No need to buy store-bought play doh after you try our homemade playdough recipe! This easy playdough recipe takes 5 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to make. And the playdough will last for months! It’s super soft, stretchy and non-toxic for kids.
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The BEST Playdough Recipe
We have tried a few recipes before that require you to mix the coloring in after the playdough is made. This was SO messy! We got food coloring all over our hands and surfaces doing it this way. You’ll love this method because there’s no need for bags to mix the coloring with and no mess too!
It’s easy to make a batch of all different colors for the kids to play with. Just store the finished playdough in an air-tight container. It will help to also wrap it in some saran wrap to keep the air from touching the playdough which can make it go hard.
How to Make Playdough
There are many ways to make playdough – using a stove-top or using a kettle with boiling water. Personally, we prefer the stove-top method. We find it’s easier to mix the ingredients in the pot. There are also no-cook playdough options but we also prefer this cooked playdough recipe. We find this recipe to last the longest and be the softest. This recipe only takes a few minutes to make and it will last for months!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Flour
- Cream of Tartar
- Water
- Oil
- Food Coloring
- Salt
Skip down to the recipe card below to see the full recipe instructions and video.
Do you need cream of tartar?
Yes, if you want a soft playdough and want it to last longer, you need to add a little bit of cream of tartar. We tested different amounts and found 2 teaspoons to be the perfect amount to make the playdough super soft. If you skip the cream of tartar your dough may turn out a bit more dry and crumbly. It also helps your playdough last longer. If you want a dough recipe without cream of tartar, see our cloud dough recipe.
How do you get vibrant playdough colors?
We like to use this liquid food coloring. It makes the playdough much more vibrant than regular food coloring. If you’re using regular food coloring, you’ll need to add in a lot of drops. And don’t mix after you make the playdough – add it into the water instead which is so much easier and less messy!
How to Keep Playdough Soft
First wrap your playdough in saran wrap then store in an air-tight container. You’ll notice that playdough will go hard if left out – so the less air that can get to the playdough when storing, the longer it will last!
How Do I Make Playdough Soft Again?
If your playdough dries out and turns out to be a little dry after making it, try adding in a little more oil first. You can knead the oil in with your hands. You can also knead in a little bit of water.
When you’re done making your playdough, get out some cookie cutters and have fun making shapes! We also like using rolling pins and stamps to play with our playdough.
Homemade Playdough Recipe
Playdough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- food coloring
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients (flour, salt, cream of tartar) and mix well.
- Mix food coloring with your water first. Then add the vegetable oil and water with food coloring to a large pot. Mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients to your pot and mix well.
- Cook over low to medium heat until the dough starts to form and becomes dry.
- Once it starts to form a ball together and looks fully cooked, take off the heat. Let the dough cool first before touching.
- Once cool, knead the dough for 5 minutes to make the dough soft.
I used the amount shown but didn’t seem to be enough water when mixing but was never gooey like in you video. what am I doing wrong?
Is it possible the heat was too high? Try on a lower heat and make sure to mix it all together quickly while cooking.
Great recipe! I did some for school. What’s the best way to store it?
Store in an air tight container. I usually like to wrap tightly with plastic wrap then remove all of the air out of a storage bag and place it inside that.
Can I bake this playdoug? My grandchildren want to make foods for their play kitchen (like pizza, cake etc). I’ve left it uncoloured so we can paint the finished product…
This recipe isn’t recommended for baking but search salt dough on my site and that is the perfect recipe for baking and painting.
Was very easy to make and came out perfect!
love this recipe AND everything on your site! Perfect ideas for our weekly “Science Fridays”. We added a few drops of essential oils for an additional sensory experience. 🙂
will the food coloring in dough stain the hands when playing with it?
Once thoroughly mixed in the food coloring does not stain hands when playing with it.
What kind of foodcoloring (brand)do you use?
Anything that is a concentrated food coloring will give you really vibrant colors.
Any brand that is a concentrated food coloring will give you really vibrant colors.
I love the play dough
Best play dough. Been making it for years in my classroom. Kids measure and pour ingredients into an electric skillet. I mix it from there. They are 3 yr olds.
Can you use anything to substitute for the flour. My granddaughter is allergic to wheat and so I can’t use regular flour. Any thoughts or ideas
Search cloud dough on my website and there’s a recipe for a dough without flour.
This was super easy. I quadrupled the recipe because I wanted to divide it and make lot of colors. Our favorite play dough brand uses mineral colors and so I decided to get some to give it a try making my own with the mineral colors. They turned out really pretty. I divided it into balls about the same size as what’s in the well known brand name stuff and ended up with 17 balls. I let my kids each choose 3 colors and mixed them in. We are headed to the park and then they can play with them when we get home. This play dough feels amazing!
Great recipe. I’ve made a lot of play dough for my kids, the kids in my preschool classes and now my grandkids. putting the color in the water is the most efficient., but as a fun activity I divide the cooked, uncolored, slightly cooled play dough into ziplock bags. add a few drops of color and let the kids knead it. The more they knead the more the color distributes. It’s like magic!