Best Cooked Homemade Playdough Recipe

As I have shared previously, we love homemade playdough! I love experimenting with adding different sensory elements to further encourage sensory play with playdough – we’ve added different textures, scents and dyes – and each time this cooked homemade playdough recipe is our favorite starting point.

Best Cooked Homemade Playdough Recipe

And this recipe just uses regular pantry ingredients – flour, salt, water, oil and cream of tarter. The recipe you’ll find below (including an easy print option) really is the simplest, never-fail cooked playdough recipe, and I have used for years as both a parent and a kindergarten teacher.

And to this dough you can add virtually any sensory element – we’ve mixed in glitter for sparkle, homemade berry dye for color, herbal tea for scent, uncooked rice for texture and so much more, in fact for your convenience I’ve gathered together my pick of the twelve best variations of homemade playdough recipes for you to try.

When it comes to coloring homemade playdough, there are two easy options – add liquid food colouring directly to the saucepan with the other ingredients until your preferred hue is reached which is perfect for playdough of a single color, or alternatively once the dough has cooked and cooled, divide it into balls and add 1-2 drops of liquid food coloring to an indent made in the middle of each ball. Then knead until the color is fully distributed.  

Best Cooked Homemade Playdough Recipe

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Our pick of the best cooked homemade playdough recipe. We've used it hundreds of times and it's never failed!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 2 cups of water
• Liquid food coloring* see Notes for two options for dying dough

Tools

• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Large saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Chopping board

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into a large saucepan.
2. Stir over a medium heat until the mixture congeals and forms a ball, this will take approximately 3-5 minutes. Continue to turn the dough over on the heat for another 1-2 minutes once the ball has formed.
3. Remove from the heat and knead on a chopping board until the dough is smooth.

Notes

To add coloring to dough: Add liquid food coloring directly to the saucepan before cooking for a single dough color OR for multiple colors, once the dough has cooked and cooled, divide it into balls and add 1-2 drops of liquid food coloring to an indent made in the middle of each ball. Then knead until the color is fully distributed.

• Storage: Homemade playdough is best stored wrapped securely in an airtight plastic bag in a cool, dry place. It will last for 1-2 weeks if properly stored.

 For more fun with playdough, check out these learning ideas;