10 Salt Trays for Fun Writing Practice

If you’ve been hanging around our blog for any length of time, you have probably heard me talk about multisensory learning and how important it is. When kids learn with all their senses, they are far more likely to remember what they learn.

Well, if you’ve never tried using salt trays as a sensory writing exercise for your children, this blog post is for you!

Children of all ages and abilities can benefit from this great kinesthetic activity. Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make your own salt tray!

Salt trays are perfect for practicing these skills:

• Handwriting, basic letter formation, and fixing letter reversals
• Writing the phonograms from dictation
• Sight words
• Spelling words

How to Create Your Own Salt Tray

It’s really easy to create a salt tray for your child.

1. Select a recipe from our download below.
2. Mix salt, color, and fragrance to create a colorful, scented salt mixture.
3. Spread the salt mixture in a shallow pan.
4. Start writing!

Download this free printable to get complete instructions, fun variations, and a full set of uppercase and lowercase alphabet cards.

10 Scented Salt Trays

Our download includes ten fragrant recipes that will increase the sensory impact of your salt trays. Download Make Your Own Salt Tray now and pick your favorite!

1. Lavender Salt Tray – purple salt and the calming aroma of lavender
2. Creamsicle Salt Tray – orange salt with the citrusy scent of summer
3. Candy Cane Salt Tray – red salt with the festive aroma of the holidays
4. Lemonade Salt Tray – yellow salt with a fresh lemony scent
5. Pumpkin Spice Salt Tray – orange salt and the scent of autumn
6. Chocolate Salt Tray – brown salt with the sweet smell of chocolate
7. Almond Joy Salt Tray – brown salt and a hint of almond and coconut
8. Strawberry Banana Salt Tray – red salt and the aroma of a fruit smoothie
9. Root Beer Float Salt Tray – brown salt and a whiff of root beer and ice cream (minus the glass!)
10. Sugar Cookie Salt Tray – beige salt with the smell of a fresh-baked cookie

Tips for Using Your Salt Tray

• You can use a baking dish, jelly roll pan, or cafeteria tray to create your salt tray.
• Having a colored backdrop helps the letters show up better. If your tray isn’t colored, you can tape colored paper in the bottom of the tray for contrast.

• Put the tray on a towel or tablecloth for easy clean-up.
• Add a thin layer of salt to the tray. If you use too much salt, it is hard to see the letters.
• For young children who are just learning the alphabet, place the letter card next to the tray for the child’s reference.

• Use the pointer finger of the dominant hand to “write” in the salt.
• Shake the pan gently to “erase” the writing.

More Sensory Tray Ideas

Here are a few more materials you can add to a tray or pan. Food coloring or scents can be added to these materials as well, or they can just be left plain.

• Sand
• Flour
• Shaving Cream
• Cornmeal

Have you used a salt tray or another sensory writing activity with your child? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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Photo credit: Elaine from Humble Dwelling