We made playdough! I love to make playdough. It is super soft and last quite a while stored in the fridge. I did a previous post last February with THE best Playdough Recipe. That post also tells how to make some great Playdough Placemats, helping to keep your table playdough-free.
For this playdough, I wanted to make a few different colors from the same batch. In the other playdough post, I added the food coloring during the cooking process. But this time, I added it after to make a few colored balls.
Lay out your playdough and separate it into balls. We wanted 3 colors, so we made 3 balls. On a tray lined with foil, so I don’t spill any food coloring on my counter, I made a hole in the center of one of the balls. We are making purple here, so I dropped some red and blue drops into the ball, about 4 drops each. Then get on plastic gloves, or my make-shift gloves that are plastic baggies.
Knead and squish the playdough all around. Once the food coloring is mostly mixed in, you can continue kneading the dough without the gloves. Your forearms will be nice and bulky after this! I let the kids help here and as they play, it all gets mixed together nicely. Continue to do this same process with the other colors.
We had a fun time with playdough. I say we, because I get my hands in it too. A friend gave us this great Play-doh Zoo set that gives the playdough some silly faces.
Play Dough is great for kids to play with when they are bored its fun
My 2 year old students have a play dough stand in the classroom where they can make their own play dough (I pre-measure the ingredients). I just eyeball the amounts, so play with the recipe if you need to, but make sure it’s been kneaded really well before adding more water. I find that most often it needs more flour. The recipe we use is approximately:
2 T white flour
1.5 T salt
1 T water
1 pkg unsweetened drink mix powder (optional)
It only keeps for about a week but it’s super easy and they can make it independently, which is great. Older children could measure out the ingredients, too :).
Obviously this makes a very small amount but it’s just right for two year old hands, and older children could make several different colors. It works with food coloring too, but I would put that in the water before giving out the ingredients for younger children.
where my son goes in the am they make playdough there and they make things there and they bring it home my son loves it and what are some of the things that they can make with it like animals ect
Hi Marie! You have such an amazing website. Thank you so much for taking the time to show us how easy it is to find/make time from our busy schedules and have fun with our kids (I work full-time and therefore have some major guilt). As a young child, I absolutely loved arts & crafts, cooking and just being creative. My almost 3yr old takes after Mommy in that sense. I plan to use your Playdough recipe for an activity that I am having for her upcoming birthday. A suggestion: maybe add some birthday party tips and ideas? I make my daughter’s invitations from scratch every year, but am always looking for new activities/crafts to do other than the standard games and bouncehouse. Again, thanks so much for having this site and keep up the great work!
Krisitn – Great Play-doh recipe. I’m always looking for easier ways to do things and the no-cook recipe is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing.
I have a fantastic play-doh recipe that does not have to be cooked! I keep it in zip-lock bags and it has lasted a year now!! We have also stored it in old play-doh containers.
2 1/2 cups Flour *
1/2 cup Salt (regular table salt)
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Alum ^
1 cup very hot tap water
Remove your rings and set them in a safe spot! Put all DRY ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of very hot tap water and mix together with hands. When the dough starts to form and enough to where it’s no longer gooey, I like to wash and dry my hands before kneading. Knead for about 2 minutes or until dough forms a nice smooth ball. From here you can separate and add a touch of food coloring. Putting it in zip-lock bags to mix will save your hands from getting colorful.
*All-Purpose works great, but if you are looking for color without adding any, Wheat flour will make a light brown color. I haven’t tried corn meal, but I imagine a fine ground corn meal would work good for yellow dough.
^found in baking supplies or Canning Supplies
You have a wonderful site!!!!!
I love your Playdo recipe. I need to do this with my boys more often. The characters are sooo fun. My boys like making the dough as much as playing with it afterwards. Thanks for all of your great ideas every week.!!