This easy playdough recipe will be added to your favorite recipes collection the very first time you make it. It takes minutes to pull together, calls for ingredients that you already have at home, and it lasts for months!
The very best part? It has a secret ingredient that will give the playdough a fantastic scent and color!
So break out your saucepan, grab your kids for this fun activity, and see how many different colors and scents you can come up with!
Listen, I’ve made A LOT of different recipes in the past for playdough. Some turn out just ‘okay’, others crack and dry out way too soon, and others just don’t set up at all.
Time and time again I keep going back to this tried and true recipe. You just simply can’t beat it.
I can say with confidence that this is THE BEST playdough recipe that you will ever make. My family has made this recipe for years – it has been perfected, loved, passed around.. And now I want to share it with you on how exactly you can make this soft playdough today.
Read below to see why this homemade play dough recipe is simply the best of the best.
It holds together perfectly and doesn’t crack, split, or crumble
Grab this DIY play dough out of the closet after it’s been sitting for 2 weeks and it will still work perfectly for little hands, just as it does when you first make it.
It has a great consistency and stretch so you never have to deal with any annoying cracking or breaking apart.
A cost effective recipe
Store-bought playdough can get expensive, especially when you want to get all different colors.. (because of course!)
But what if you didn’t have to worry about the ACTUAL playdough?? What if you had that covered, so all you needed to worry about was all the fun playdough tools to buy??
That is exactly what you can do.
To make this recipe, it cost me under a dollar to make. Seriously!
This edible playdough recipe has common ingredients that you most likely already have at home!
It last a LONG TIME and smells so good
As long as you store the playdough in an airtight container, it will keep for months. Just check it every so often to make sure it hasn’t dried out and you’re good to go.
This easy recipe calls for one kool aid packet that will not only color it, but also give it a fun scent!
It smells so good – good luck on keeping your kids from tasting it. 😉 But just in case they do, that leads me to my next point:
There are no weird chemical ingredients
Everything included in this homemade play dough is completely safe and non toxic for young children to enjoy.
If your child ends up trying it, don’t feel bad. My three year old ALWAYS tries it and then quickly remembers why he doesn’t like it with the amount of salt in it. LOL
What Ingredients Are Needed for Kool-Aid Playdough?
All purpose flour
Nothing special here, just any flour you have on hand at home will do.
Salt
Same as above – grab a cheap container of Morton’s salt at the grocery store to use in this recipe.
Cream of Tartar – Don’t Skip!!!
Cream of tartar is a very important ingredient to include because it helps the play dough have a gel-like form. If you omit this ingredient, it may not set up correctly.
Water
Didn’t I say this recipe would be simple? 😉
Oil
Any oil for kitchen use will be great. I use rendered beef tallow for mine, but that is just because it is what I have on hand at home. Vegetable oil, olive oil, canola, or coconut oil are all great options… really any cooking oil!
And the star of the show: Kool aid!
Each batch of play dough needs one packet of unsweetened Kool aid. Encourage your child to have fun with this! Pick out all different types of kool aid flavors and make several batches to see what colors and scents each one will have.
Supplies Needed to Make This DIY Playdough Recipe
Medium saucepan (non-stick is best)
Check out the saucepan set I use here. It is toxin-free so none of the bad stuff seep into our foods and they are completely non-stick – we love them!
Spatula or other mixing utensil
Air-tight container or sealable plastic bag
Cookie cutters, mini rolling pin, other cool playdough tools…
I guess this one isn’t REQUIRED, but it definitely makes this sensory play a lot more fun. 🙂
How to Make the Best Homemade Playdough Recipe
Ingredients
1 Cup of Flour
½ Cup of Salt
1 Packet of Unsweetened Kool-aid
2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 ½ Tablespoons of Oil (Vegetable, Canola, Coconut, etc.)
1 Cup of Water
Directions
Measure out the dry ingredients and place in a saucepan. Add the water and oil to the rest of the mixture.
Stir using a spatula or wooden spoon and heat up the mixture over medium heat while stirring constantly. (VERY IMPORTANT so playdough won’t burn.)
It will start to thicken very quickly. Keep stirring as the playdough thickens and pull off the heat once it forms into a ball. This will all happen within 3-5 minutes.
Don’t worry about a few places that may look ‘underdone’, or any lumps of flour left. You’re going to knead all that out here in a minute.
Place fresh playdough on some parchment paper or on a countertop to cool down for a minute. Once it is a bit cooler, go ahead and knead it for a few minutes to remove any lumps.
Now it’s ready for all the fun projects your child has in mind! Store in an air-tight container or ziploc bag to keep it from drying out. This should keep for at least a month, if not longer.
Make additional batches using different Kool aid flavors to add more colors to your collection.
Easy SCENTED Playdough (The Best Homemade Recipe)
This easy playdough recipe will be added to your favorite recipes collection the very first time you make it. It takes minutes to pull together, calls for ingredients that you already have at home, and it lasts for months!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Flour
- ½ Cup of Salt
- 1 Packet of Unsweetened Kool-aid
- 2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons of Oil (Vegetable, Canola, Coconut, etc.)
- 1 Cup of Water
Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly so the playdough doesn't burn.
3. It will start to thicken very quickly. Keep stirring as the playdough thickens and pull off the heat once it forms into a ball. This will all happen within 3-5 minutes.
4. Don’t worry about a few places that may look ‘underdone’, or any lumps of flour left. You’re going to knead all that out here in a minute.
5. Place fresh playdough on a dry surface to cool down for a minute. Once it is a bit cooler, go ahead and knead it for a few minutes to remove any lumps.
6. Store in airtight container.
FAQS
Will this playdough stain hands or surfaces?
While I always recommend placing a vinyl tablecloth down on the surface your child is playing on, I have never seen this recipe stain any surface or hands.
Can I make one huge batch of the playdough?
If you are doing all one color of playdough then absolutely! If you are wanting different colors though, you’ll need to do each batch separately. The good thing is that each batch only takes a few minutes to whip up!
What if my batch of playdough came out dry?
If your batch of playdough came out on the drier side, it was probably cooked for a little too long. You want to pull it off the heat just after it forms a ball, and it may still look ‘underdone’ in some places. That’s okay! It will all be kneaded together after it cools down a bit.
Final Thoughts
This scented DIY playdough recipe has been perfected and passed down in my family for many years. It takes a maximum of 10 minutes to make (start to finish), costs under a dollar per batch, and has a perfect stretch so it never cracks or crumbles.
This fun activity is great for rainy days, to make for preschool class, or add some fun sensory play at home for your kids.
The whole process is a dream and this recipe is simply the best of the best. It will soon be your favorite homemade playdough recipe too!
Did you make the playdough recipe? Let me know in the comments below how it turned out and which kool aid flavors were your favorite!
Enjoy! 🙂 Until next time, Kara
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My favorite saucepan set that is non-stick and toxin free.
Playdough scissors and other tools.
Playdough rolling pin for kids
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