Tactile Salt Magnets

Create magnets for the refrigerator door…with salt!

Skill Level: Easy to Moderate

Time Needed: 1 hour

Age(s): 7 to 10

Supplies Needed:

Project Rating:

Draw or trace simple shapes on a sheet of construction paper.
Cut out the shapes and place them on wax paper.
Squeeze a small amount of Elmer's Washable School Glue™ onto a shape. Spread the glue around the shape with your finger.
Cover the glue with a layer of salt. Shake to remove the excess salt. Let the glue dry completely.
Decorate the shapes using Elmer's 3D Washable Paint Pens™. Sprinkle more salt onto the paint. Let the paint dry completely.
Peel the shapes off of the wax paper. Attach a magnetic strip to the back of each shape.
Hang your salt magnets on the refrigerator door!

Teaching Tips:

What is salt? Students are probably familiar with salt as a seasoning for food. However, explain to students that salt is a mineral called sodium chloride. Table salt is made from the evaporation of sea water, which is high in salt, or from rock salt, which is a mineral deposit high in salt within the earth. Have students research the process of how refined salt gets to their tables.
Talk about magnets with your students. Discuss how a magnet is an object with a magnetic field, which attracts certain metals and either attracts or repels other magnets. Explain that a magnet has a north pole and a south pole. Supervise while students handle a variety of different magnets and experiment with them.
Have students do all of the drawing and cutting of shapes for this activity. Give students more challenging shapes to draw and cut out, such as a pentagon, hexagon, or octagon. Introduce the terms parallelogram, quadrilateral, and polygon.
Home-made tactile salt magnets make excellent gifts. Have students create a magnet as a gift for someone special for a holiday, birthday, or special event.