The Perfect Home Made Play Dough Recipe!
Posted in Children and Play on August 30, 2008
Finally, I’ve found a play dough recipe that works! Not only works, but makes amazing, easy, great quality play dough. It really is true that once you find the perfect play dough recipe – you can make a product better than you’ll buy at the store. I was starting to doubt my ability to pull off this great culinary feat. Even the priest that married me made light of my ‘skills’ in the kitchen. It’s no secret I can’t bake and struggle with cooking. So when my first 2 batches of play dough failed last month, I had decided that making your own play dough from scratch was an urban myth…one of those things only a super mom can do. But – I’ve conquered the recipe and not only is it easy, but guaranteed you’ll have 90% of the ingredients already kicking around your pantry. Play dough isn’t cheap to buy so you’ll save money and also help the environment because store bought play dough containers don’t have recycling resin codes.
Okay…before the recipe reveal I’d like to admit that the first two times I tried making play dough I wasn’t aware that the ingredient ‘cream of tartar’ was a baking item (looks like salt that you buy in the spice isle). I thought they were asking you to add tarter sauce – the creamy kind that goes on fish and chips. Just in case there are people with my cooking skills out there….these products are totally different and is probably the reason my other batches stayed wet and never gelled. I know, who thought it could be this hard? <smile>
Play Dough Recipe:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring
Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.
This amount of play dough this recipe produced was perfect. Each of my 4 kids received a huge clump of play dough, so there was lots to share. Also, a great tip with Fall around the corner – add cinnamon to the dry ingredients (as much as you want until you get the right scent). It produces a magical smell that transports you to a world of pumpkin patches, colored leaves, and windy days.
wow Suzanne you cooked!
Just a tip… cream of tartar is usually really expensive in the grocery store. If you want to make lots of playdough you can often find it in larger bulk bags for the same price as a tiny box at most craft or teaching supply stores.
ps- looks like a great recipe… just whipping up a batch now! Lucas will probably mistake it for my home baking.
Hey Suzanne! In the 25 years I taught Kdg. I bet I personally made this recipe 20 times a year for 25 years…. wow that equals 500 X’s!!! It is without question THE best recipe. Often I would make it in the morning before I left home and the morning class would get it when it was warm… they loved it!
Haha…my first smile of the morning! Thanks for the comments. My kids also mentioned they liked that it was warm…I can’t believe all the money I’ve spent buying play dough over the last 6 years. ‘Back-to-basics’ is really the way to be these days! Thanks ladies! Anyone else that tries out the recipie, please post with your comments!
Thanks for the great website and reciepe! I have not used the reciepe yet, but will let you know how it turned out for me. I am having a party for my 3 yr old daughter this Saturday and will offer the play dough as a craft to play with. I was given a tip that I would love to share. Instead of food coloring I was told the kool aid works for color and smell. To make it sparkle I will add some glitter as well…hope this helps! Thanks again!
thanks made it tonight works great! didn’t have food colouring so I added a box of jello powder smells good and best part jellos cheap!
Thanks for the comment Robin! At what step of the instructions did you add the jello powder? I can’t wait to try it.
You can also put Kool-Aid in as colour as well. Never tried it out but I am thinking about it (when I run out of food colouring). Thanks for the recipe.
hi you mention oil in your ingredients but in the recipe instructions I can’t find it! When do you add please?
thanks a million
Hi George – I see oil is counted in the first 4 ingredients…so add it to the pot w/the flour, salt & cream of tartar
just made this…worked great!!
only took 15 mins even with 3 kids “helping” me.
tip: add food coloring to the water before pouring into pot.
that way there is no mess and the kids can approve the final color.
I used this recipe for the daycare I work in – with 2 variations. Batch #1 included “pumpkin pie spices” (a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice etc bought in the spice section) and it smells exactly like a pumpkin pie (also made it the same color)…had to stop the children from eating it! The second variation works well as a before nap/bed activity. I colored it purple and left out the oil in the recipe. Instead I added Johnson’s Bedtime Lotion to the mix (about 1/4 cup of it to get lots of scent). If the bedtime oil is available in your area you can use that instead – or simply add a few drops of lavender and chamomile essential oils. I like the lotion because it helps to counter the drying effects of the salt in the dough.
Also a tip for those using koolaid and jello as coloring – from my past experiences the dough does not last as long because these food products are considered perishable once prepared, the ingredients (especially jello with sugar) can cause sticky messes, and also go moldy a lot faster.
Marica, when do you add the lotion?
Hi there,
I make this recipe all the time, for my kids, and now for my grandkids. The tips I have learned are: First if you boil your water and add your coloring to the water, you don’t need to cook it on the stove. Second, kool-aid (the cheap packets with no sugar) make great coloring with scent.
I actually had this recipe out of a book that my girl-friend had. In the winter time when the husbands would be at work and the children were bored from being inside we would make this recipe. I love it. I like the fact that the children can also make it. I made it part of a science lesson also.
My mom had a play dough recipe that she used to ALWAYS use! Do you think we can find it now?? No way. I hope this will work out for me, I have a 1/2 bag of flour that I wouldnt use for cooking ’cause I cant remember how long Ive had it LOL. Thanks for the great recipe
Thank you for this recipe! It’s similar to one I had used a long time ago when my firstborn was in a co-op preschool. We were asked to make playdough a couple of times during the year to donate to the school using a recipe with cream of tartar. It really is the best!
It’s close to Christmas, so I added some peppermint extract and made batches of green, red and white. My little gremlins love it and think I’m the best mom ever for being smart enough to come up with a homemade variety (shh, don’t tell them!)
