Playdough recipe?

[ovandyke]

I just googled to find a recipe for playdough and I am OVERWHELMED. There are so many out there and while they seem similar I am having a hard time choosing. Anyone have a foolproof recipe they love? And any suggestions for food coloring... does it stain once in the dough? Are there natural alternatives? Hope this is the right forum to post this question to.
TIA
Liv

[zansmama]

I am interested too, especially to find one that is not full of salt.
(sorry i don't have a suggestion)

[alllyssa]

I have a Kool-Aid recipe that I love to make with my kids and they love to play with it. It smells SO good (but tastes disgusting, just in case your kids ask :-) The color fades over time, but it stays soft forever - at least 6 months to a year if you keep it in tupperware type bowl with a lid. You can mix "flavors" to get different colors or double the Kool-Aid to get a brighter color if you want.

Here's the recipe:

2.5 C. flour
1/2 C. salt
2 pkg. Kool-Aid
3 Tbsp. oil
2. C. boiling water

Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Dump it out onto a floured table top and kneed it like bread dough, adding as much additional flour as you need to make it not too sticky.

Have fun!
Alyssa

[ovandyke]

Alyssa,
Thanks! We made purple/grape today and it is awesome. One note for anyone reading, I halved the batch (except the kool-aid-- still used 2 packets) and it made what I would say is alot of dough (certainly more than a traditional playdough container full). Thanks again!
Liv

[Little_Ladybug]

I am going to try this tomorrow!

[wannabe]

Zansmama, the salt is a preservative (to keep mould from growing), and an eating inhibitor - because it tastes foul they shouldn't eat it.

My recipe has equal quantitites of salt, rice and corn flour.

[oregongirlie]

The ones with high ammts of cream of tartar are wonderful. If you can get cream of tartar in bulk, it makes it affordable.

[daffodillysun]

We just made this....

We just made playdough today! here is our recipe:

1 cup water
6-10 drops food coloring (does not stain, once mixed)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbs Cream of Tarter
1 TBS vegetable oil (use cheap, unhealthy kind, won't go rancid and smell bad)

Mix water, oil, and food coloring in a saucepan over med. heat. Add combined remaining ingredients and stir stir stir till it forms a ball. Turn out on a piece of waxed paper to cool a bit. Knead till smoooooth.

We store ours in ziploc bags and it keeps a long time.

Jada

[zansmama]

The problem for me with the salt is that ds has pretty sensitive skin, so his hands get super dry after a few minutes. I guess I 'd rather that he ate a little bit than have sore hands.

[isaberg]

Originally Posted by zansmama

The problem for me with the salt is that ds has pretty sensitive skin, so his hands get super dry after a few minutes. I guess I 'd rather that he ate a little bit than have sore hands.

And there are some recipes out there with incredibly high salt contents, and man do they sting. The other drawback I've found is that because salt soaks up moisture from the air, you need some to keep the dough soft, but if you have too much then the dough turns to mush if left out on a humid day.

The best play-doughs I've played with have been actually cooked on the stove, and it seems they haven't been too salty. But I still haven't made one myself that I really like, cooked or no.

[Mel L]

Here is mine, but it is pretty salty! It does make quite a bit of dough though. I guess you could half it pretty easily.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons salad/veggie oil
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

Optional: add a few drops of food coloring with the last 4 ingredients

Mix dry ingredients together and then add the last 4 ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture forms a ball and is not sticky. Remove from heat. Turn out ball and knead until smooth. Place playdough in airtight bag or container until needed. We keep ours in glad rounds.

[SaraMama]

Originally Posted by alllyssa

Here's the recipe:

2.5 C. flour
1/2 C. salt
2 pkg. Kool-Aid
3 Tbsp. oil
2. C. boiling water

Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Dump it out onto a floured table top and kneed it like bread dough, adding as much additional flour as you need to make it not too sticky.

Have fun!
Alyssa

We made playdoh from this recipe today and it turned out great! I put it in leftover plastic sour cream/cottage cheese containers when we were done playing. I'm interested to see how it holds up over time.

Thanks for the recipe, Alyssa!

[RAF]

Does anyone know if it would be okay to use tempura paint instead of food coloring? Thanks

[Mamatoto2]

Back when I worked in preschools they had a recipe using tempra paint (and dish soap) that made great playdoh. My favorite is an uncooked kool-ade recipe similar to the one posted (proportions are a bit different, but basically the same). I recently made a gluten-free recipe that was cooked (you'll find it if you Google gluten free playdoh recipe). It was too sticky the first day, but a few days later, the consistency was exactly the same as my playdoh one (I used kool-ade rather than the food coloring called for).