Greatest Playdough Recipe Ever!
We make playdough often in our home. My daughter loves pouring and mixing to create the dough and then kneading it while adding the color. Making play dough provides a kid-friendly way to explore measurement, work on fine-motor skills, and reap the rewards of your work. We have tried a variety of playdough recipes from ‘no cook playdough’ to ‘cooking required playdough’. We found that ‘cooking’ recipes were by far the best. Within the ‘cooking required’ recipes, we discovered that this is hands down the best play dough recipe in the entire world. Ok, well my daughter added the ‘entire world’ part, but this recipe truly is the greatest that we have found. Recently we made this for my daughter’s birthday party and as a class project in her school. Parents and teachers raved about the consistency and that it was not too oily. Also, this playdough recipe results in dough that has a long shelf life. Dough we made 3 months ago continues to be soft and enjoyable to play with; just store in a plastic bag or container. Enjoy!
PlayDough Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 ¼ cup salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon cream of tartar
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- food coloring
- glitter (if desired)
STEPS
- Combine all ingredients, except food coloring, into a large pot
- Mix with a large spoon until mostly smooth. It will be lumpy!
- Cook over low heat, mixing frequently
- Keep mixing until the edges of the dough appear dry
- Test the dough by pinching off a small piece. If it’s gooey, cook more. If it is dry, it’s ready!
- Remove dough and place on large cookie sheet
- Pull apart the dough to let the heat escape and begin kneading to smooth the dough
- Add drops of food coloring gradually and knead until you achieve your desired shade
- Sprinkle a tablespoon (or more!) of glitter on the dough and knead to mix
- Last and most importantly…. have fun!
Blog post notes
For kids, recipe for play dough, how to make playdough, how to make koolaid play dough and activities to do with toddlers