I never knew about cream of tartar either until I started making playdough.
The Maven – thats a great idea for christmas time I certainly need to try that one out.
I wanted to try and make playdough on my own but it never worked out. I found this 10 mins ago and i just finished it. I think this is better than the real stuff in the stores!!! And my 3 and 5 year old just loves it!!!! im going to pass this on to my son’s preschool teacher!!!!
This is awesome.
I decided to make this recipe on a whim one rainy Saturday morning with my 2 1/2 year old son. We didn’t have enough Cream of Tartar (only about 2 teaspoons instead of tablespoons), but it still turned out excellent! So if you find that Cream of Tartar is too expensive, try using less, because it worked for me.
This is the same recipe we are using in our daycare, a perfect play dough that last forever… (forever in a daycare is about 1-2 days if you let the kids to …go creative). The only problem you have when you add cream of tartar is the food coloring changing colors lol… Yellow and red was perfect, blue turned green….
But is the best play dough ever… we buy cream of tartar and spices in bulk from Bulk Barrel… $1 for 1lb….
God bless you and share more interesting things with us!
Great recipe! Thanks!
Amazing recipe!! Can’t wait to try the Johnson’s Bedtime Lotion variation next time!
Just whipping up a batch right now! Thanks!
I have yet to try this, but does the food colouring get on the kids hands, clothing, table when they are playing with it?
We made pink & yellow this morning and my kids loved it!
I worked at a preschool for many a year and always had the play dough table. I forgot the recipe after all those years and had to get a refresher for my visiting grand niece. Brought back memories reading the comments. I use to let them go crazy with glitter in a salt shaker just before a batch was going to be tossed. Great for small and large motor skills. Also what ever theme we were doing characters (princesses, dragons, spaceships, artificial flowers….etc)were provided with the play dough. Great social times!
ps regarding the question about whether the food coloring will get on the kids and everywhere else if you put the food color in the water it will be less messy. Once it is in play dough form it won’t transfer. Hope that helped!
My mom used to make play dough for me when I was a little girl, now its my turn to make it for my kids. My favorite memory of the homemade play dough was the smell, and I used to love the saltiness of it (and the way it would dry on my hands). The bought stuff doesn’t even compare to it! I can’t wait to make this tomorrow with my oldest!
I’m going to try this out tomorrow morning with my son! Thanks so much for sharing
I’ll let you know how it goes.
I can’t wait to make this with my grandson-all the handy tips are great..I really miss being a mom, so this is like going back in time for me!!!Who is the kid here??
We just finished making it and he’s busy happily playing with it right now!
This was my first attempt at homemade playdough so I didn’t know what to expect and got a little worried when the dough first starting cooking. I thought I’d done something wrong and it was going to end up clumpy, but it didn’t! It’s absolutely perfect!
Thanks so much
Thanks for the recipe! Was a big hit with my 3 1/2 year old. We also added the food coloring to the water instead of after – used the Wilton paste color for a very vibrant result!
thank you, i will be buying the ingredient this weekend. Ahmad loves playdough so much
Hello!
I just made this – turned out perfect! I read most of the comments and tips and decided it would be easier to boil the water, add the oil and food colouring to the water then mix it all in a bowl. I had the flour, salt and cream of tartar premixed in the bowl. My daughter was able to help mix it this way without the worry of the stove top being on. No problems whatsoever! The best play dough recipe I’ve found! Cheers!
Hiya! Made this today — perfect!!! My 3 yo loved the warmness of it — and it’s definitely quality stuff. Thanks!!
Thanks so much works great!Cooks up quick and easy!Cheers!
Amazing recipe been using it for many years now sharing with students. An idea to use kool-aid instead of food coloring
Question: Do I need to refridgerate the playdough? Reason being the food product that it is, but maybe there is enough salt to preserve it? Thanks for emailing back.
Oh, I’m the Grandma and I’m looking forward to the kids visiting and playing with this cheap, colourful homemade surprise. Thanks for the website.
I just made it. Awesome recipe. I added coconut extract and yellow food coloring – yummy!
I’ve been using the recipe with alum and cream of tartar…this one worked so much better and I love that it doesn’t have alum. Thank you so much! I like to use food coloring gel instead of the drops–seems to spread easier and brighter colors. Thanks for the recipe! My 2 year old loves it!
Also, I have frozen my balls of playdoh in a ziploc baggie. Then defrost for 24 hours and it is as good as fresh. Sometimes my playdough gets a little grainy when I do this, but it’s worth it adn the kids don’t mind.
just found the site…has anyone tried it with drink crystals(koolaid) instead of food colouring, it gives you saturated colour and a great smell too… a warnuing though it can, it smells good enough to eat!
Awesome recipe, I just didn’t cook it, I added boiling water to the rest ingredients and let my mixer do all the mixing!! Fantastic!!
Well babysitting most parents will let you make it with their kids as long as they arn’t around the stove and you clean up. I bring my own ready measured supplies and I make sure that it is cleaned up we have tons of fun on rainy days
Hi there,
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! Can’t wait to try it at home tonight! I was just wondering if anyone knows exactly how long the play dough will last if it is stored? I’ve also heard that adding some Vanilla Essence (a tsp) helps preserve the dough and makes it smell great!
Great recipe!! I did it in my kitchen aid mixer……put the four dry ingredients plus a packet of kool-aid into the mixer, added one cup of boiling water plus the oil and added it to the dry,let the mixer do all the work. turned out wonderful and so quick!! Best recipe out there. AND it doesn’t make too much!!
Whenever we cook beets we save the cooking water and use it to make the playdough- the most awesome purple/pink!