Salt map

When I was in GAs class at church as a kid, we made a large salt dough map of one of the countries we were studying. I thought it was so fun then, and I thought Rhett would enjoy the project now. The dough is very easy to make. It only requires flour, salt and water.

We used the recipe/instructions below:

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Make Your Salt Dough

1. Step1

   Mix equal parts of flour and salt into a bowl. You will want to use three to four cups of both salt and flour for an average size map.

2. Step2

   Mix enough water into the flour and salt mixture until you get a consistency like Play-Doh. Gradually add the water in so you do not make the mistake of making the dough too sticky.

3. Step3

   Place the dough on the pizza box to fill in the map. You can add valleys and mountains using a topographical map as a guide. It is alot of fun shaping building up the map into the different shapes. You can also consider adding some pieces to your map like a volcano or erections of famous buildings. Be creative.

4. Step4

   Put your finished map in the sun for several hours to dry. If it is too cold outside, you can put it in the oven at 200 degrees Farenheit. Be sure to watch carefully if using the oven. You want the dough to be hard enough so that when you press on it you won't leave a mark.

5. Step5

   Paint your map different colors to show different points of interest. Let the map dry completely.

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   Making the dough

After it dried in the garage for a few days, Rhett painted it with acrylic paints.

And I think his favorite part was writing things on the map. We didn't label all the states, but labeled the Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes, oceans, Canada, Arkansas and Texas.
Writing "U.S.A." at the top.
A fun indoor activity to try! We might do another one soon of Arkansas or something else.