Best Homemade Playdough recipe?

[jenneology]

I'm looking for a good playdough recipe (without artificial dyes). My neighbor swears by the recipe she uses that calls for a Kool-aid packet, and honestly, I don't want the stuff in my house at all, even for playdough.

Which recipes do you love and use frequently? What are the tricks for making it come out great?

[greenthumb3]

Here's mine (I usually put food coloring in mine, but you could substitute with all natural dyes, like these, or omit altogether).

1 C. flour
1 C. water
1 T. oil
1 T. alum (cheaper if you buy in bulk; I find mine at Frontier Co-op)
1/2 C. salt
food coloring

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Add oil and water. Cook this on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Turn off heat, allow to cool until you can handle it. Knead it lightly on a floured surface, adding a little flour until not sticky, but pliable. Work color into dough by kneading. For fun, you could also knead in some essential oils, like peppermint or lemon, if you desire.

This is my all-time favorite dough recipe, and it keeps well in a sealed container/baggie even out of the fridge (because of the alum). It will keep for several weeks if stored in the fridge. I often double or even quadruple this recipe if we need extra for guests. I've made it for a child's gift and it was well-received.

Have fun!

[clmartin]

re play dough recipe

I like the recipe form Baby and Toddler Learning Fun by Sally Goldberg, Ph.D.
1/2cup salt, 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon salad oil, 1 cup water and food coloring (optional). Mix everything but food coloring in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until it forms a ball about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in food coloring. Cool and store in an air tight container. It takes a good amount of food coloring to get a nice deep color. The consistancy is very nice and great for using with cookie cutters. The dough lasts a long time and a little water can be added if it gets dry.
Caryn

[Dar]

Moved from Learning at Home and Beyond to Arts and Crafts...

[Kristine233]

Originally Posted by greenthumb3

Here's mine (I usually put food coloring in mine, but you could substitute with all natural dyes, like these, or omit altogether).

1 C. flour
1 C. water
1 T. oil
1 T. alum (cheaper if you buy in bulk; I find mine at Frontier Co-op)
1/2 C. salt
food coloring

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Add oil and water. Cook this on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Turn off heat, allow to cool until you can handle it. Knead it lightly on a floured surface, adding a little flour until not sticky, but pliable. Work color into dough by kneading. For fun, you could also knead in some essential oils, like peppermint or lemon, if you desire.

This is my all-time favorite dough recipe, and it keeps well in a sealed container/baggie even out of the fridge (because of the alum). It will keep for several weeks if stored in the fridge. I often double or even quadruple this recipe if we need extra for guests. I've made it for a child's gift and it was well-received.

Have fun!

I make this one for my preschool class, but with 3 changes. I simply boil water in the microwave before adding it to the dry mix. I add aprox 2 T of oil. And I use 3 packets of koolaide for the coloring. It gives it a great smell! PS: you can use cream of tartar as well instead of alum. Whichever you have on hand works great.

We always joke when I go to buy the koolaide when its on sale... I don't allow my kids to drink it yet I buy it in bulk for playdough, lol.

[Think of Winter]

Originally Posted by clmartin

I like the recipe form Baby and Toddler Learning Fun by Sally Goldberg, Ph.D.
1/2cup salt, 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon salad oil, 1 cup water and food coloring (optional).

A very similar recipe was given in the letters section of Mothering Magazine a couple of months ago. It makes really wonderful play dough. Better, more elastic texture than store-bought. I can't help with nat'l colors. We use Wilton's cake dyes. A question about nat'l dyes was posted within the last month or two. If you can find it, maybe the op has some advice by now.

[mazajo]

Originally Posted by clmartin

I like the recipe form Baby and Toddler Learning Fun by Sally Goldberg, Ph.D.
1/2cup salt, 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon salad oil, 1 cup water and food coloring (optional). Mix everything but food coloring in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until it forms a ball about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in food coloring. Cool and store in an air tight container. It takes a good amount of food coloring to get a nice deep color. The consistancy is very nice and great for using with cookie cutters. The dough lasts a long time and a little water can be added if it gets dry.
Caryn

That's the one that I recently started using. I do use Kool Aid to dye it with though. It's cheap, makes really nice bright colors, smells good, and it doesn't stain your hands like I think food coloring would. It's by far the best homemade play dough I've ever seen.

[twinergy]

I just found this http://onegoldenapple.blogspot.com/2...ood-stuff.html recipe using natural dyes. I haven't tried it yet.

[MissRubyandKen]

I've been making this one for several years now. We do use food coloring to dye it. But I also add some mint extract in as well. Smells wonderful and minty for awhile.

mix in pan-
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tsp cream of tartar
mix in food coloring as desired
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mint extract

heat over low heat, stirring constantly until dough forms a ball
after a minute plop onto table and knead while still warm, just be careful it isn't too hot! The stirring part is a bit of work, but it is worth it. I would think you could probably find a natural dye to substitute pretty easily.

[mommam]

I'm determined to make some play dough for my little guy today. I saw the natural dye link where she uses juice to make the pink/purple color and was wondering what you ladies think of using wine? That probably sounds really weird or wrong with kids, but we never have juice in the house but we do have a lot of wine (hubby sells it for a living) and I was thinking it would make some pretty pinks and purples (and we already have it). Oh, and the smell wouldn't bother me or ds - we both enjoy the smell of good wine (the only kind in the house ).

The tumeric idea from the site looks great for yellow, think I'll stick to that instead of chardonnay (though IMO play dough might be the best use of most chardonnay ).