The Best and Easiest Play Dough Recipe

Countless times, my kiddos just want to play with play dough. They love the stuff! Problem is, almost every time I get the play doh kit out, it’s either empty or hard as a rock. Oops. Sorry kids!

So, I could either pack up all the kids and take an outing to buy play doh or we could wait 2 days and have it shipped to us! None of those options really seemed appealing to me.

Then, I remembered my mom making it herself a bunch of times. It was awesome! And best of all, it required ingredients that we already had in our pantry. Perfect.

Now, I’ve tried a ton of different playdough recipes and some were great, some were a little complex for my liking, and some were just plain awful!!

So here is how I make play dough and it’s the best! It’s soft (even made my hands feel soft!) and doesn’t stick to your hands. We love it!

What You Will Need

So, most of you will have cream of tartar in your pantry but I know some of you won’t. There are other ways to make play doh without cream of tartar that are just as good.

Making play dough is awesome. All it takes is flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and gel food coloring (optional of course!). If you would like the primary colors, this gel coloring is perfect for you.

I usually make mine in a different pot which is an old pot I use for crafts.  If you prefer, you can use your regular cooking pot as it’s made from edible ingredients (although it does taste disgusting!).

If you are adding essential oils or “smells” to it, I would try to use a different pot. An old or cheap pot like this cooking pot will work perfectly.

Different Cooking Methods

There are ways to make play dough without cooking but I personally prefer the cooking method.

There are 2 ways to cook your play dough.

Method 1: Put all the ingredients in a pot and mix it together on low heat until it forms a dough. This is the easiest way but it does take a little longer as the mixture needs to “heat up” to form a dough.

Method 2: Put the dry ingredients and oil into the pot and add boiling water. Mix together on medium heat until it all sticks together. I usually heat the water in a microwave-safe glass container in a microwave if I’m using this method.

Method 2 has an extra step of heating the water but it does come together a lot quicker!! I still put the heat on low when adding the boiling water to make sure the dough forms well. You may not even need to heat the mixture as adding the boiling water can sometimes make the dough form right away.

Adding Color

I love adding color. I try to avoid scents as I feel it would encourage them to eat it (I mean it’s safe but the last time my daughter ate some, she threw up!).

How you add the color depends on how you want the play doh to come out. Do you want just one color or do you want to make a bunch of different colors?

It is easier to make one color as you can add it to the water and you’re all set! Awesome.

If you want to make a bunch of different colors (which is what the kids ALWAYS want), you will have to knead the color in the dough. This can take time and is a good wrist workout!!

Be sure to wear gloves when mixing the colors in your play dough as you don’t want to look like a smurf by the end of it!!

Gel colors are the best and will give you the most vibrant color. When the mixture is ready and cooled enough to handle, break it off into however many pieces of color you want. Add a couple drops of food coloring and knead until it’s all the way through.

You will have to knead well so the color doesn’t come off. Personally, I have never had a problem with this.

How to Store Your Play Dough

You can either store your homemade play dough in a seal-tight container or you can use zip lock bags.

Some store theirs in the fridge but I’ve never had to and it still lasts for months!