Play dough is the perfect rainy day activity, and we love making it in our kitchen. When you make your own playdough with the best playdough recipe ever, you get way more dough for your money than when you go out and buy it.

Plus, this homemade playdough is so much softer and easier to mold than the store-bought stuff!

Homemade Playdough

At Kids Activities Blog, we love making playdough and have several different recipes for you to try. This DIY playdough recipe has been around forever and there is good reason why it is a favorite recipe.

When I was teaching kindergarten, another preschool teacher passed it down to me as a “trade secret” but I didn’t think it was fair not to share (what I think is) the best homemade playdough recipe with you guys.

Oh, and it is an easy recipe! So, here it is!

This article contains affiliate links.

Supplies Need To Make Homemade Playdough Recipe

2 Cups of Flour
2 Tbsp of Oil (any oil will do, coconut oil, vegetable oil, even olive oil)
1/2 Cup of Salt
2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
Gel Food Coloring (Optional)

The secret to brilliant colors in your playdough is using gel food coloring – we find ours in the cake decorating sections of craft/hobby stores, or on the baking aisle in the grocery store. Gel food coloring is definitely the best dye for homemade playdough.

Instructions for Homemade Playdough Recipe:

Let’s start with the dry ingredients. Pour 2 cups of flour into a large bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of salt.
Mix in 2 tbsp Cream of Tartar. (You can find this in the spice section of just about any grocery store.)
Add 2 tbsp of oil. For this recipe I used vegetable oil, but you can use any oil, and as long as it’s a kitchen oil, your playdough will be non-toxic and safe if a little one takes a tiny taste. The sodium level is very high, so we don’t encourage this to double as a snack.
Pour in the boiling hot water. Be VERY careful because this makes the dough HOT!
Mix all the ingredients together until they form the dough. At this point, if you don’t want to add any drops of food dye to your playdough, you’re finished!
After it’s cooled, to make several different colors of playdough, separate the dough into equal parts and roll it up into balls.
Now, punch out the middle of the ball to leave a little bowl for you to pour your gel food dye into.
Drip your gel dye into the bowls. This is a great time to mix dye colors if you want to make another color.
Knead the dough until the dye is thoroughly mixed. This is VERY messy! If you don’t want to stain your hands with the sticky mess, use gloves, and make sure to put something down so you don’t stain your counter (like I did).
Add your favorite playdough smells – extracts and essential oils that fit the colors you chose.

Storage of Playdough

Store homemade play dough in an airtight container.

We noticed that our dough began to smell a bit sour after a month or two (which really is a long time!). Our solution: using Kool-Aid coloring (the flavor would mask the smell – but the colors weren’t as brilliant), or adding a few drops of candy extracts/oils.

My kids have enjoyed making peppermint or orange or cinnamon scented doughs! Have fun coming up with your own scent/color creations by adding drops of your favorite essential oils making it perfect for sensory play.

The Only Playdough Recipe You’ll Ever Need

We hope you will love this best recipe as much as we have. It is nice having homemade play dough recipe that you know is safe for your children and it is just fun to make together with your kids…even young children.

Not only is it great for crafts and activities (see more playdough activities below), but I always loved DIY Playdough, because it is squishier than store bought Play Doh, and that makes it useful for stress. It is also nice to have your own play dough – something customized with your favorite colors and smells.

Your child have a frustrating day? Squeezing playdough and vigorously squishing it is a great way to get out pent up frustration, plus I’ve been known to do it a time or two.

But tell us below, did you try this playdough recipe. If so, did you and your kiddos love it too?

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The Best Playdough Recipe

the best playdough recipe ever

Learn how to make playdough with this easy playdough recipe. This homemade playdough is the squishiest, softest, and the best!

Materials

2 Cups of Flour
2 Tbsp of Oil (any oil will do, coconut oil, vegetable oil, even olive oil)
1/2 Cup of Salt
2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
Gel Food Coloring (Optional)

Instructions

Pour 2 cups of flour into a bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of salt.
Mix in 2 tbsp Cream of Tartar. (You can find this in the spice section of just about any grocery store.)
Add 2 tbsp of oil. For this recipe I used vegetable oil, but you can use any oil, and as long as it’s a kitchen oil, your playdough will be non-toxic and safe if a little one takes a tiny taste. The sodium level is very high, so we don’t encourage this to double as a snack.
Pour in the boiling water. Be VERY careful because this makes the dough HOT!
Mix all the ingredients together until they form the dough. At this point, if you don’t want to add any food dye to your playdough, you’re finished!
After it’s cooled, to make several different colors of playdough, separate the dough into equal parts and roll it up into balls.
Now, punch out the middle of the ball to leave a little bowl for you to pour your gel food dye into.
Drip your gel dye into the bowls. This is a great time to mix dye colors if you want to make another color.
Knead the dough until the dye is thoroughly mixed. This is VERY messy! If you don’t want to stain your hands, use gloves, and make sure to put something down so you don’t stain your counter (like I did).

Notes

We noticed that our dough began to smell a bit sour after a month or two. Our solution: using Kool-Aid coloring (the flavor would mask the smell – but the colors weren’t as brilliant), or adding a few drops of candy extracts/oils.

My kids have enjoyed making peppermint or orange or cinnamon scented doughs! Have fun coming up with your own scent/color creations.