This homemade playdough recipe is simple, natural, and great for kids. They enjoy making the DIY playdough almost as much as playing with it!
A Natural Homemade Play Dough Recipe
My family members love to get my girls playdough for their birthdays and Christmas. It always makes my girls happy.I don’t mind it too much either. My kids get to use their hands to be creative in their play, which I consider a good thing.
The problem with store-bought playdough is, it’s expensive and it never seems to last long at our house. The bright pink mixes with the soft yellow. The blue and orangemesh into a mess. And before you know it, we’re stuck with seven cans of murky brown playdough.
As if the murky brownness wasn’t enough, my kids always drop a lot of it on the floor. By the time they’re finished playing and ready to put it away, half of it is dried out.
Inexpensive Playdough (Play-doh™) at Home
For these reasons, I don’t often buy it. Further, I don’t typically spend money on things that I know won’t last long. Sure, store-bought playdoughcomes with cool playsets and amazing colors, but I just can’t bring myself to buy it when I know that I can make an inexpensive playdough recipe at home.
A search for a homemade playdough recipe will yield several results. But many contain ingredients that Idon’t typically have on hand, so I opt for the simplest possible recipe. What I use could probably even be considered a salt dough recipe, but with a little extra flour, it becomes soft enough to play with for hours. And it keeps for months in a zip-top bag or air-tight container.
Reasons this is the best playdough recipe:
- it’s inexpensive
- lasts for months when properly stored
- you can customize your colors and other options
- it has great texture
- makes a great classroom project your child’s preschool teacher
- it’s a fun project to keep your kids busy while still learning!
Scroll down for a playdough recipe without salt.
Best Homemade PlayDough Recipe
5 from 2 votes
This homemade playdough recipe is simple, natural, and great for kids. They enjoy making the DIY playdough almost as much as playing with it!
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Active Time
- 10 minutes
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Servings
- 1 color
- Estimated Cost
- $1
Ingredients
- 1cupall-purpose flour
- ¼cupsalt
- 1tablespoonscream of tartar(optional)
- ½cupwarm or hot water(you don't need boiling water)
- 5dropsnatural food coloring(or gel food coloring)
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Mix together the flour, salt, and cream of tartar.
Mix together ½cup of warm water with a few drops of food coloring.
Slowly pour the water into the flour mixture, stirring as you pour. Stir until combined, then knead with your hands until the flour is completely absorbed and you have the consistency you're looking for. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour until it doesn’t stick at all.
Set aside on a pan or a sheet of wax paper and repeat the process for whichever colors you want to make.
Recipe Video
Notes
Mixing the food coloring with the water before combining with the dry ingredients allows you to blend them by stirring, without staining your hands.
Some people put essential oils in their homemade playdough. We chose not to but go ahead and add some if you want scents (like lavender or peppermint) in your play dough.
Made this recipe?
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Ideas for Using Your Homemade Playdough
If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll enjoy playing with the homemade playdough, but they’ll want a few toys to play with, too. I might not be able to come up with an intricate, all-plastic ice cream parlor or anything, but I can hand them some good old-fashioned kitchen utensils that make them just as happy.These are a few of the things I give my kids when playing with this playdough recipe:
- Silverware
- Rolling pins
- Cookie cutters
- Mason jar rings
- Biscuit cutters
Want more ideas? Here are 75 more ideas for making this playdough recipe more fun.
Also, to make clean-up easier, we recommend using blue painter’s tape and parchment paper while playing. Simply tape down big squares of parchment paper to the playing surface and let the kids have fun!
Storing Your Homemade Playdough
Eventually, the homemade playdough will stop holding your kids’ interest. This means you’llhave to find something else to entertain them, like DIY jelly soap. You’ll also need to find a place to store your playdough. I recommend that you keep your DIY playdough in an airtight container. Use glassware with a lid, recycled plastic containers, old playdough containers, or even zip-top bags. As long as your playdough can sit tight without being left out, it should last for several months or more.
Glitter in Your DIY Playdough Recipe
You can also try adding some glitter (about 1 Tbsp to each color batch). The variations on the play dough recipe are endless. Be creative, make it your own, and have fun!
Playdough Recipe Without Salt
5 from 2 votes
If you’re worried about your kids eating it, make this homemade playdough recipe without salt!
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Active Time
- 10 minutes
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Servings
- 1 color
- Estimated Cost
- $1
Ingredients
- 1cupwarm water
- ½cupall-purpose flour
- ½cupcornstarch
- 1Tbsplemon juice
- 1Tbspvegetable oil
- 5dropsnatural food coloring
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Mix together the flour, cornstarch, oil, and lemon juice.
Mix together the food coloring into 1 cup of warm water.
Slowly pour the water into the flour mixture, stirring as you pour. Stir until combined, then knead with your hands until the flour is completely absorbed.
Allow to cool andadd more flour if the dough is too sticky.
Repeat process for whichever colors you want to make.
Notes
You can use any vegetable oil, but we recommend coconut oil, or at least something non-GMO.
Made this recipe?
Mention @diynatural or tag it #diynatural!
The next time you’re stuck inside for a rainy day, get your children tohelp you make this homemade playdough recipe! They’ll enjoy making it, but not as much as they’ll enjoy playing with it.
Other fun projects to try are ourhow to make soapand bath bomb recipe tutorials.
