home made play dough project

I enjoy making this homemade play dough.  My favorite part is creating the colors! The texture is wonderful. You can make several batches in different colors, package them in cute containers and use them for quick, handmade gifts for playmates or birthday parties.

This is a great opportunity to introduce measuring and the color wheel to your children - they can help add the food coloring to discover how colors mix!

Homemade Play Dough

makes about 2.5 Cups

1 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cups of salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 TB vegetable oil
1/2 TB cream of tarter
*food coloring - I use the liquid kind

Mix all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Add the food coloring to your liking. - Children can help with this step

Adults only -
Set your stove top to medium-low (about a 2.5 on a glass top stove). Stand by the pan and stir occasionally. When the batter look is gone and the ingredients start staying together when you stir (5-8 minutes), remove the pan from the heat. Lay out some wax paper and scoop play dough onto the wax paper. I can usually start kneading right away, but make sure that you check the dough for heat - you don't want to burn yourself!
Once the dough has been kneaded into a nice texture, place in an airtight container or zip lock. The snack sized zip locks work beautifully.

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*additional information added June 16th, 2009

New play dough made using Wilson's food coloring gel (the gel makes for extra vibrant colors). I probably enjoyed this project more than the children this time. I was able to get 7 balls of dough by doubling the recipe (found in my projects folder - substitute liquid food coloring with gel food coloring). I used my Magic Bullet to blend the food coloring gel and 3/4 C of 'batter' for each individual color (instead of stirring) and the play dough turned out ultra smooth. Make some summer colors this week for your children to enjoy...Simply Lovely!

I'm more than happy to share this project with you and hope that you enjoy the process of creating!  If you liked this project leave me a comment!  Thanks so much~ Susannah

Comments

[Amanda]

Hi! I am thinking about making this as a Christmas gift for my nieces and nephew. How long will this stay soft? Does it need to be refrigerated? I'm concerned about it turning hard while we travel cross country for the holidays.

Thank you!!

[Gail]

I just made this this morning. It was ultra easy and worked like a charm. I took it further and made them scented for my friends daughters for Christmas. I did Peppermint, Vanilla Carmel, Blueberry Pomegranate, Orange Spice and Coconut Chai. Smells heavenly. Thanks for sharing :)

[Kelly]

Hello, I am also wondering how long it lasts for, I am wanting to make it for christmas gifts! Can they play with it more than one time?

[Gail]

Kelly, I made this for Christmas too and it smells and feels like it did on the day I made it. So, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure to use an airtight container. I used mason jars. Good luck :)

[Laura]

Oh, Susannah! These are wonderful. On the magnetic board in my studio, are 12 small metal canisters with see-through lids that I bought at Ikea several years ago, thinking I would put small sewing supplies into them. Never happened. Along came a new granddaughter, who is now three years old, and boy-oh-boy, is she gonna love her some of that colorful (peppermint-scented) playdough in Grammie's little tins. Thanks for the art & inspiration - you're a girl after my own heart!

[Jackie]

Does it matter what kind of flour you use? My son has a wheat allergy, so we're trying to keep it out of the house, but I would love to make this for him.

[Barbara]

Just made 2 glitter batches and put the food coloring afterward. Might want to use rubber gloves for this step. But it made 4 differnet colors of gerber baby food containers size.

[Quart31]

Please put a note with your homemade play dough that it is extremely toxic for dogs and cats. I got a recipe off of a web site that was similar to yours and my dog got into it. She didn't eat very much but it caused sodium poisoning and it was a horrible way for her to die, to say the least. Thank you for getting the word out there since your posting the recipe.

[skyblue]

Looks great. I have had some problems with the dough getting super sticky the next day, even though it was covered/airtight, to the point of not being able to use it. (I know I can add in more flour, but I want to avoid the problem altogether.) Do you have any ideas why this would have happened, or what causes it?

Also, what is your experience with cooked vs. uncooked dough?

[Mandy]

I am a teacher and we were planning to do an activity called Claytionary in small groups. this recipe was perfect for the task at hand! and I shared this blog with many of my fellow educators.

thanks!

[RaAnn]

Just a quick question...can this be baked low like you would Salt Dough, to preserve a special creation?

[Marne Smuts]

Me and my almost 3 year old boy just made a blue, red and yellow batch. His words to me was - thanks mommy for this great idea! Thanks for sharing!!

[Lilly]

Just made it and it was EASY, and my kids love how soft and vibrant it is! Thank you for sharing your ideas, we used the blender to mix and it was easy peasy.

[Maggie]

Does it stain though?

[Paije]

Hi, I found your recipe on Pintrest! Thank you so much for posting this. I made a batch and just made two colors - mixed red and blue Wilton gel to make a vibrant purple and blue and yellow for a vibrant green. Then I split each color into two parts. One for 8 year old - I'm sure when she gets home from school she will need her very own playdough that absolutely cannot be shared with her younger sister! We did not have cream of tarter. It did not seem to matter - it still was malleable and we did not have any staining issues. I just stuck the batch into ziplock sandwich bags. In thinking it over, I should have mixed the flour mixture in one container and then poured some out into the pot to mix with color and cook. I could have made several more individual colors. Anyhoo, Thanks for cheap fun!

[Theresa @ Two Much Fun]

Thank you so much for an easy and fun rainy day project. I don't think we'll ever buy play doh again! We loved your recipe. Plus, it took less than 15 minutes! Thank you so much. Pinning and posting back to your site.

[Laurie]

This is great! How long will it keep and how's the best way to keep it where it'll last a while?

[Katie]

I love this idea!! My 3 year old and I are making it today. I was reading the comments because I had a few questions. The same questions I have were asked already but I did not see a response from you. Do you have a FAQ page by chance?

[tressie]

I would like to make this for my toddler class at church , I think they will really enjoy playing with this. They do ike playing with play dough. Thanks so much for this great idea.

[Amanda]

Does this play dough stain given the use of food colouring? I was thinking of making some for Christmas gifts but I want to warn people if it stains. This is great, my grandma made this stuff for us when we were kids and I am excited to try it with mine!

[EB]

Thank you for this recipe! Our Elf on the Shelf is going to bring my daughter some homemade play-doh overnight tonight in red, green, and yellow with gold glitter, along with a Christmas tree, candy cane, and star cookie cutters. She's going to be so excited!

[A Kid Age:11]

hi world have a fun life :)

[Ms. Lori]

This is my favorite play dough recipe ever and I have made it many times for my kids and my students. I have made it in many colors and have even added glitter to a few batches, much to the delight of my students and fellow teachers. LOVE this recipe! Thanks for sharing!=)

[KellyR]

Just made this for my daughters. Best recipe ever for play-doh!! I found you on Pinterest, and just started makin it! I doubled the recipe though an it still worked awesome! Thanks!

[Kerryn]

I also found your post thanks to Pinterest. I made this years ago but had lost the recipe. I made some for my girls today and they just loved it. It turned out perfectly! Thanks so much for sharing!!