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Raised salt art painting is a fun and easy craft to do with kids of all ages. Painting with salt and watercolors is a simple and inexpensive art project to try! This is one of those rainy day crafts that can be done over and over again!
Most of the supplies needed for this activity you probably already have around the house. All you need to make your own salt art is white glue in a squeeze bottle, thick paper, watercolors, brushes, and, of course, salt! No need for fancy salts here. Plain table salt is fine.
You can use liquid watercolors or watercolor paints from a pan with a wet brush. If you have no watercolor paint, you can substitute it with watered-down food coloring.
It is important to use thick paper like cardstock, watercolor paper, or a canvas board for your salt painting. Regular (printer) paper will be too thin.
The salt and glue combined make it a three-dimensional work of art with an interesting raised texture. It is super fun to watch the watercolor paint spread across the salt glue. Your kids will love it!
Salt drawing is also a great group activity to do at a birthday party or as a classroom art project. It is an easy and cheap mix of science and art. If you’re a teacher you can use this activity to explain the science of how salt absorbs moisture.
Young kids, preschool toddlers, can simply scribble abstract lines of glue and salt (adult supervision advised!). Older kids can use printed images or draw their own designs.
Some fun salt painting ideas: Write out words or names with glue, sketch landscapes like mountain scenes, or draw funny faces! Other favorite salt painting ideas are jellyfish, butterflies, and rainbows. Simple shapes like flowers, hearts, and stars work well too.
If you are ready to make your own raised salt art painting, continue below for the full step-by-step tutorial with pictures.
Raised Salt Art Painting
We're making a salt painting of a cute lion, follow along or make any design you like!
All you need is thick paper, glue, watercolor paint, and of course salt!
Materials
- Card stock or canvas
- White craft glue
- Table salt
- Watercolor paint
Tools
- Paint brush
- Pencil
Instructions
- Lightly draw your design with a pencil onto cardstock paper or canvas board.
To make abstract art skip this and simply freestyle a design of lines and shapes in step 2.
- Trace your design with glue. The lines can be as thick or thin as you want.
- When the glue is still wet, liberally sprinkle with salt until the glue is completely covered. Pour excess salt off.
- Use a paintbrush to apply watercolor paint to the salt. Gently touch the salt with the brush and watch the color spread.
The more watery the paint, the easier it spreads.
- Let the salt painting dry. This is not a keep-forever craft project. Unfortunately, the salt will eventually fall off. Don't touch it too much to make it last as long as possible.
