Homemade Playdough (Play-Doh) Recipe

Looking for a no-fail playdough or play-doh recipe to keep the kiddos busy? We have an easy cheap non -toxic play-doh recipe video

This homemade no-cook playdough recipe is simple, quick and makes a fun activity to do with your kids. Playing with playdough is a great sensory activity for kids, and older kids will enjoy making it with you, too. This recipe doesn’t require any cooking and uses ingredients you are likely to have in your kitchen already. It delivers soft playdough that kids will enjoy playing with for hours. If your batch comes up too sticky, just add more flour and remember to knead well before letting your kids play with it – that’s what takes the stickiness out!

Once you have your coloured playdough you can get creative! We love adding different scents to make the sensory experience even more fun. Favourites are pineapple essence, strawberry essence and lemon (add just a drop or two), or you could even try cinnamon powder and, dare we say, glitter!

Read more: Looking for more arts and crafts? Try out our Slime recipe here.

Homemade Playdough: An Easy No-cook Play-Doh Recipe

Play Doh Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 12 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 1 – 1.5 cups boiling water (add in increments)
• Food colouring (blue, red and yellow – optional)
• Essence (pineapple, lemon, strawberry etc).

Check out our Play-Doh how to video above!

Play Doh Recipe Directions

1. Combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and oil in a large bowl.
2. Add the boiling water in increments starting with 1 cup. Mix and see if you need to add more. Don’t worry if you add too much water and your playdough feels too sticky – you can always add more flour when kneading later.
3. Portion out your playdough into different bowls and add a few drops of food colouring and a different scent if using, then mix well.
4. Let the dough cool a little then knead well for a good few minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. See note above re adding in more flour here if needed.
5. Store the playdough in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag in the fridge.

To play with your playdoh you may want:

• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters and shapes
• Different objects to make different patterns with: fork (for older kids), ruler (to cut dough), figurines to hide in the playdough.

Cleaning up Play-Doh

Arts and crafts is often messy – that’s why kids love it so! Us mamas – not as much, but you can deal if you follow these helpful clean up tips..

1. Dedicate an area to messy play: Set aside messy play space (ideally with a mat to aid cleaning).
2. Dress your kids in old clothes and roll up sleeves. Playdough and fabric don’t mix. In hot Singapore you can just let the kids play in their shorts so limit the exposure to any fabric.
3. Clear up right after play: Avoid letting playdough dry where it shouldn’t be. Use one piece of playdough to dab onto any leftover playdough mess to pick it up. Clean any utensils your kids use immediately after play.

Looking for more arts and crafts? Try out our Slime recipe here.

Enjoy!