Playdough From Scratch, Just Because

All three of my children attended the pre-school co-op Parents Nursery School in Palo Alto.  One of the greatest gifts we received from PNS was the recipe for making our very own playdough at home.  It is surprisingly easy and can save you a lot of money, assuming you have a child who likes playdough!  Added bonus: Playdough is the perfect homemade gift and makes for a useful, functional item for a party goodie bag.  Throw in a few cookie cutters and you're good to go.

Materials: 

1 cup flour

1 cup water

2 tsp. cream of tartar (Note: this is sold in the spice section and can be very expensive. If you have access to a grocery store that sells bulk items, I suggest you buy it from them).

1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

liquid water color or food coloring (Note: you can make really amazing, vibrant playdough with liquid water color. The best resource for buying is online at Discount School Supply. I used regular blue food coloring in the sample pictures).

Cooking pot 
Whisk and/or silicone spoon
Cutting board or cool counter surface

Materials for playdough.

Combine your wet and dry ingredients before you place the pot on the stove top.  It will help to keep the color more consistent in your final product and the heat will make the dough clumpy if you don't pre-whisk/stir. I suggest using a whisk but a spoon will work.

Whisking the wet and dry ingredients will keep the color consistent and won't cause the dough to clump.

Place your pot on the stove top on medium heat.  You need to stir constantly so your dough doesn't burn. You will immediately notice that it is thickening.  Stir and blend for 2 minutes until the dough has thickened. Immediately remove the dough from the pot so it stops "cooking".  I suggest plopping it on the counter or a cutting board so it can start to cool.

Dough before it cools.

While the dough is still warm, using your hands, knead it to make sure that there are no lumps and that it is smooth.  Lumps occur when the dough is over cooked or burned.  

This recipe will make approximately the equivalent to two containers of store bought play-doh.

The dough will immediately be ready for play!

If giving play dough as a gift, package in a sealed bag to ensure freshness.  If you are storing at home, make sure that you store the dough in a sealed plastic bag or in a container with a lid.  Enjoy!

Ready for play or gift giving