Homemade playdough is fun for young kids, simple, easy to make, and inexpensive! Our homemade playdough recipes below are easily customized to suit your kids’ interests, seasonal themes, or holidays.
Best Playdough Recipe To Try!
If you’re a preschool teacher, work with young kids, or simply want to make playdough to enjoy at home… I have an awesome collection of homemade playdough recipes your kiddos will love, including a reader favorite, no-cook playdough!
Make sure to look for the free printable playdough mats sprinkled throughout, and you are absolutely going to want our Playdough Recipe Pack filled with recipes, instructions, and exclusive playdough activity mats that also include hands-on learning!
No Cook Playdough Recipe Video:
Homemade Playdough Recipes
We have so many great playdough recipe ideas that you’ll need to start a list to try them all! Each link below will take you to a homemade playdough recipe with full instructions and pictures. Some recipes share a short video, too!
Download this free playdough activity mat to extend the fun of your playdough-making session. Print and laminate for a fun playdough activity anytime. Or check out more free printable playdough mats here.
Lemon Scented Dough
Perfect for spring or summer themes, this soft and squishy lemon dough is made from just 2 ingredients, cornstarch and conditioner. With a bright yellow color and fun lemon buttons, this easy play dough recipe becomes a playful lemon-themed experience.
WHITE PLAYDOUGH
White playdough is a blank canvas for creativity, offering a neutral base that kids can transform with colors, textures, and add-ons. This smooth, bright white playdough is easy to make and perfect for winter-themed crafts, pretend baking or imaginative play.
BLACK PLAYDOUGH
Get ready to mix up some magic with homemade black playdough—perfect for winter creativity or adding a dramatic touch to sensory play! This easy recipe creates a rich, velvety texture that’s as fun to make as it is to play with!
CHOCOLATE PLAYDOUGH
The classic homemade playdough recipe with a delicious-smelling twist. Chocolate playdough is a fantastic base for seasonal sensory play or a brown playdough substitute.
PEPPERMINT PLAYDOUGH
Awaken the senses with the fresh scent of mint! This peppermint playdough starts with our classic homemade playdough base. Add a bit of color and scent for a fantastic sensory experience.
CINNAMON PLAYDOUGH
Who doesn’t love this classic scent of the fall season? Mix up your playdough-making sessions with fun holiday smells and themes like this easy-to-make cinnamon playdough!
CRAYON PLAYDOUGH
This clever playdough recipe, with such a fun theme, uses your favorite colors. It’s perfect to pair with the books The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt or Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.
STRAWBERRY PLAYDOUGH
It smells so good you could almost eat it! This fun pink playdough has just 2 ingredients and is an easy no-cook playdough recipe to try. While it is taste-safe, we never recommend eating it as a snack!
KOOL-AID PLAYDOUGH
Make fruity-scented Kool-aid playdough the kids will love using our traditional cooked playdough recipe and a special ingredient! You guessed it, Kool-aid packets! Watch the video too!
COOKED PLAYDOUGH RECIPE
This is a classic playdough recipe you must cook on the stove, but it usually yields the best results with playdough fans (your kids). It also lasts quite a while if stored properly and kept clean. Adding your favorite scents and colors to this recipe is so easy!
NO COOK PLAYDOUGH RECIPE
Although you do still need very warm water to make this playdough, this easy playdough recipe does not require you to cook it on the stove! If you don’t have access to a stove or don’t want the kids gathered around the cook top, this is the way to go! Watch the video!
CORNSTARCH PLAYDOUGH
This super-soft playdough recipe is slightly different from the first two playdough recipes. However, it does give a nice texture for variety in playdough play and is worth trying! Only 2 ingredients make this homemade playdough easy to whip up and fun for kids to help with too. Watch the video!
FAIRY DOUGH
Make this lovely and soft fairy dough with sparkly fairy dust—a fun version of our 2 ingredient cornstarch and conditioner recipe. Watch the video!
FOAM DOUGH
Just 2 ingredients make this super soft and squishy foam playdough for kids. Grab the free rainbow playdough mat, make a rainbow of colors, and watch the video!
GLOW IN THE DARK PLAYDOUGH
Try this fun playdough recipe with glow-in-the-dark pigment. Kids will love it! It’s a simple no cook playdough with a fun twist.
JELLO PLAYDOUGH
A fun fruit-scented homemade playdough with Jello. Easy to make and great to play with!
