The BEST homemade playdough recipe – make in less than 5 minutes for under a $1 and have it last for months! It is so soft and squishy and cuts perfectly with cookie cutters.

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Favorite Kids Activity
One of my kids favorite activities is playing with play dough. It is the perfect indoor activity for when it’s raining, too cold or too hot. When the weather’s nice we’ll even take it outside on the porch. My kids (age 8, 6 and 2) ALL love playing with play dough. My son pretends like he’s outgrowing it, but whenever my girls start playing with it, he always ends up joining in on the fun. I usually give them a few different colors, a mini rolling pin, some cookie cutters and let them go to town. I love seeing their imagination work.
Why is this the best homemade playdough recipe?
- It is SUPER soft and squishy, but doesn’t stick
- The play dough lasts for months in a zip top bag
- It is inexpensive to make
- It makes enough for 4-6 kids
- You can add different colors and even scents to customize your dough

We love making our own play dough, because it is so much softer (and cheaper) than the store bought stuff. I find it also lasts longer as well. Over the years I’ve tried dozens of recipes and this one here is the best playdough recipe out there! I got it several years ago from my son’s preschool teacher and figured I better post it to my blog so I don’t have to keep searching for it. At their preschool, the parents take turns making the play dough a different color each month and once I used this recipe, I haven’t looked back. I have slightly adapted the original recipe over the years. The main thing that I have done is cut down on the salt, as I found it keeps the dough extra soft for months!

How to make playdough
Playdough ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup salt
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (coconut oil works too)
- Food coloring, optional (I like Wilton gel food coloring or AmeriColor gel)
- Quart sized bags
Stir together the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large pot. Next add the water and oil. If you’re only making one color, add in the the color now as well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the dough has thickened and begins to form into a ball. Remove from heat and then place inside a gallon sized bag or onto wax paper. Allow to cool slightly and then knead until smooth. If you’re adding colors after, divide the dough into balls (for how many colors you want) and then add the dough into the quart sized bags. Start with about 5 drops of color (my favorite brands are listed above) and add more to brighten it. Knead the dough, while inside the bag so it doesn’t stain your hands. Once it’s all mixed together you’re ready to PLAY.
Store the play dough inside the bags once done to keep soft. Keeps for up to 3 months.

Once the dough is finished, I like to put each dough ball into it’s own quart sized zip top bag. Then I let my kids squish the colors together. It gives the kids something to do, makes it so your hands aren’t stained and then gives the dough a home after. We use the same bag to store the dough when the kids are done playing with it. If you only plan on making ONE color, just add the food coloring into the pan when you add the water (makes it easier to mix it in). My kids can never decide on just one color, so we usually need to divide it out.

Need more kid friendly activities? Make homemade slime, fluffy slime or this recipe for butter slime, too!

How to Make Homemade Playdough
Video
Equipment
- Spoon for stirring
- Gallon size bag or wax paper for cooling
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup salt
- 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (coconut oil works too)
Optional: food coloring (I use Wilton for brighter colors)
Instructions
- Stir together the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large pot. Next add the water and oil. If you’re only making one color, stir in the the color now.
- Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the dough has thickened and begins to form into a ball. Remove from heat and then place inside a bowl. Allow to cool slightly and then knead until smooth.
- If you’re adding multiple colors, divide the dough into balls (for how many colors you want) and then add the dough into seperate quart sized bags. Start with about 5 drops of color and add more to brighten it. Knead the dough, while inside the bag so it doesn’t stain your hands.
- Once it’s all mixed together, you’re ready to PLAY. Store the play dough inside the bags to keep soft. If stored properly it will keep soft for up to 3 months.
Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.
Notes
Another fun addition to the play dough is to add glitter. We added about 1/4 cup to the bag and kneaded it in with blue and yellow.

My almost 2 year old loves squishing the dough. I love watching those chubby little fingers go to work.

