If you are looking for a fun and simple educational project, making a salt dough map is a solid choice. It is well known that interactive learning is a great strategy, and this salt dough map project is an excellent tool for geography-related subjects. It is also a whole lot of fun, and I especially enjoy the fact that the raw materials needed for this project are probably already in your home.
For the dough, all you need is flour, water and salt. The mixture calls for equal parts flour and salt, so simply add water until you achieve the consistency you want for your salt dough. As for the map, you will want to make an outline of the state or country you are re-creating through salt dough, so you will need to have a printout of the basic outline filling most of a 11-by-17-inch page. For the rest of the project, all you need is some tape, a pencil, a dark marker and a little bit of paint.
As for the map itself, I like to use a pizza box. The map does not turn out so great if you are working with a used box, so kindly ask your local pizzeria for an extra box the next time you place an order. You can make the outline in the box by taping down your image securely before firmly tracing the image so that it transfers into the cardboard. Use your dark marker to trace the outline you have created, and then start decorating the area that surrounds your state or country.
Now all that is left is to use the dough to make the raised map. What is great about this is you can try to get the topography right if you want, or you can add other little features like important landmarks. Once the dough is in place and painted, you can carefully bake your map in the oven, or you can just allow it to harden for a few hours in the sun.
