Make playdough at home with tartar . Quick and easy recipe with video instructions.

Easy Way To Make Playdough At Home

I’ve finally gotten down and dirty and made homemade playdough.

And I didn’t just settle with one recipe.

I started with the easiest recipe using cream of tartar  and moved on to other easy playdough recipes the interwebs has to offer. I’ve made the following playdough so far:

I’m so happy with what I’ve done, I’ll just go right ahead and call myself a playdough guru. Ha!

Look at this — our very own playdough collection all made by moi.

A Few Things To Remember:

The first time we did this activity wasn’t very successful. The dough cracked and it very easily broke when I tried to roll it into a snake.

However, the second time, I already knew what to expect and it was a lot easier to make. (Keep reading so you don’t make the same mistakes I made)

For example, the gooey goopy texture at the very start of the process, no longer drove me into panic mode, “What is happening here? This isn’t what playdough is supposed to look like? Did I just put in a bit too much water?”

No, no sirree. Just keep stirring and it will all go well.

Also, I knead. I have accepted that kneading the dough for a few minutes or so once it cools down, greatly helps with how smooth the texture of the playdough is.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if at first you don’t succeed…

The snake Test: Will It Break Or Not?

The Easiest Way To Make Playdough At Home

I started with the basic recipe using cream of tartar. Here’s the pretty little thing – soft, smooth and very easy to handle.

I used course sea salt, thus the white dots on the dough. Great for a different texture to the playdough.

Ingredients:

To make this, you will need:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup of salt
  • 2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 3 tsp. Of oil
  • 2 cups water
  • food colouring of your choice

Instructions

  1. Turn the stove on and put a pot or pan on top of it. I start with medium heat and then turn it down to low  halfway through the cooking process.**I also, wait for the pot to get a little hot before I start with the first ingredient – Probably not a necessary process but it works well for me.**
  2. Pour in the oil and add all the dry ingredients. I start by putting the flour, salt and cream of tartar.

    ** I’ve done this a few times now and I really don’t think it matters which one you put in first. In fact, you can just pour all the dry ingredients together and it still doesn’t make any difference to the resulting playdough*
  3.  Optional: If you’re making one colored playdough, mix the water and food colouring now. Otherwise, skip this step.
  4. Add all the water into the mixture.**If you’re new to this, this is probably the time you’ll begin to panic because this doesn’t look anything like playdough at all. It’s gooey, goopy and too wet and does not look anything like playdough. **
  5. Keep mixing and stirring. After a minute or two, the water will be absorbed by the flour and the dough will slowly start to resemble what playdough should look like.
  6. Mix a little bit more until the dough is no longer very wet and forms into a ball.
  7. Take the ball of dough out of the pan and leave it to cool down for 5 – 15 minutes.
  8. When it’s cool enough to handle, knead the dough well.
  9. Adding Coloring to the Playdough: To make many different colored playdoughs, here’s what I do
  • Divide the dough into smaller doughs depending on how many colors you want to have.
  • Form the dough into a ball and then flatten it.
  • Add the food coloring in the centre
  • Fold the dough and form it back into a ball
  • Knead each ball to properly mix all the colors in.

** This kneading takes time. So If you’re in a hurry, I suggest making only one coloured playdough

How To Make Playdough Video

Here’s a short video of the whole process. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section below.

 

Looking for more playdough recipes?