It’s a super quick and easy activity when you know how to make homemade playdough for the kids with a super simple homemade playdough recipe!
As I’ve mentioned a few times already, Henry is on a huge playdough kick lately.
One day last week, Henry and I were with his Grandma’s. He wanted to play with playdough. Of course, Grandma’s playdough had gotten kind of hard and crumbly.
So we set off to make our own homemade playdough. (Our homemade playdough recipe is at the bottom of this page.)
I’ve seen many of you guys doing this. I, honestly, thought it would be way too much work and didn’t want to bother with it. (I’ve made playdough before, but I was a child…)
We dug out an old recipe out of an old church cookbook. My mom submitted the recipe long ago. (The recipe we used is at the end of this post.)
It honestly took only a few minutes to make homemade playdough! Who knew!?
With the exception of alum, everything is something I would have on hand. (Luckily, my mom did have it on hand, probably leftover from long ago when we last made play dough.)
And now I always make sure I have either alum or cream of tartar always around. Just for the sake of making playdough.
How to Make Homemade Playdough
For this playdough recipe, you’ll need flour, salt, water, alum (or cream of tartar), a vegetable oil, food coloring of your choice and flavoring of your choice (we just use vanilla).
Start by dumping flour, salt, water, alum (cream of tartar) and oil into a medium-size pan for the stove.
Turn it to medium heat.
You’ll want to stir constantly, but it literally takes only five minutes. The kids get a kick out of doing this and watching it transform.
You’ll know when it’s done when it starts to come together and form a sort of layer on the outside.
The above photo isn’t quite there yet. If you stop cooking it too soon, your play dough will be sticky, so be a little patient!
Here the playdough has formed together to the consistency you’ll want for your homemade playdough.
After it has cooked completely, remove it from the heat and knead it with your hands.
Throw some flour on the surface before starting. Sometimes I lay out a piece of wax paper or a sheet pan to work on if I don’t want to get the counter dirty or afraid of it staining.
Create a divet in the playdough to add your flavoring to. We add about a teaspoon of vanilla.
Then add in your color of your choice. We are very generous with our drops of food coloring.
Have the kids knead the playdough together to see the color spread throughout.
If you are weary of the food coloring staining hands, you can put on some of those plastic gloves (we do this at the bakery anytime we are working with food coloring for decorating cakes and cookies).
When we first mix the coloring into the playdough, it doesn’t seem to saturate completely. It takes quite a while to fully get through and bring out the colors.
Play with our homemade playdough!
This homemade playdough is so soft and pliable, Henry was able to do so much more with it compared to the storebought stuff.
Take a look at these playdough tracks!
Let’s see what else that made some neat impressions in our homemade playdough:
First, he tried: His tractors and machinery. (what else would it be?)
The tracks made by the chisel were very distinguished. With the store bought play dough, this would have been nearly impossible!
Then my Mom started handing him some kitchen utensils.
A ‘slotted’ spoon.
The slots made a flower when Henry pressed it into the play dough.
A whisk made lots of lines when Henry rolled it.
A flipper (spatula) made fun for turning the play dough over and over.
Other tools Henry tried?
A regular spatula, a fingernail brush, and some Mardi Gras beads! They all left their own individual marks.
It has been hard to get Henry past pressing out playdough fields and driving his tractors through them.
But, we’re slowly working on expanding our experiences.
How to Make Homemade PlayDough: The Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup flour
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 1 Tbsp alum (or cream of tartar) — or leave out if you don’t have it on hand.
- 1/2 cup salt
- Vanilla
- Food coloring
Mix all dry ingredients together in sauce pan.
Add oil and water.
Cook over medium heat, stir constantly, until it reaches the consistency of thick mashed potatoes (you can usually see it changing in its consistency).
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and food coloring.
Store in an air tight container.
Here are some other variations & recipes of how to make homemade playdough:
- A Playdough Recipe using Cream of Tartar by A Bit of This and A Bit of That (TIP: I switch out between alum and cream of tartar all the time!)
- Chocolate PlayDoh used by Chasing Cheerios
- Gluten-Free PlayDoh found at No Time For Flash Cards
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e says
Where can one buy alum? Thank you.
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Great question! You can find it in most grocery stores, by the spices.
Joan says
How long does this play doh last before going bad, if made with cream of tartar?
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Joan! If you store it in an airtight container or baggy, it should last a couple of months. I’ve heard it usually lasts a little longer if you keep it in the fridge too!
Shirley Shaw says
I loved the homemade playdough
Arin says
What’s the point of the vanilla? Just for smell? Kids aren’t supposed to eat the play doh, right?
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Arin! Yes, just for the smell. You can use any flavoring you want (or even leave it out).
Katie Poulter says
How does the final product change if I leave out the cream of tartar/alum?
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Katie! The cream of tartar acts as a preservative and adds elasticity, but it should be just fine to make it without.
Debbie says
Does this play doh stain kids ‘ hands?
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Debbie! Great question! If you have your kids help make the play dough, the food coloring will stain their hands as they mix the coloring in. Sometimes, we just wear plastic gloves so it won’t stain their hands. But, after the play dough has been made, you shouldn’t have a problem with it staining their hands as they play.
Robin McMeekin says
Also, you can mix the color by putting playdough in a ziplock. Fun activity!
Nads says
Hi Jamie. I know this is an old post. But could you tell me whether I can substitute alum with cream of tartar? I’m not sure I can find alum. Anyway thanks so much for sharing this :)
Jamie Reimer says
Yes you can use Cream of Tartar instead – and if you don’t have either, you CAN leave it out – I think it just won’t last as long if I remember correctly.
Reda says
I have also varied the sensory inputs by playing around with different flavours/smells by substituting the vanilla essence for lemon, coconut, orange, rose, strawberry etc – and picking a colour to match the flavour.
Laura Mandracho says
I´m sorry , I do not know what lum is???? is it a comercial name?
Thanks for your help!!! I am a preschool teacher and I woul love to make Play Dho!!!
Jamie says
Its alum. Its a ‘spice’ I guess. Found with all the other spices in your grocery store.
Reda says
Amongst other things, ALUM is a chemical compound can be used as a non-toxic preservative…see wiki article below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum
Happy playing – my girls and I love this playdoh – it entertains for hours
Aleacia says
Our play dough was almost the same exact color green! What a fun color, and homemade play dough is sooo soft, I love it!
Mama Pea Pod says
WE looooove homemade playdoh – it's a hundred times better than the store-bought stuff (and I honestly never thought I'd say that until I tried it)! We always do non-cook so that Princess Pea can make it herself (well, with my help, of course!) We've also found that making play-doh is a great playdate activity – especially when you've inadvertently invited all the siblings along too and suddenly have way too many kids running around wild in your house! Great way to focus them on one activity in one place ;-)
Wonderful tracks Henry made! I love how he's so intent on what he's doing!
Angie says
Yes, homemade play-doh is the best!! I love all of the different items you guys experimented with, so fun, we are going to try this soon!
MaryAnne says
Homemade play dough is the best! Yours is also a lovely shade of green – love it! =)
Melissa @ The Chocolate Muffin Tree says
Love the tracks in the play dough! We need to do this!!
Some times simple things I never think to do!! This could be "Green" play dough for Earth Day coming up!
I enjoy your blog too! It does become blur! Have a fun day with play dough!