Posted by Ruth Soukup | DIY | 15
Looking for a homemade DIY playdough recipe that your kids will love? This recipe is perfect for kids party gifts or a fun weekend craft project.
I wanted to come up with a small gift for the kids in my Sunday School class as well as a few other kiddos on my list, and I thought little rainbow packs of homemade playdoh would be really fun. The girls and I always enjoy making it but we usually just stick to one color (or white!)
It is really easy to make and a great way to introduce your kids to “cooking” in the kitchen, since the measurements don’t have to be that accurate, it doesn’t matter if the kids get their grubby hands all over everything, it is fairly quick, and they get to play with the results! Homemade play dough smells and feels SO much better than the store-bought stuff, and it lasts much longer without drying out. It is also completely non-toxic (except for the glitter, which you can easily skip.)
My recipe calls for coconut oil, which I think results in a slightly better texture. It also gives the unscented playdoh a pleasant mild coconut scent. The cheapest place to get it is on Amazon or Trader Joe’s. In a pinch, you can substitute vegetable or olive oil. The essential oils are fun but optional. I have found the best price is at Vitacost. (Use this link to get $10 off your first $30 purchase.)
Homemade Rainbow Sparkle Playdoh
Here is what you will need:
flour salt cream of tartar (do NOT skip this–find it in the spice section) water food coloring coconut oil assorted glitter (optional) assorted essential oils (cinnamon, sweet orange, lemon, lemongrass, peppermint, lavender) bags, ribbon, mini cookie cutters & gift tag for packaging
Start by measuring your flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, & oil into a saucepan. (Printable recipe with exact measurements is below–I quadrupled the recipe for each batch and made 6 batches total. I used about 2 1/2 jars of the cream of tartar.)
Once all 5 ingredients have been added, place on stove with the burner set to low and begin stirring. The time it takes to turn into playdoh varies, but expect it to take between 10 and 20 minutes to become solid. A bigger batch will take longer.
Once the mixture begins to thicken and look less lumpy, add the food coloring and essential oil. I tried both the liquid and the gel food coloring but found that the liquid was easier to blend into the mixture. I didn’t measure either, just kept adding color and scent until it looked and smelled good.
Keep stirring. If your kids are old/careful enough you can help them stir until it gets too thick.
Once larger lumps begin to form, you’ll know you are getting close. Keep stirring!
Towards the end, it will begin to get really thick and difficult to stir. Don’t worry if there are small lumps in the dough. It will be sticky but keep stirring.
The play dough is done when it pulls away from the sides and all sticks together in one big lump. This particular batch took about 18 minutes on the stove, but again was a quadruple batch of the recipe below. A smaller batch will take slightly less time.
Set on a silicone mat or other heat-proof surfaces to cool. If the dough seems too sticky you can knead it with a little flour.
To add sparkles, sprinkle dough generously with glitter, then knead the dough until sparkles are evenly dispersed, adding more glitter if necessary. I bought this Martha Stewart glitter pack about 2 years ago. I use it all the time, for all sorts of projects and it is still going strong!
Repeat the process for the remaining colors until you have a full rainbow of sparkly play dough goodness! To make my gifts, I made small play-doh balls of each color, packaged them in small plastic treat bags tied with jute cord, then placed them in a brown lunch bag.
I finished them off with a cute label, ribbon, and mini cookie cutter.
Other DIY Projects You’ll Love:
- DIY Lemon Sugar Scrub
- DIY Sharpie Mugs
- No Sew Super Full Tulle Skirt
PIN FOR LATER
5 from 2 votes
Homemade Rainbow Sparkle Play Dough
The prettiest, smoothest, best-smelling, and longest-lasting homemade playdoh ever!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6 packs
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 tsp cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
- 1 cup water
- 1 TBSP coconut oil
- assorted glitter (optional)
- assorted essential oils (cinnamon for red, sweet orange for orange, lemon for yellow, lemongrass for green, peppermint for blue, lavender for purple)
- •bags, ribbon, mini cookie cutters & gift tag for packaging
Instructions
Measure flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, & oil into a saucepan. You can easily double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe for a bigger batch.
Place saucepan on stove with burner set to low and begin stirring. The time it takes to turn into playdoh varies, but expect it to take between 10 and 20 minutes to become solid. A bigger batch will take longer.
Once the mixture begins to thicken and look less lumpy, add the food coloring and essential oil. It is not necessary to measure--just keep adding color and scent until it looks and smells good.
Keep stirring. If your kids are old/careful enough you can help them stir until it gets too thick. Once larger lumps begin to form, you’ll know you are getting close. Keep stirring!
Towards the end it will begin to get really thick and difficult to stir. Don’t worry if there are small lumps in the dough. It will be sticky but keep stirring. The play dough is done when it pulls away from the sides and all sticks together in one big lump.
Set on silicone mat or other heat-proof surface to cool. If dough seems too sticky you can knead it with a little flour.
To add sparkles, sprinkle dough generously with glitter, then knead dough until sparkles are evenly dispersed, adding more glitter if necessary.
Repeat process for additional colors; store in airtight container or bag.
- Bio
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Ruth Soukup
Founder at Living Well Spending Less
Ruth Soukup is dedicated to helping people everywhere create a life they love by follwing their dreams and achieving their biggest goals. She is the host of the wildly popular Do It Scared podcast, as well as the founder of Living Well Spending Less® and Elite Blog Academy®. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including Do It Scared®: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Obstacles, and Create a Life You Love, which was the inspiration for this book. She lives in Florida with her husband Chuck, and 2 daughters Maggie & Annie.
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