Cinnamon Salt Dough Decorations
This Christmas favourite may fast become your family’s new tradition! Cinnamon salt dough decorations, with the addition of braille, are a perfect Christmas craft for visually impaired children. The smell, both before and after baking, is incredible! Just make sure everyone in your household knows they aren’t edible – otherwise they will be bitterly disappointed!
Ingredients
The recipe I used required:
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup salt
- 6 tbs cinnamon (this is equivalent to about 1 glass jar)
- ¾ cup warm water
Making the dough
Mix the flour, cinnamon and salt together. Next, slowly add the water while mixing. As soon as the mixture starts to resemble a dough, stop adding the water. Knead gently with your hands until it forms a soft ball. Then wrap it in clingfilm or pop it into a container in the fridge to firm up for around half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C. Get the dough from the fridge and roll it out onto a floured surface or baking parchment. If the dough is too sticky, add a little extra flour. Once happy with the thickness, cut out whatever festive shapes you choose! It is important to remember to make a small hole at the top of the shape so you can thread it with string once it has baked. A drinking straw works well for this, or you can just use a toothpick or skewer
For one last sensory addition, I chose to braille my ornaments. I used cloves for this, as they can be baked in the oven, and also have a real Christmassy scent. I mainly chose to just braille the initial of the object, for example T for tree, S for snowman etc. If you have a bit more space, you could write the whole word, like I did for Star. Or, if they are gifts you could put the name or initial of the recipient. If they are for your own tree, your children could put their own initials on. That way, when they get them out of the box next year, they know exactly which one they made. This is also a really nice way of introducing braille to sighted siblings, and including them in the process.
Once they are ready, pop them into the oven for 2 hours. After baking, mine came out very white. I quite like this effect – it looks almost frosty! However, if you prefer the darker colour on the back, you could try baking them upside down, or flip them over halfway through baking to get an even colour on both sides.
When they are cooked and cooled, you could decorate them with paint or glitter or leave them as they are. Once the thread has been added, they’re ready to be hung on the tree!
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