Bring a smile to your child’s face by creating your very own homemade playdough. As well as the basic playdough recipe, we also have scented, no-cook, microwave, keepsake, and silky options.

Smoosh it, mould it and roll it – you can create wild and wacky shapes with playdough that you and your kids made yourselves!

Playdough making tips

• Add the food colouring to the playdough and knead on a plastic board if you don’t want to turn your wooden chopping board a funny colour!
• Wrap the playdough up well after your child has finished playing with it in a ziplock bag (with all the air squeezed out) and then pop it in an airtight plastic box. This way, it’ll stay fresh for another day.

Traditional playdough recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup cooking salt
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1 tbs of cream of tartar
• food colouring

Method:

1. Mix the flour, water, salt and cream of tartar in a saucepan over medium heat until thick.
2. Allow the mixture to cool and then add the oil and knead well over a floured cutting board or similar.
3. Divide this blob evenly into as many colours as you’d like to make.
4. Add food colouring to each ball until it is just the colour your child is looking for.
5. That’s it!
6. Allow the children to let their imaginations go wild.

Apple-scented playdough recipe

This simple playdough recipe is made with apple-scented shampoo and smells like yummy apples. It only takes about three minutes to make up a batch.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (150g) plain flour
• 1/2 cup (115g) salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup (180ml) water
• 2  1/2 tbsp (50ml) apple fragranced shampoo
• red or green food colouring

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the flour, salt and cream of tartar. Pour in the water, oil and shampoo
2. Add a couple of drops of your chosen food colouring and whisk in.
3. Place over a medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the mixture forms a ball.
4. Turn out onto a clean surface and leave to cool for a few minutes. Knead until you have a smooth ball. Store in a resealable bag or closed container in the fridge.

Notes:

• Apple scented shampoo is readily available in the supermarket.
• Whisking the ingredients together before they go over the heat is essential in this recipe.
• You can keep playdough in the fridge to prolong shelf life.

No-cook playdough recipe

Making playdough without cooking is an easy and fun way to entertain the kids. Children will love to squish, squash and get creative with this childhood favourite, while you’ll enjoy the no-cook factor!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salt
• 3 cups plain flour
• 60ml (1 tbsp) vegetable oil
• food colouring
• 250ml (1 cup) water

Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients and add oil.
2. Add the food colouring to water.
3. Slowly add the water until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Kneading will help to improve the texture, so let your kids get into it!

Notes:

• Roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to make decorations. Use a straw to make a hole for hanging and then thread the air-dried shapes on to pretty ribbon or string to make a colourful garland.

Microwave playdough recipe

Here is a simple microwave playdough recipe. Just add different food colours and you’ll have a variety of different doughs for hours of hands-on creative play.

Ingredients:

• food colouring
• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 60ml (1 tbsp) oil
• 1 cup table salt
• 1 tbsp cream of tartar
• 2 cups plain flour

Method:

1. Add the food colouring to the water before mixing.
2. Mix all ingredients well in a large microwave-safe container that has a lid. The dough will cook in different microwaves to varying degrees, so you’ll have to check it regularly throughout the process to be sure you don’t overcook it and make it go crumbly.
3. Start on 50% power for 3 minutes.
4. Stir and continue for another 2 minutes.
5. It should congeal in a fairly gluey lump.
6. When it looks like it’s come together enough, turn it out onto a floured surface and wait for it to cool a bit.
7. Knead it until it becomes smooth and silky and easy to work.

Notes:

• The large amount of salt is mainly to ensure your playdough lasts – it acts as a preservative to stop it going mouldy.

Keepsake playdough recipe

Kids adore playdough: it bends to their will, and they can create any shapes they want. This playdough recipe dries hard so it’s great for older kids who want to create a permanent keepsake from their creations.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cornflour
• 2 cups baking soda
• 310ml (1 1/4 cups) water

Method

1. Put all the ingredients into a large non-stick saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the mixture thickens.
2. Once it has thickened, turn it out onto a work bench (wait for it to cool a bit first) and knead it until it becomes smooth and supple.
3. Form the dough into shapes and creations, then allow them to dry in the air.
4. Once the models are hard, you can paint them.

Notes:

• You can make things like gingerbread men, photo frames, brooches, food for tea parties, and so much more.
• When painting your creations, use acrylic paints finished off with varnish to seal the model and stop it rotting. Or you can use enamel paints, but they take longer to dry and aren’t washable, so will stain clothes.

Silky playdough recipe

Everyone loves playing with playdough! This recipe gives you silky smooth playdough for your own creations time after time. Remember to wrap it up after use and it will keep for a long time.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 180ml (3 tbsp) oil
• 500ml (2 cups) boiling water
• food colouring

Method:

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add the oil, mixing to form rough breadcrumbs.
3. Next, add the boiling water and, once combined, knead the ingredients on a clean surface until they form the silky dough.
4. Set aside the dough and cover your clean workbench with cling wrap.
5. Divide the silky dough into even portions for colouring.
6. Add 1/2 tsp food colouring at a time –increasing the quantity if needed to make a vibrant, richer colour.
7. Wearing gloves, knead the colouring into the dough.
8. Use straightaway or put in the fridge for later.

Notes:

• Be careful. As the boiling water increases the temperature of the dough and can be too hot to hold at times, you may want to use a utensil to do the initial mix.
• If the dough is too sticky when kneading, add a little flour. If it is too dry, add a little water. These amounts must be minimal additions as it’s best not to upset the balance between ingredient quantities.
• It is not absolutely necessary to wear gloves; most food colouring washes off with hot, soapy water.
• Store in cling wrap, resealable bags or an airtight container.

More playdough recipes and activities:

• Sweet-smelling glitter playdough recipe
• Salt playdough recipe
• Christmas playdough recipe