POWDERED SUGAR PLAYDOUGH
Playdough that’s edible and smells amazing? You bet! This powdered sugar playdough with only 2 ingredients couldn’t be easier, and the kids can easily help you mix up a batch or two! Watch the video!
GINGERBREAD PLAYDOUGH
Gingerbread spice is a fantastic scent to add to any classic playdough recipe. Our gingerbread playdough is perfect for fall and winter sensory play!
PEEPS PLAYDOUGH
A super easy three ingredient taste-safe homemade playdough!
ALSO CHECK OUT: Easter Peeps Playdough
PUMPKIN PIE PLAYDOUGH
Here’s a fun fall twist on our homemade playdough recipe. Make pumpkin pie playdough with playdough activity suggestions included! You can easily add fun scents to this one!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Apple Scented Playdough Recipe
DIY AIR DRY CLAY
While not quite playdough, this easy to make air dry clay recipe is a fun alternative for kids to get creative!
SALT DOUGH RECIPE
Another fun alternative to playdough for creating unique crafts and keepsakes is our homemade salt dough recipe! You can even make cinnamon salt dough [here].
Homemade Playdough Tips
💡PLAYDOUGH TEXTURE TIP: With the no-cook and cooked playdough recipes, you can experiment with the amount of cream of tartar you add. Less makes for softer playdough, and more makes for firmer playdough. This might be a fun activity to set up as a science experiment for older kids!
💡COLOR MIXING TIP: If you want to make one big batch of playdough and turn it into a few different colors, you can do that too. It takes good finger strength to knead in the colors, but it works!
For less messy hands, place both playdough pieces in two separate sealed plastic bags and knead to distribute the color. This can turn the activity into a surprise color-mixing activity. Disposable gloves can help reduce the temporary staining on the hands.
How Long Does Homemade Playdough Last?
Most homemade playdough recipes will last a few weeks or more if stored correctly.
Of course, this also depends on your kiddos’ play habits and the exact recipe. You will notice when it’s time to make a new batch.
Generally, the longest-lasting recipes contain a preservative such as salt to retain freshness. Other recipes like our super-soft playdough will only last a short time but also make excellent sensory play activities.
Store your classic or no-cook playdough in the fridge to increase its longevity, but let it cool down before placing it in your container or zip-top bag.
Our soft playdough recipe can also be stored in an airtight container without refrigeration. However, this homemade playdough will not last as long!
How To Make Playdough Without Cream Of Tartar
💡 HINT: Yes, you can make playdough without cream of tartar! But I don’t think you will enjoy the consistency as much as if it were a bit more crumbly!
CREAM OF TARTAR SUBSTITUTE
You can substitute lemon juice for the cream of tartar. Subtract 1/4 cup of water and add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to either of our cooked playdough or no-cook playdough recipes!
If you don’t want to use either cream of tartar or lemon juice and don’t want to go through the more involved cooking process of making playdough, then you should try our Cornstarch Playdough recipe!
Playdough Play Ideas
Introduce one of these quick ideas when you grab the playdough container!
Printmaking with Nature or Everyday Objects: Grab nature finds or household items like bottle caps or toy cars to create unique imprints in your playdough creations.
Infuse Fun Scents with Kool-Aid: Add a delightful twist by incorporating Kool-Aid packets to infuse your playdough with exciting scents. It’s a sensory delight for the little ones!
Set Up an Exploration Table: Transform your play space into an exploration table, providing various tools and materials to enhance the playdough experience.
Dino Dig Adventure: Excite budding paleontologists by hiding mini plastic dinosaurs within the playdough. It’s a thrilling dino dig adventure waiting to happen!
Create an Underwater Ocean Scene: Dive deep into creativity by crafting an underwater ocean scene. Use playdough to shape marine life and bring the ocean to life!
Play with Shapes: Incorporate cookie cutters or other shape-making tools into your playdough playtime to develop fine motor skills and shape recognition.
Add Kitchen Utensils for Mark Making: Raid the kitchen for utensils! Incorporate forks, knives, or even pastry cutters for unique mark-making and texture exploration.
Additional Free Printable Playdough Mats
You can find all our printable playdough mats here or some of our favorites…
More Fun Sensory Recipes To Make
We have a few more recipes that are all-time favorites! Easy to make, only a few ingredients and young kids love them for sensory play! See all our sensory play ideas here!
7 Comments
Comments are closed.