Nurturestore has lots of articles about fun play dough ideas but I though today I’d get back to basics with an easy play dough recipe master class. I’m often asked for a play dough recipe by people who are trying out home-made play dough for the first time, so I thought I’d post a step-by-step guide to my favourite no cook recipe. I’ve included some tips and tricks to answer the most common play dough crises and added in some fun ideas for you to try once you’ve mastered the basic play dough recipe to jazz it up a little! There’s also a link to my free Let’s Play Dough e-book.
Calling it a master class is very tongue-in-cheek: it’s a super easy recipe and even if you’ve never tried making your own play dough before I’m sure you’ll be able to whip up a cordon bleu version.
Easy play dough recipe master class
I’m going to show you my favourite no cook play dough recipe. There are many versions and variations of play dough available but this is the one I use most often because it’s easy, quick and lasts really well.
Step One: Take a large bowl and add 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, oil, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
Step Two: add in any dry extras such as glitter
Step Three: boil the kettle and pour 1 1/2 cups of the water into your mixture. Add in any food colouring at this stage so it mixes evenly through the dough.
Step Four: mix the ingredients together to form a dough.
Step Five: done! Your easy play dough recipe is complete and you’re ready to play.
Play dough problems: solved
Play dough too crumbly? Add a little more oil.
Play dough too sticky? Add in a little more flour.
Want a coloured play dough? For white snow play dough use corn flour instead of regular flour. For chocolate play dough use a mix of flour and cocoa. For other colours, add in some food colouring. Add the food colouring along with the water, rather than trying to knead it in later, to get a more even colour and so the children don’t end up with colouring all over their hands. Try black space play dough or red Valentine play dough.
Want to make your play dough smell good? Add some fragrance by mixing in some herbs or spices with your flour: try cinnamon play dough. Using essential oils can be too harsh on children’s skin so you might like to try food oils such as orange or vanilla essence instead. Try ice-cream play dough.
Want your play dough to last a long time? Wrap it up well in a plastic bag as soon as you’ve finished playing and your play dough could last for months.
Want a gluten free recipe? Try the no flour play dough recipe over at Messy Kids.
Not got all the ingredients? If you discover you have no cream of tartar, no problem – just leave it out. You can make a basic dough just by combining flour and water if that’s all you have. The dough won’t last but will give you a great day’s worth of play.
Want to add in some extra play and learning? Try using cocktail sticks / tooth picks for maths play. Add pencils and try some mark making. Encourage imaginations with under the sea or outer space play dough.
Got another play dough question or a great tip? Please share with us in the comments.
Want more play dough ideas?
Combine this easy play dough recipe with a year’s worth of play dough ideas by downloading NurtureStore’s free Let’s Play Dough ebook. Like NurtureStore on Facebook and subscribe to our weekly Play Planner and I’ll keep you in a regular supply of more play dough fun.
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Also my favorite receipt
My children loved it! And it makes a great and cheap present for birthdays. We also add 2 table spoon of liquid gycerin. It makes it even smoother.
Thanks for the glycerin tip Reina – I’ll have to give that a try next time.
Right, I don’t let my kids play with playdoh often enough so I am making this tomorrow!
[...] Step One: Take a large bowl and add 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, oil, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar I’m going to show you my favourite no cook play dough recipe. There are many versions and variations of play dough available but this is the one I use most often because it’s easy, quick and lasts really well. easy play dough recipe | NurtureStore [...]
I’ll have to try your no cook recipe! I love that you’ve compiled the tips and tricks. I love homemade play dough and now I’ll never go back to store bought!
What a great resource thank you for compiling it all and the ebook is great I remember downloading that when J stopped eating the dough and we started with some adaption of the ideas then.
This is a brilliant recipe – this is the first time i have successfully made playdough – despite many attempts. Thanks so much.
Hurrah The Monko! I’m so glad my recipe worked for you. I see lots of happy play dough making in your future!
[...] taking a play dough master class [...]
I love the playdough ‘master class’ concept and what great pics!! I am often suprised when people comment on how ‘good’ i am to make playdough for the twins….but it’s just one of those things you can have so much fun with as you have illustrated so well. This recipe is very similar to my microwave recipe which i use all the time.
Thanks so much for sharing your inspiration and linking up to(and hosting!) the Weekly Kid’s Co-Op!
Hi Jode. I hear you! I think people don’t realise just how easy it is to make your own.
Thanks for the no-bake recipe! Aodhan and I needed a new batch today and I wanted to avoid the mess of the pot – so thanks so much for this. Everyone needs to see this to realize how incredibly easy making their own PD truly is.
Thanks lyndsay. I feel rather evangelical about this recipe!
This is an amazing post! I love love love your blog! I am now following you on Facebook also!
http://www.discoverykidzone.blogspot.com
Rachel
Thanks Rachel – great to connect with you
What recipes are safe for a one year old in case he eats some? If any
Hi Maddies mom. If you use this basic recipe with no extras (so no glitter) then all the ingredients are food – and so edible. Obviously you’re not going to want your baby to tuck in (lots of salt in it) so, as you’ll be supervising all the time, you can make sure they don’t eat any and re-direct them if they’re tempted to. A gentle reminder not to eat and a suggestion for something else to do with the dough can work. And having some other things such as cookie cutters to occupy hands can be a good too. If your child is really in the mood for eating though, you might need to switch to a messy play thing which is totally edible – such as mashed potatoes or pasta.
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Following along with the Playdough Pledge this week… I generally make the stovetop playdough as I hadn’t had good luck with “no cook” kinds. We tried this recipe yesterday and the kids enjoyed taking mastery of their own recipe (I split the recipe in half and had them each make a bowl). It seemed a little harder / saltier on my hands for the first big knead and first couple minutes of play, but after that we didn’t have any problems with it. Thanks for sharing the recipe – I’m sure we’ll be using it again!
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I used white whole wheat flour and added cinnamon. It reminds us of sand so we’re having a day at the beach! I didn’t have cream of tartar, but it seemed to turn out fine. What is the C of T for anyway?
Oh, and we put gold glitter in it too.
Jessica, I believe the cream or tartar, as a raising agent, affects the consistency of the dough. But as you say, you can make a perfectly good dough without it. Your day at the beach sounds fun!
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I’m looking for dough that dries pretty (salt dough looked horrible when it dried. Will this recipe dry nice?
What didn’t you like about the salt dough dawn? You can leave this dough to dry out (my daughters do it sometimes when they’ve made a model) but we tend to use salt dough and bake it if we’re making something we really want to keep. We mainly use acrylic paint on the salt dough. You can see some here http://nurturestore.co.uk/diwali-activity-craft-ideas-salt-dough-candle-holders and here http://nurturestore.co.uk/salt-dough-candle-holders
Every time I’ve made the salt dough, it dried all mottled. W used food dye to color the dough itself and never painted. The girls want dough that we can color (not paint) and have it dry with vivid color.
Sounds like a great experiment. Did the colour stay as it was or fade? Food gel colours could maybe give a stronger colour?
They faded quite a bit. I’m actually making your recipe right now and am about to put the coloring in 6 different balls of dough
We’ll. See how it turns out after girlie makes a charm!
Hope you’ll let me know how they turn out dawn.
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I have this post pinned up in my kitchen and at the moment I use the recipe about once a week. Goblin uses playdough for all sorts of play and i finally get what all the fuss is about
That’s so lovely to hear the monko. My 10 year old still loves play dough just as much as when she was three. It’s so interesting to see how her play has got so much more intricate. She makes amazing models with it now.
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