Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (2024)

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (1)

Written by Nadia T Leave a Comment

Are you looking for the best playdough recipe ever? Then learn how to make the best homemade playdough recipe with my favorite tried, tested and LOVED cooked playdough recipe. I’m a playdough snob and am very particular about how I like my kids playdoh to feel.. I mean, there is nothing worse than making an effort to try a cooked playdough recipe and then it either goes bad quickly or doesn’t have the consistency you are looking for.

This post was originally published on March 19, 2015.

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (2)

Homemade Playdough

Have you wondered how to make playdough at home? Why go out and buy playdough when it is a milliontimes more fun to make itat home with your kids?

Homemade playdough can be customized to have a specific smell (add koolaid or food essence), it can be any color you want it to be (the limits are the food gel colors you have at home) and you can make it as soft as you want it!

My kids love to make craft materials and supplies with me, that is why it was really important for me to find an easy playdough recipe that I could continuously make with the kids.

Try to make play doh at home with your kids this weekend and let me know how it goes. I guarantee you that your kids will be super excited at what they have created and will be even more tempted to play with their creation they have made.

Homemade Playdough Recipe

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (3)

Ingredients per color:

  • 2TBSP Cream of Tartar
  • 1 TBSP oil
  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • Food Gel coloring
  • 1 cup boiling water

One of the things I love most about this cooked playdough recipe is that it lasts for a long time in the fridge. That means we don’t have to make it a million times a year.

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (4)

Directions: Add all the ingredients to a pot. Kids can take turns measuring out the ingredients and putting it into the pot.Your stove does not need to be on at this stage and its probably safer if it is not on yet. Once you have added all the ingredients you can put your stove on to a medium heat and then start mixing.

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (5)

Within 3-5 minutes you will see the cream of tartar playdough start to separate into a ball. When it becomes a ball of dough take it off the stove and knead it so that it all mixes properly. If you wait too long it becomes hard and if you do it too early it becomes sticky. Your first one will be you experimenting to find the right consistency. This is the trick to making soft homemade playdough.

Wrap it in glad wrap (plastic wrap) place in an airtight container and place it in the fridge.Use them for your homemade play dough activities and then whenever you are done put it back in a container and into the fridge. It should last for at least 2 months.

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I hope you learned how to make playdough and that you give it a try. I promise, you will love this recipe!

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (8)

Print Pin

Easy Playdough Recipe

Fun With Mama

This just might be the easiest playdough recipe, ever!

Ingredients

  • 2TBSPCreamofTartar
  • 1 TBSP oil
  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • Food Gel Coloring
  • 1cup boiling water

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients to a pot.

  • Onceyou have added all the ingredients you can put your stove on to a medium heat and then start mixing.

  • Within 3-5 minutes you will see the cream of tartar playdough start to separate into a ball. When it becomes a ball of dough take it off the stove and knead it so that it all mixes properly.

  • Wrap it in glad wrap (plastic wrap) place in an airtight container and place it in the fridge.

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Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (10)

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About the Author

Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (17)

All About Nadia T

Nadia is a mom of 4, with a passion for making childhood education fun through play. She encourages parents to spend quality time with their kids through fun kids activities and enjoys art, traveling, and doing activities with her children.

View all posts from this author

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Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best homemade playdough recipe? ›

how to make the world's best homemade play-doh. You'll need 3 cups of white all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of table salt, 3-4 tablespoons of any cooking oil (start with 3 and add more if necessary), 3 cups HOT water, and food coloring.

What is the secret recipe for Play-Doh? ›

Ingredients for Super Soft Playdough
  1. 3/4 cup flour.
  2. 1/4 cup baby powder (this is the secret ingredient! If you don't like using baby powder, corn starch is a good alternative)
  3. 1/4 cup salt.
  4. 2 tsp cream of tartar.
  5. 1 tablespoon of baby oil.
  6. 3/4 cup of water.
  7. food coloring (I used gel food coloring)
Feb 20, 2023

What is the secret ingredient in play dough? ›

With this recipe the key is to really make sure you knead the dough well to avoid ending up with an end product that is too sticky or wet. The glycerine is a secret ingredient that makes the playdough extra stretchy and fun!

What is the 3 ingredient recipe for playdough? ›

3 Ingredient Play Dough
  1. 1/2 cup cornstarch.
  2. 1 cup baking soda.
  3. 3/4 cup water.
  4. Optional: 2-3 drops essential oil and 4-5 drops food coloring.
Mar 23, 2024

How to make old fashioned play-doh? ›

2 cups water 2 cups flour 1 cup salt 2 tbs cooking oil 4 tsp cream of tartar Food coloring (optional) Add food coloring to water it you wish to color the dough. Mix and heat until ingredients form a ball. Knead until smooth and store in airtight container.

Why cream of tartar in playdough? ›

In fact, baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar. It is slightly acidic, and because of this, it affects the gluten structure of the playdough to make it more elastic. Tartaric acid acts as an emulsifier, so it helps prevent any added oil from separating.

What are the 4 ingredients in homemade playdough? ›

For the most part, homemade playdough recipes contain the same essential ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, water, and food coloring.

What makes playdough fluffy? ›

Today we're making homemade cloud dough with conditioner and cornstarch! These two basic ingredients combine to make the fluffiest play dough imaginable. Yeah, it lives up to its name because it feels as soft and fluffy as you'd imagine a cloud feels.

How to make homemade playdough soft and stretchy? ›

This recipe calls for 1 cup of hair conditioner. Next I simply needed to open the kitchen pantry and find cornflour/cornstarch. This is what gives it the dough consistency and by adding 2 cups of it to the conditioner after a good knead it becomes lovely and soft, silky and stretchy.

Why do you need salt in homemade playdough? ›

When water is added to flour, proteins in the flour clump together and hold the water. This is what gives you the dough consistency- just like when you make bread! The salt helps the proteins stay stuck together, you may notice that playdough you buy in the store also has a salty smell.

How long does homemade playdough last? ›

Quick and Easy – Only 10 minutes and you can have a batch of soft, non-toxic playdough using ingredient's you probably have. Your kids will love to help! Long Lasting – Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge and it should stay soft for at 2-3 months!

How do you make cloud play dough? ›

Add 1/2 cup of lotion to a bowl. Add 1-2 drops of the food coloring (if using concentrated gel, if using regular food coloring you'll need more drops to color) and mix. Mix the lotion and food coloring until combined. Add 1 cup of cornstarch and mix.

How to make fluffy playdough? ›

Light and fluffy play dough! Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large sauce pan. Add oil and water and mix until well combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until a large doughy ball forms.

Is it cheaper to buy or make playdough? ›

Homemade Playdough Recipe

This recipe is super quick and easy to make (you can make a batch in about five minutes) and much cheaper than buying ready-made playdough. Homemade playdough is also super easy to store. Just drop it in a ziplock bag and it will last for months!

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