Best Homemade Playdough Recipe

I'm gonna be honest here - I love the smell of store bought Playdoh.

BUT I don't like how fast it dries out.

For years, I've made my mom's homemade playdough. This recipe is a cooked playdough and it's the best!

It is long lasting. If stored properly it will last for months.

It's NOT sticky.

It IS squishy and perfect for molding, and it doesn't dry out quickly.

It's my very favorite!

BEST HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH RECIPE 

So here's the deal. This easy playdough recipe is made with regular cooking ingredients - flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, oil and food coloring.

This is an edible playdough. That is to say, it does NOT taste good, but if your little one happens to eat a little, there's no need to freak out.

Because you know what's in it.

This is the best homemade playdough for toddlers and young children. 

When my kids get bored, I pull out the playdough and they will play for hours. Even though my younger girls are now 8 and 10, they still will pull out the playdough and create stuff all afternoon.

Their latest thing is creating layered cakes, with each layer a different color. Then they "frost it" with more playdough and cut a slice to see all the layers.

Update 1-28-25: My kids are now past the age of playing with playdough. (My youngest is 15). BUT this is still the best recipe for soft playdough!

I decided it was time for my girls to learn to make playdough themselves. It required some supervision, but they were able to do it. And you can too!

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH

Add all ingredients into a pan. (Recipe is at the end of the post.)

If you would like all the play dough to be the same color then add the food coloring at this point.

We like to make several different colors, so we add the food coloring later.

 Mix together.

 Now cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

 After a few minutes it will look like this. It's NOT done yet. Keep stirring.

When it forms a ball, I always stir an extra minute or two. If' it's under cooked it can be sticky - you don't want that.

This is what it should look like. (And don't worry about the dough that sticks to the bottom of the pan, just soak it and it will come right off)

Now let it cool a few minutes so you don't burn your hands.

Then separate the dough into sections and add food coloring.

We poke holes in the dough and add drops of food coloring in the holes.

Then squish it until it the color is uniform throughout.

My girls wanted a rainbow of colors.

Store in an airtight container - I use zip top bags.

I usually double the recipe.

I hope you try it out. I bet you'll agree that it's the best playdough recipe too.

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