--- title: "Salt painting for kids: glue, salt and watercolour" description: "How to do salt painting with kids: a glue line, salt, and watercolour that races along the salt by itself. Try it free on screen, then for real." source_name: "Game Tailors" source_url: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/en/techniques/salt-painting/" site_home: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/" source_description: "The drawing app where the paper is real. No ads, no accounts, no data collected." locale: "en" legal: - "Game Tailors · Schieweg 15Y-40, 2627 AN Delft (NL)" - "KvK 92437702 · VAT NL866044474B01" - "info@gametailors.com · +31 6 4227 5919" copyright: "© 2026 Game Tailors" published_at: "2026-10-24T00:48:25.913Z" modified_at: "2026-10-24T00:48:26.121Z" --- # Salt painting for kids: glue, salt and watercolour ## Watch colour race along a line of salt Draw with glue, cover it in salt and touch it with a brush full of watercolour: the colour runs along the salt line by itself. Salt grains soak up water, and the colour travels with the water from grain to grain. [Play in your browser]()[Do it for real](<#for-real>) - Ages 4\+ - 30 minutes, dries overnight - Cupboard materials ![Painted illustration of the painter dripping blue, pink and yellow paint onto a salt-covered glue star and flower on dark card, the colour spreading along the salt.]() ## Quick facts Age 4\+ with help, 6\+ on their own Time 20–30 minutes, plus a night to dry Mess Medium: loose salt gets everywhere Adult needed To set up and help with the glue bottle You need \(cost\) White glue, table salt, watercolours: things most homes have On screen / for real Both ## What you'll make A raised, sparkly picture: white glue lines crusted with salt, each line glowing with colours that ran into each other by themselves. Black card makes the colours shine; white card looks like a snowy watercolour. ## In Extreme Drawing Everything for salt painting is in the free part of the app. 1. **Craft tab → Glue & glitter → Glue.** Drag to squeeze a raised, glossy bead of white glue. Draw a star, a snowflake or your name. 2. **Kitchen tab → Sieve → Salt.** Shake it over the glue while it is still wet \(glue sets in about a minute\). The salt sticks to the glue as a sparkly white line; the rest lies loose on the paper. 3. **Add colour.** Touch the line with the **Watercolour** brush, **Ink drops** \(Craft\) or **Food colouring** \(Science\). The colour soaks into the salt and creeps along the line. Where two colours meet, they blend. **Also try:** salt from the sieve on wet watercolour, with no glue at all. Each grain pulls the wet paint in around it and leaves a pale starburst with a darker rim. [Play in your browser]() ![Painted illustration of the painter sprinkling glitter on a glue star, beside salt on a glue line soaking up blue paint, stickers, ink droppers, a stencil and tape.]() ## Do it for real **You need** - Thick paper or card \(black card makes the colours glow\) - White PVA school glue in a squeeze bottle - Table salt, fine or coarse - Watercolours mixed very wet, liquid watercolour, or food colouring with a few drops of water - A soft brush or a dropper \(pipette\) - A baking tray to work in and catch the salt ### Step by step 1. Draw with gluePut the card in the tray and squeeze thick lines of glue. Keep lines joined if you want the colour to travel a long way. Work in small sections so the glue stays wet. 2. Bury it in saltPour salt over the glue straight away until every line is covered. 3. Shake off the extraTip the card up over the tray and tap it gently. The salt that stays is stuck in the glue. Keep the loose salt for next time \(not for cooking\). 4. Load the brushMake the brush really wet with colour, or fill the dropper. 5. Touch, don’t paintTouch the tip to the salt line and hold still. Watch the colour run. Add a second colour further along and see what happens where they meet. 6. Dry it flatLeave it flat overnight; thick lines can take a day. If you tip it while it is wet, the salt can slide off. Safety and clean-up Do it with an adult nearby. Salt stings in eyes and in small cuts, so no rubbing faces with salty fingers, and wash hands afterwards. Food colouring stains clothes and tables: wear old clothes and work in the tray. The finished picture stays fragile, so keep it flat; bending it makes the salt flake off. ## Variations to try ### Winter snowflakes White glue snowflakes on dark blue card, coloured with blues