Easy DIY Homemade Playdough - Easy Recipes for Family Time - Seeded At The Table (2024)

5 from 4 votes

• 1 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup salt
• 2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
• Gel-based food coloring

• In a medium to large sized saucepan, mix together the water and vegetable oil. Stir in the flour, salt and cream of tartar. Mix in drops of food coloring until it reaches your desired shade of color.

• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the dough forms into a ball and is no longer sticky. This will take around 4-5 minutes and will go through different stages of looking smooth to chunky to crumbly. But, keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. It will eventually form a dough ball and will pull away from the sides of the pan.

• Remove dough from the pan and transfer to a paper plate or wax paper to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, knead the dough until smooth. This part is fun for the kids!

• Store the finished playdough at room temperature in a quart-size plastic zipper bag.

• Source: Artsy Fartsy Mama

A few notes about this homemade play dough recipe:

-Cream of Tartar may be more expensive at some stores, but check your Target and Kroger stores where I found them much cheaper (around $2.00 for a larger container than other places). Also remember that it is still much cheaper to make it homemade than buy store-bought Play-Doh.

-There are other recipes out there that use quite a bit less Cream of Tartar, but they also have reader reviews that the dough ended up sticky and unworkable the next day or so after. I think this could be because of using less Cream of Tartar. So, although it might be okay to use less, I would stick with the 2 Tablespoons called for in this recipe.

-You can probably use water-based food coloring, but I can't ensure it will work the same and be as vibrant in color. Gel based food coloring will not rub off on your hands, which is a major plus. And, you don't have to use as much of it for each batch. I use my favorite brand, Americolor, which only needs a few drops to achieve the colors I want.

-I have heard of many substituting coconut oil or canola oil for the vegetable oil. Can't tell you for sure how much to use, but I'm guessing it would be the same amount.

-One batch makes a large amount, about 2 cups. This is about equal to 4 containers of store-bought Play-Doh. I haven't tried it yet, but you may be able to halve the recipe with good results.

-This dough is completely safe for children in case they decide to take a taste (unless they have food allergies, in which every case is different).

-Try gifting homemade playdough for your kids' birthday party favors or sending to school with them for their classmates.