The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe Ever!

The Best homemade playdough recipe

There are definitely many do-it-yourself playdough recipes out there.   I have tried both the cook and the no cooking required versions.  After much experimenting, I have found that this is the best homemade playdough recipe!  And the playdough lasts for months and months if stored in plastic resealable bags!

The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe

For this recipe you will only need 5 ingredients.  The 6th ingredient (food coloring) is optional.

  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/2 a cup of salt
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • food coloring (amount of drops will depend on how deep you want the color)

Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe - Ingredients

 

Directions For Making The Playdough

Step 1

Add all of the ingredients into a medium saucepan.  Use a whisk to stir everything together.   If you are using food coloring add it in as well.

Step 2

Set stove to medium heat, add oil and water and stir frequently with a spoon.

Step 3

Continue to stir frequently as the liquid will quickly turn into a solid.

Step 4

Once you have a solid mass, you can remove it from the saucepan.  But be careful, it will be hot!  Knead the playdough for a few minutes on a clean counter top.

Step 5

Once cooled, play with the playdough.  Check out these fun suggestions for how playing with playdoh can help with language development!

Storing Your Playdoh

Once you are done with the playdoh, it can be stored at room temperature in ziploc style bags!

 

Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe that lasts for months

What Is The Best Toy For Language Development-Find Out Here


A few things to keep in mind:

  • If the playdough seems dry or brittle when you are kneading it, add a few more drops of oil and/or water and continue kneading.
  • This playdough can be stored in resealable plastic bags at room temperature for 6-12 months.  It will last even longer than that if you store it in the fridge.
  • If your child is sensitive to touch, the salt residue that home made playdough leaves behind can be bothersome.  My son is one of these kids.  I just make sure that I have a damp cloth beside him so that he can frequently wipe his hands.
  • If you want to add a “scent”, essential oils or extracts found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores work well.  However, I always caution those with children under the age of 3 to avoid adding scents as it tempts children to eat the playdough.  We want to teach them that playdough is meant to be played with and not eaten.
  • Check out my article fun playdough activities to encourage language if you are stumped for what to do with the playdough.
  • This recipe is so simple you can make it with your child!  But remember to keep them safe in the kitchen.   We used the Learning Tower because our children love being in on all of the action in the kitchen.

If you decide to give this easy homemade playdough recipe a try, please share what you thought about it?  And, I would love to hear what your child’s favorite things to do with playdough are!

the best homemade playdough recipe that will last for months

3 Comments

  1. Smridhi Malhotra

    looks great!

    Will give it a try too.

    Reply
  2. Sadie

    Love this! I would love to make homemade play dough. My son is still maybe a little too young but soon enough we will definitely be trying this. I think just the process of making it will be as fun as playing with it afterwards. I also like the scent idea… It reminds me of the Mr. Sketch markers lol

    Reply
    1. Tanya (Post author)

      Thanks Sadie. It is fun making the playdough but also a bit messy. Check out my post on the learning tower (https://seemeandliz.com/the-learning-tower-vs-the-kitchen-helper). I loved this when my children were younger as it made me feel safer having them help me out in the kitchen.
      The scent idea is nice, but just like I mentioned in the post, be careful when using scents with younger children as it often makes it tempting for them to want to try and eat it. Since its homemade playdough there really is no harm if they did eat some, but we want to teach them that playdough is meant to be played with and not eaten!

      Reply

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