How to Make Play-doh - 3 Easy Ways
70What You'll Need:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup salt
- 2 tsps cream of tartar (you can substitue 1/4 tsp of lemon juice or white vinegar for each 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar. Be aware if you use vinegar, the play-doh will have a vinegar smell)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp oil
- Food coloring (blue and green are the best, but any color will work). A couple of drops will usually be enough. Too much and your hands will be bright blue for a couple of days.
There are some types of play-doh that require no cooking, but this isn't one of them. First, combine flour, salt and cream of tarter in a saucepan. Mix liquids and gradually stir them into the dry ingredients. When the mixture is smooth, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until a ball forms. Remove from heat and knead until smooth. Store in a zip-loc bag.
Kool-Aid Guy
Play-doh Made with Kool-Aid
Ingredients:
- 2 c. flour
- 2 c. water
- 1 pkg. (.17 oz.) unsweetened kool-aid mix: orange, berry, lime are best (do not use grape - it turns out sort of gray in color)
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar (you can substitue 1/4 tsp of lemon juice or white vinegar for each 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar. Be aware if you use vinegar, the play-doh will have a vinegar smell)
- 1/2 c. salt
- 2 tsp. oil
Add Kool-Aid to water in pan. Add remaining ingredients and stir together. Cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Play dough is done when color deepens and it comes together in a ball. Turn onto a plate to cool and cover tightly to store. Store in zip-loc bag.
No-Cooking-Involved Play-doh
Ingredients:
- 2 c. flour
- 1 c. salt
- 1 c. water
- 1 tsp. oil
Add water and oil to dry ingredients. Mix well. Note: This play dough will harden when air dried.
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Comments
Good question Stephanie. I've never tried either - I usually use all-purpose flour. I can't imagine the safflower oil would make a difference. Using wheat flour - my guess is that the play dough may be slightly more dense. The only real differences in the 2 flours are that Wheat flour has a smidge more fat, a little more fiber, 1 gram more of protein and no sugar vs. 1 gram of suger in AP. For play dough, I don't think it will make a huge difference. If you try it and it works, let me know and I'll update the recipe!
Thanx! I will let u know when/if I try the wheat flour.....I did just use the safflower oil tho and of course that worked fine and now my 4 yr. old daughter is having so much fun and said "wow mom u can make play doh??!!" so thnx again for posting your recipe!
I've tried a few different play dough recipe ideas but I've not tried kool aid. I'm not we can get it over here in the UK. What is it exactly?
Hi playdomum,
Kool-aid is a powdered drink mix for kids. You just add water. Comes in lots of fruity flavors. You may be able to substitute it for something similar in the UK, but that's just a guess.
Is there any substitutes for the cream of tartar?email me the answer thx!!
So, I researched this and found that you can substitute a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar for each 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar. I've never tried it, so you'll have to let me know if it works. Then I'll add it to the recipe!
do you have to use cream of tarter to make playdough???
do we have to use coloring? oh and what oil do we use? thx
Hi Chloezzzz, You don't have to use color, but not sure that would make for very beautiful play-doh - it will just look like dough. But that's your call. For oil - a vegetable or corn oil will do the trick!
Hi! I used the white vinegar instead of the cream of tartar and it came out good but with a horrible smell of the vinegar. I think it would be better to use the lemon juice for the smell. But I did not try it wiht the lemon juice.
Abigail, Thanks for your post about the vinegar. Good to know!
Thats pretty awesome with the koolaid playdoh!!:]
I love to make play doh but is the cool aid one edible
No, not edible. I mean, technically, it probably wouldn't kill you if you accidentally consumed a little of it. But the amount of salt is the problem. I know play-doh is actually deadly for animals to ingest becuase of that, so it just can't be all that good for humans either. In other words, I wouldn't bake play-doh cookies anytime soon.
does play doh need all the salt
I'm pretty sure it does. Never made it without it...
wouldn't the kool-aid play dough be sticky.
like really sticky.
because i know that wen u spill kool-aid it makes u really sticky.
and does it smell like kool-aid.
let me know plz thnx.
Amiy, Surprisingly, the Kool-Aid version is not sticky. And frankly, I cannot remember if it smells like Kool-Aid or not. Hope that helps!
do you have to use the cream of tarter or the lemon juice or vineger
Hi Hopsey. There is a recipe above called the No-Cooking-Involved Play-doh, that does not call for any of those. I have not tried to make the play-doh without at least one of those ingredients with the other recipes, so I'm not sure just how critical it is if you leave one out. But since there are so few ingredients, I would assume that each is essential for optimal play-doh.
Whats wrong with grape play-doh? Also is there any way of storing it so it won't get hard?
Thanks in advance
Uzair
I got the answer for the storing question. I looked above. Though for using the grape kool-aid what is wrong with that, purple is a fun color =). That does not come out right or something?
Please reply
Thank You
It's funny...I don't remember the reason. I honestly think I was in the store buying up a bunch of Kool-Aid once and mentioned to a lady that I was going to make play-doh with it. She said - don't use purple. I am pretty sure it had something to do with the dye - that it stayed on your hands or was hard to get out of clothes. I only remember adding it to the recipe as a 'don't'. If you decide to try purple - remind me what happens! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful on that one.
