10 Homemade Play-dough Recipes

Have you ever tried a new play-dough recipe? Was it everything you hoped it would be or was it an experience you never want to repeat?

I have tried lots and lots of different play-dough recipes and been disappointed many times, I have also tried a few that were AWESOME. The problem is I can never remember which recipes worked and which turned out to be a horrible mess. I also never know how much play-dough a recipe is going to make or how long it is going to last...it is all a HUGE guessing game. 

We LOVE play-dough at our house...it's my 4 year old's favorite activity and I enjoy it too so we have played this guessing game a lot. About a year ago I thought I'd found the perfect play-dough recipe online but when I made it I was very disappointed...it made a ton of play-dough and it was a crumbly mess. I decided I wasn't going to play this guessing game anymore. I decided to devote an entire day to making and playing with play-dough and recording info about each recipe.  

What We Did- Our play-dough day

(Pretty much we had a HUGE play-dough day!)

1- We made all 10 of my play-dough recipes the same day  (I followed directions exactly)

2- We played with each play-dough and wrote down what we thought about it

3- Measured how much play-dough the recipe made (We measured using store bought play-dough containers)

4- Took pictures of each recipe

5- Stored each recipe in plastic Ziploc bags

6- Played with each play-dough at 3 weeks, 2 months, 6 months and 9 months after making it and took notes.

What We Wanted to Know

1- If we liked the recipe or not (Trash it or Keep it?)

2- How much play-dough the recipe made

3- How long it lasted/stayed good

Recipes & Results
**Over the years we have tried some fun edible play-dough's.  They are fun but typically a one day play-dough. They don't last long and usually end up getting eaten so we didn't experiment with any edible play-dough's. 

Recipe #1 (Best Play-dough)

Ingredients

1 C Flour

1 C Water

1/4 C Salt

1 T Vegetable Oil

2 t Cream of Tarter

Food Coloring (4 drops)

Sauce Pan and Wooden Spoon

Directions (Cook all ingredients over stove)

1- Pour all ingredients (order does not matter) into sauce pan.

2- Stir until everything is mixed well.

3- Once the mixture is mostly clump free heat over medium heat.

4- Stir and keep stirring, after a few minutes it will start to clump up.

5- Stir until one big clump is formed and remove from heat.

6- Knead by hand.

Keep or Trash?: Keep! This was by far my favorite recipe, it's just like store bought play-dough! It isn't too sticky/oily and doesn't leave a residue on hands or surface.

How Long it Lasted: 9+ months (We still have it) At 6 months this play-dough was just like it was when we made it, at 9 months it was starting to crystallize a tiny bit but still great to play with.

How Much it Made: 2 1/4 containers

Recipe #2 (Great Play-dough)

Ingredients

3 C Flour
1 C Salt
6 t Cream of Tarter
3 t Oil
3 C Water
Food Coloring

Directions (Cook all ingredients over stove)
1- Pour all ingredients (order does not matter) into sauce pan.

2- Stir until everything is mixed well.

3- Once the mixture is mostly clump free heat over medium heat.

4- Stir and keep stirring, after a few minutes it will start to clump up.

5- Stir until one big clump is formed and remove from heat.

6- Knead by hand.

Keep or Trash: Keep! This is a good play-dough and makes a ton. It does leave a very slight white residue on hands and surface.

How Long it Lasted: 9+ months. At 6 months it crystallized slightly, by 9 months it was a little dry but still good to play with.

How Much it Made: 6 containers

Recipe #3 (Good Play-dough)

Ingredients

2 C Flour
1 C Salt
4 t Cream of Tarter or Alum
2 C Water
2 T Oil
Food Coloring

Directions (Heat water over stove then mix in large bowl)
1- Mix dry ingredients
2- Boil water and oil
3- Mix all together in large bowl
4- Knead

Keep or Trash: Keep! This was a great recipe but did become sticky overtime.
How Long it Lasted: 9+ months.  This recipe became sticky at 6 months but it was still okay to play with...just a little messy.
How Much it Made: 4 Containers

Recipe #4 (Kool-aid Play-dough)

Ingredients
1 C Flour
1/2 C Salt
3 t Oil
1 Small Package of Kool-aid (any flavor)
1 C boiling water

Directions (Heat water over stove then mix in large bowl)
1- Mix dry ingredients
2- Add oil and boiling water
3- Stir
4- Knead on waxed paper

Keep or Trash: Keep! This smells really good for the first week but then the smell wears off. It also stores well without having to be refrigerated.
How Long it Lasted: 9 + months. After about 3 months it is a little sticky and leaves a slight white residue but is still great to play with.
How Much it Made: 2 1/4 Container

Recipe #5 (Jello Play-dough)

Ingredients
1 C Flour
1 C Warm Water
2 t Salt
2 t Cream of Tarter
2 t Oil
1 Packet (3 oz) Jello (any flavor)

Directions (Cook all ingredients over stove)
1- Pour all ingredients (order does not matter) into sauce pan.

