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.
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.
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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.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
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!
Super easy! The recipe has a great play dough consistency, texture, softness.
Easy and kids loved it. Thanks!
I’ve been so intimidated to make play dough but this was so easy and such a great consistency!! It was really lumpy at first but I kept at it and it turned out great! Should it be stored in the fridge or does it not matter?
I’m glad it turned out well for you! It can be stored at room temp in an airtight container.
My daughter is ecstatic right now. Every single time we make any kind of dough (like bread dough or pizza dough) my daughter gets upset when it’s time to let it rise. She wants to keep kneeding the dough. Today, we made this after it was time to let the pizza dough rise. She is happy and so is her mama.
What a great idea! I’m so glad she enjoyed it!
Absolutely the best playdoh recipe I’ve ever used.
amazing – I’ve tried a few and my sister told me about the recipe…the girls are having fun..4 colors turned into one…but all good
that was so cute I have a dator who is 4 and a son who is 2 his birthday is in 3 days and a son who is 7 monthes he dosnt play but the rest do.
Amazing!! Love how soft it turns out. I want to make a second batch and was wondering if I could use cake flour instead of all purpose?
I’ve never made it with cake flour, but if you try it let us know how it turns out :D
Love it
We made this 2 years ago and it was a blast! Very soft and fun to work with. We did have trouble with adding the color afterwards, it didn’t want to mix well. Have you tried cutting the recipe in half to make smaller batches with color at a time instead of separating and adding color afterwards? I don’t have much tartar left otherwise I would just make giant batches haha
I find it best to divide into separate zip top bags to mix the colors that way so it doesn’t stain your hands. If you’re doing 1 color, you can just the color in with the wet ingredients (before adding flour).
Hi! I’m from Brazil, mother of 6 and did this recipe: my kids loved it! I also shared it to other parents, so they can make at home and play with their kids during COVID’s pandemia. This play dough is really soft, I found it better than the those we buy at stores! Thanks a lot!
I’m so glad you have enjoyed making this playdough. Thank you for your comment! :)
We made it last night and it turned out very sticky. Any troubleshooting tips?
Hi Paul! I would recommend cooking longer!
I tried this and it worked great !!!! 😄
I’ve never made playdough before, but this was easy.
I’m so glad it turned out well for you! :)
Quick recipe, worked a treat!
Are use this before and it was great but the last time it was like cake batter did this accidentally get added it? Right now it says 2 cups of flour to 2 cups water. Is that correct?
Yes, that is correct! It will thicken as you cook it on the stove!
This is the best recipe. My playdough was made 6 months ago it still soft and in good condition
I’m so glad to hear it turned out so well for you. Thank you for your comment! :)
Superb recipe thank you! It turned out perfect and so easy to make. I was also wondering about storage and what temperature you keep it at. As we live in the tropics mine seems to be keeping well in the fridge.
We typically keep ours in an air tight container at room temperature!