his Sensory seeking. Then it was good for his hand development as he pressed the mix flat and cut out the shapes. We used star cutters but we have a variety of Christmas cutters that we could use.
After they were cooked he also successfully painted them. This was good for his fine-motor development and his hand-eye co-ordination.
Threading some string through the hole (this would also have been good for his development but I admit the hole was a bit too small for him. This meant that we could make a simple gift seem a bit better. We filled a paper bag full of chocolate,
hooked one on a wine bottle,
and one on some lotion.
