The boys have been needing some kind of craft to do lately, so the other night I searched through Pinterest (one of my most favorite websites ever!) for "crafts for 8 year old boys". I wanted something that would be fun for Ruy but also on a level that Liam could join in. I came across this craft idea of Salt Dough Snakes and just loved it! I have read her blog before but it was some time ago and I had forgotten all about it. She has some really great ideas on her blog.
So yesterday we got to work on our snakes. I made the dough:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
3/4 cup water
1 T oil
* I had to add a little more water to my dough because it was too dry. It probably varies based on weather and such.
and then the boys started rolling out their snakes.
Liam kept rolling his so skinny that they would break and then he would get upset. I just squished it back together for him and then all was right in his world again.
Ruy wanted to make certain types of snakes, so I googled images of copperheads, rattlesnakes, garter snakes, black snakes, etc. and then he tried his best to roll his snakes out to look like the pictures.
It kept them entertained for some time, especially Ruy. I helped Liam shape his snakes a little bit but mostly they were all his work. When the boys were finished rolling their snakes out, I baked them at 200 degrees for three hours. Then they had to sit overnight.
The boys were already in bed when the snakes finished baking, so the very first thing they both asked me this morning was "Can I see my snakes!!!" I never thought that such a little thing would be so exciting to my boys. I guess I really need to step it up on my crafting/fun activities for the boys.
They were begging to paint them first thing this morning but right after breakfast we had to go grocery shopping so they had to wait until after we got home, ate lunch, cleaned up lunch, and I had put Alanna down for a nap. Once all that was finished, we got the paints out and they got busy painting. They used acrylic paints and then I spray painted Ruy's snakes with a clear coating to make his shiny. Liam did really great with his painting but I could tell after about 30 minutes of painting, he was ready to be done. He still had three left to paint but I figured I'd save them for another day. Ruy spent over an hour painting his.
They both did such a good job on this and were so happy with how they turned out.
*Liam's Snakes
*Ruy's Snakes (Before the clear spray paint coating)
I'm sure we'll end up doing this again in the next few months.
Credit for instructions & idea goes to Frugal Fun For Boys
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