If you omit the cream of tartar the play dough doesn't turn out right. DS used it for a short time then we had to toss it (can't remember why). Kool Aid doesn't make it sticky because you don't add gobs of sugar to play dough as you do to the drink. The smell of Kool Aid does remain in the play dough for a while. My mom makes play dough every month to use at school and has never had a problem with a particular color. You can use regular food coloring or natural dyes or herbs (tumeric, cinnamon, etc) instead of Kool Aid. Kids like to mix the food coloring in to the play dough once it has cooled slightly. But be aware that some kids are allergic to food coloring.
thanks for all the great info!
hi,
ummm if you use the kool-aid one wont it stain your hands?
if you coould please respond that would be great. thanks
Anna, yes, it may stain your hands, but as long as you wash your hands quickly, it should come off. I found a link that talks about removing Kool-Aid stains from hands. Hope it's helpful: http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Kool-Aid-from-Skin
why we cant use grape kool aid
For the no cooking involved playdoh, is the little 'c' in the ingredients cups??
is it messy to make play dough? cuz i have a day care program for 4 year olds and i dont want it to be sticking all over them
i used vinegar and it came out graat with the cherry kool=aid, it still have a cherry scent to it.
Melissa, yes, the little 'c' is cups.
Kyra, No, I don't think it's very messy.
Latoya, great to know!
When ever you make it to make it colorful put in some food coloring or coolade in it.
playdoh update!i found out a shocking and interesting discovery. you dont need oil, you can use nicresto crystals! they only cost 1,000,000 dollars a piece!just kidding! you can use water! im not even sure you need salt. ill check a get back at ya!!
Salt would presumeably stop the dough from going off.
um im still 10 is it esey to do or do i need supervishen for the last one
Choloe222,
You should be able to make the no-cooking play-doh yourself as long as you have the ingredients. Just measuring, mixing and stirring. Good luck!
does it matter what type of vinegar you use?.. because i have White House apple cider vinegar
it cool making play dough i reakon
crayons, I think the vinegar you have should work fine.
the lemon juice worked fine :]
i've been trying to make good playdough for years...thanks for the recipe!
i just made the no-cooking playdoh i would highly reccomend it if u want something quick and easy to amuse kids. If u want it too last i suggest you make it the lengthy way. My kids are amused and happy and only took 5minutes so very convenient. Cannot go wrong i dont think if all doesnt turn out just let em play in the mess lol.
do u have to use koolaid or tarter
THANKS NOW IT SAVES MONEY AND EASY WELL FAST TO
i dont want te cooking parts!. do we have to use them?
I made three batches for my Sunday school class tomorrow. I just wanted to update you on the grape issue. As I said I made three batches grape purple, lemon yellow and cherry red. I really didn't see any reason why you can't make purple. At first it looked kind of lumpy like it wasn't going to mix together well. But after taking it out of the pan, throwing a little flour on it and kneeding it for about 5 minutes it looks great. It has a good smell and my hands are a little red from the heat but they look fine.
I do have to say that the lemon yellow was a little sticky. I had to add about another cup of flour to it after it came out of the pan. I would add a little, kneed it, add a little more, kneed it. It is still slightly sticky but we will see how it is in the morning.
I too had a problem with the purple play dough. It came out looking more gray then purple. I tried a second version using purple jello (sugar free) and it turned out great but a little on the sticky side even after adding a little more flour. What does the cream of tartar do to the play dough? Is it a preservative?
Hi i was wondering if we needed any tartar or lemon juice or vinager
how do i stop my play dough from being sticky, i used the hot water method rather than cooking, is that why??
I just tried the lemon juice instead of the cream of tartar and the playdough came out beautiful! I will let you know if anything different than the usual happens to it.
How much lemon juice did you put in??? The measurements up there are confusing! Do I just put in 1/4 tablespoon??
Is the non cooking recipie easy to use and non-stickey?(I need to use it for a organ in my cell project)
Gracey, You need the cream of tartar and the Kool-aid in that recipe. One does not replace the other.
Sophie Ann, there is a "no-cooking" recipe above. Try that one.
Melissa, Thanks for sharing your play-doh experience for everyone!
Mary, if you use lemon juice instead, you'll need 4 tsp.
Rory, you need cream of tartar OR lemon juice OR vinegar in the Kool-aid method.
thankz so much for the recipe we are now making it all the time and making it for my daycare kids and they love it so much ~ Emma
Yay! Emma, thanks for letting us know!
if you dont put as much salt on it would it be alrite to eat it because the name brand playdoh doesnt have alot and my daughter tries to eat it
awesome playdough
I once played with this in elementary school it was really fun and yummy
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
4-6 oz. corn flour or corn meal
this recipe is good if there is someone lactose intolerant
1 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. powdered milk
and this one is the regular recipe with both you just mix the ingredients
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Stephanie says:
2 years ago
Can wheat flour be used??? and does it matter what kind of oil, I have safflower oil in the cupboard, will this work?! thnx!