My 6 year old daughter loves pulling out the cookie cutters and making all kinds of designs! She is quite the girly girl. ;)

Make a batch for your kids once school is out for a summer to remember!
Holly Schwartz
I made a batch of play dough for Easter for my almost-2-year-old granddaughter. It was a huge hit, even with her parents! I used the coconut oil and it gave the dough a very pleasant aroma! I highly recommend this recipe and will definitely make it again. Thanks!
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for leaving a comment and review Holly! :)
Ineke
What is the best way to store the play dough?
Jamielyn Nye
In an air tight container. :)
Wolfgang
I tried this twice and both times it was sticky. I used level teaspoons instead of heaping for the cream of tartar.
Any suggestions?
Jamielyn Nye
I’m sorry you’ve had trouble with this recipe. I would recommend more flour or cooking it longer.
Marie
Just made this for my toddler’s Easter basket. Such a great, easy recipe! I was nervous I did something wrong because the mixture was super lumpy, but then all of sudden it all came together and was perfect!
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so glad it turned out for you!! :)
Nicole
This is a GREAT recipe! I literally JUST got done with it. We’re using it to make furniture for a shoebox house diorama my 1st grader is doing for school. Have you tried baking it? I’m wondering if it will work. I LOVE the texture!!
Jamielyn Nye
How fun! I haven’t tried baking this recipe so I’m not sure. Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Sarai yaseen
Great recipe!!! Bakable?
Jamielyn Nye
Thank you! I haven’t tried baking before so I’m not sure.
Brooks
awesome. takes longer than you think over the stove, but it’s worth it
Jamielyn Nye
Thanks for your comment! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Sophie Le
I love this recipe but how do u make purple play dough without making the color go grayish grape?
Grayish Grape is a very useful color though…
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Sophie! I use Wilton food dye and get a nice purple color!
Sophie Le
Why is this play dough better and smoother than my science teacher’s instructions?
Yesenia
I’m about to try it! I don’t have any cream of tartar. Will it still work?
Jamielyn Nye
The cream of tartar is definitely what makes this recipe so great! I don’t think it would work the same without it.
Carolina
What if you don’t have cream of tartar!?? What can you use instead of that?
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Carolina! I have heard you can substitute vinegar or lemon juice for the cream of tartar, but I haven’t tried it so I’m not positive how well it works!
uzma
Thank you for the recipe for the play dough , just a question , if you don’t have cream of tartar handy can you use white vinegar or lemon juice and if yes in what proportion.
thank you
Jamielyn Nye
I haven’t tried subbing the cream of tartar before so I’m not sure! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
Adam
I substituted with white vinegar and it worked great! I doubled the amount (8 tsp instead of 4) to compensate for the strength difference, as recommended elsewhere online.
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so glad it turned out well for you! Thank you for coming back to let us know that vinegar is a good substitute. :)
Adam
Alas, by the end of the week it was unusably sticky. I’ve seen other recipes without cream of tartar though, so it might be best to either try one of them or just buy it. It seems there’s some exact chemistry at work here, so cooking substitute estimates may not behave the same.
Sofia Garcia
That was so cool
Lisa Bramston
Awesome recipe. There is a lack of flour where I live due to covid… can you use self raising instead of plain? Thanks
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Lisa! I haven’t tried that substitution before so I’m not positive. Please let us know if you give it a try! :)
Jayapura Nokamura
I used SRF the first time and it was great! I used plain flour this time around and now is so much softer which is lovely for working with your hands but I’m finding it’s sticking to everything… I’m not sure if I can add flour? But that’s my input. We don’t use it often (1 child only) so it lasted for 6 months kept in the bottom of the fridge above the crisper. Half of it we didn’t use at all and it started turning to goo though so try to use it every few weeks.
Jayapura Nokamura
We used coconut oil which is antimicrobal*
Jordyn Novitski
i liked the recipe! i just dont like the smell in the end is there a way to cover it up or change the smell?
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Jordyn! Yes, you can add essential oil to give it a flavored smell. :)
Ashley
Can I add baby oil for a scent? Or will it ruin it?
My son is autistic and I wanted.to make homemade play dough with him ☺️
Can’t wait to try it out . Thank you.
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Ashley! I have never tried that before so I’m not sure how well it work work. Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Cait
Hi there! It’s super sticky- do I need to add more of something, cook longer, or wait for it to cool more?
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Cait! If it’s sticky I usually recommend more flour and cooking it longer! :)
Crystal Raymer
Perfectly soft play dough that rolls and cuts with ease. My favorite recipe so far for play-dough.
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Crystal!
Bev
I made this with my nephew and he loves it. The directions were easy to follow and We had lots of fun. We used neon food coloring and it worked great. Thank you.
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so glad you tried this recipe! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Bev!
Renee lewis
What food coloring ?
Jamielyn Nye
Hi Renee! I use Wilton food dyes :)
Samantha Breckon
Seriously THE BEST play-dough! This is my go-to.
Jamielyn Nye
I’m so happy to hear you love it! Thank you for leaving a comment Samantha! :)