This Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe takes only a few minutes, 5 ingredients (minimum) to make, and lasts for months. (makes about 1 lb. 11.6 ounces)
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
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Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe
This Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe makes for hours and hours of play entertainment for your little one.
I love that it’s homemade, so you know everything that is in it, just in case, you know…it gets ingested.
With only 5 ingredients (at minimum), this a great sensory activity to do with your child over vacation for whenever you have free time.
It’s resourceful because it uses ingredients that you probably already in your pantry have and saves you time and money from buying Playdough from the store!
We do love Playdough in our house and have bought a lot of it but it is so much fun making it at home together.
This Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe comes really close to feeling just like store-bought Playdough and you have full control to adjust the consistency with the amount of water and color (optional) you use.
In these pictures, we used just a few drops of gel food coloring to make pastel colors yellow and peach playdough.
Tip: For optimal storage, store in Ziplock bags with the air squeezed out in the refrigerator.
Ingredients Needed for Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salt (I use Kosher salt but you can use iodized or another kind as well)
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- up to 1 1/2 cups boiling water *use the amount you want for desired consistency
- gel food coloring *optional
- 2-4 drops essential oil *optional, we like lavender for its calming effects 🙂
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Kitchen Tools Needed for Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe
- large heatproof mixing bowl
- baking spatula
- pastry mat or large cutting board for a kneading surface
- dough scraper *optional
- zip lock bags for storing
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Recipe Attribution
This Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe is inspired by a recipe that I made when I was a child and “The Best Ever, No-Cook Play Dough Recipe,” from TheImaginationTree.com
Have you made your own homemade Playdough before?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe
This Awesome DIY Playdough Recipe takes only a few minutes, 5 ingredients (minimum) to make and lasts for months. (makes about 1 lb. 11.6 ounces)
Materials
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salt (I use Kosher salt but you can use iodized or another kind as well)
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- up to 1 1/2 cups boiling water *use the amount you want for desired consistency
- gel food coloring *optional
- 2-4 drops essential oil *optional , we like lavender for its calming effects
Tools
- saucepan
- measuring spoons and cups
- wooden spoon
- mixing bowl(s)
Instructions
- In a large, heat safe mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, salt and cream of tartar) together. Evenly mix in 2 tablespoons of canola oil (it helps to do this with your fingers).
- Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil, add desired amount of food coloring (more can be kneaded into the dough later as well).
- Gradually add the hot water to the flour mixture, stirring with a baking spatula between additions. When it comes together, turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the playdough is even in texture and not sticky anymore. As it cools, it will get less sticky. You can add more flour to the mixture as you are kneading to make it more dry and less sticky.
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Can I ask what the cream of tartar is used for?
Hello Lauren, the cream of tartar gives a super, soft texture to the playdough. Scientifically, cream of tartar is an acid, which means it stabilizes recipes (like meringue) and makes playdough last longer. Hope that helps!