2- Stir until everything is mixed well.

3- Once the mixture is mostly clump free heat over medium heat.

4- Stir and keep stirring, after a few minutes it will start to clump up.

5- Stir until one big clump is formed and remove from heat.

6- Knead by hand.

Keep or Trash: Keep. This was a good one time play-dough although it doesn't last long.
How Long it Lasted: At 2 weeks it had become really sticky.
How Much it Made: 2 1/2 Containers

Recipe #6

Ingredients
1/4 C Salt
1 C Flour
1/4 C Water

Directions (No cook, just mix in bowl)
Mix with hands in bowl, knead.

Keep or Trash: Trash, it worked but was not a very good play-dough.
How Long it Lasted: At 3 weeks it was a little watery, at 2 months the oil had surfaced and it was very sticky.
How Much it Made: 1 1/2 Containers

Recipe #7 (Baking Soda Play-dough)

Ingredients

1 C Baking Soda
1/2 C Corn Startch
3/4 C Water

Directions (Cook all ingredients over stove)
1- Pour all ingredients (order does not matter) into sauce pan.

2- Stir until everything is mixed well.

3- Once the mixture is mostly clump free heat over medium heat.

4- Stir and keep stirring, after a few minutes it will start to clump up.

5- Stir until one big clump is formed and remove from heat.

6- Knead by hand.

Keep or Trash: Trash. This could be a good alternative to flour recipes, but it's not a great play-dough.
 How Long it Lasted: 3 Weeks. At 2 Months it had separated and was not good to play with.
How Much it Made: 1 1/2 Containers

Recipe #8 

Ingredients
2 C boiling water
2 T oil
1/4 C Salt
2 C Flour
2 T Cream of Tarter or Alum

Directions (Heat water over oven then mix in large bowl)
1- Boil Water and Oil
2- Mix all ingredients in large bowl
3- Knead

Keep or Trash: Trash. This would be an alright one timer but I won't be making it again.
How Long it Lasted: Molded in 3 weeks.
How Much it Made: 3 1/2 Container

Recipe #9 (Crumbly No-Cook Play-dough)

Ingredients
3 C Flour
1 C Cold Water
1 C Salt
2 t Oil
Food Coloring

Directions (No Cook, mix ingredients in large bowl)
Mix with hands in bowl, knead.

Keep or Trash: Trash, way to crumbly.
How Long it Lasted: This was really crumbly in the beginning but we held on to it for 2 months to see if it got better. At 2 months the oil came to the surface and it was sticky but still crumbled like crazy.
How Much it Made: 4 Containers

Recipe # 10 

Ingredients
2 C Flour
2 C Water
4 t Cream of Tarter
2 T Oil
1 t salt
Food Coloring

Directions (Cook all ingredients over stove)
1- Pour all ingredients (order does not matter) into sauce pan.

2- Stir until everything is mixed well.

3- Once the mixture is mostly clump free heat over medium heat.

4- Stir and keep stirring, after a few minutes it will start to clump up.

5- Stir until one big clump is formed and remove from heat.

6- Knead by hand.

Keep or Trash: Trash, Molded in 4 days.
How Long it Lasted: 4 days. This play-dough was fine (sticky) for a one-time use but did not store well at all.
How Much it Made: 3 Containers

Secrets to Making Great Play-dough

I learned a few things from this experiment::
~Cream of Tarter really helps the dough stay together.

~Don't add a lot of salt...it dries the dough out.

~Their are all sorts of ways to make play-dough: Cooking it over the stove: adding hot water to the dry ingredients and no-cook recipes. If you are looking for a store bought like play-dough that stays together well and doesn't have visible grains of salt you are most likely going to use a recipe that requires cooking it over the stove. Others are easier to make but don't turn out as well.
~Play-dough is best stored in plastic Ziploc bags that seal well. We experimented with storing it in containers and plastic bags and the play-dough in the bags stayed better longer...it didn't dry out as fast.

Wondering what to do with your play-dough now that you have a great recipe? Click the link below for some fun play-dough activities.

Fun Play-dough Activities

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