and purples. A favourite for the Christmas holidays. ### Starbursts Lines bursting out from a centre point, with a different colour on each line. Lovely for New Year or a birthday card. ### Autumn leaves Leaf outlines and veins in glue, then red, orange and yellow dropped in at the stem. ### Your name Big bubble letters in glue, one colour per letter. Watch the colours meet where the letters touch. ## In the app vs on paper ### On screen The colour runs along the salt in seconds, and the salt only sticks while the glue is wet, just as it does for real. You can draw a whole page of glue and fix mistakes with Undo. No salt on the floor, and nothing to wait for overnight. ### On real paper Slower and less predictable: the colour runs a little way, then stops once the salt near the brush is full, so you add more. Thick lines take a day to dry. The finished picture is bumpy, crunchy and sparkly in a way a screen can’t show. ![Painted illustration of the painter dripping blue, pink and yellow paint onto a salt-covered glue star and flower on dark card, the colour spreading along the salt.]() ## Why the colour runs along the salt Salt is thirsty. Each grain pulls in water, and the colour rides along with the water from one grain to the next, until the salt is full. **For grown-ups.** Packed salt crystals leave tiny gaps between them, and water moves through those gaps by **capillary action** \(wicking\), the same way water climbs a paper towel. Salt is also **hygroscopic**: it attracts water. The dye or pigment is carried along with the water until the salt near the brush is saturated. On wet watercolour, a grain draws the wet paint towards itself, which leaves a pale, star-shaped patch round it. ## Try next: what do you predict? ### Fine salt or coarse salt? Which one carries the colour further along the line? Test both on the same card. ### Sugar instead of salt? Sugar crystals soak up water too. Does it work as well, or differently? ### A long line or a circle? Does colour travel further along a straight line or round a ring? ### Salt without glue? Sprinkle salt on a wet watercolour wash. What patterns are left when it dries? ## In the classroom Salt painting fits KS1 science on everyday materials \(which materials soak up water\) and NGSS 2-PS1-2 \(testing which materials suit a purpose\), as well as art lessons on mixed media. Show it on the whiteboard first, then let groups predict which salt carries colour furthest before they try it. [Ideas for teachers]()[Using it on the whiteboard]() ## Questions parents ask Can you do salt painting without glue? Yes: sprinkle salt straight onto wet watercolour and each grain leaves a pale starburst as it dries. Without glue the salt doesn’t stay in lines, so you get a texture rather than a drawing that the colour runs along. What paint works best for salt painting? Runny colour: watercolour mixed very wet, liquid watercolour, or food colouring with a little water. Thick poster paint sits on top of the salt and doesn’t travel. How long does salt painting take to dry? Usually overnight, and up to a day for thick glue lines. Keep it flat while it dries. Why did my salt fall off? The glue had started to dry before the salt went on, or the picture was bent or tipped while wet. Work in small sections and add the salt straight away. Is salt painting free in Extreme Drawing? Yes. Glue & glitter, the salt sieve, watercolour, ink drops and food colouring are all in the free part of the app. ## Try these next ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing a rainbow watercolour that bleeds into wet paper, with crayons, markers, a paint box and a child's rainbow drawing.]() ### [Watercolour for kids]() Wet-on-wet, blooms and salt starbursts, and what the paper does as it dries. ![Painted illustration of the painter brushing blue watercolour over paper, revealing a white crayon fish and bubbles.]() ### [Crayon resist]() Paint over a white crayon drawing and watch it appear. ![Painted illustration of the painter sprinkling salt on a big blue and purple snowflake painting, beside a frosted snowman drawing, gingerbread stars and hearts and a Christmas tree.]() ### [Christmas science and crafts]() Salt-painted snowflakes, a frozen snowman and more for the winter holidays. ## Paint with salt on screen first Open Extreme Drawing in your browser, squeeze a glue line, shake on the salt and touch it with colour. Then get the glue bottle out. [Play in your browser]()[All art techniques]()