How To Make Your Own No Cook Playdough

Kids love playdough and you don’t need to buy it, you can easily make your own at home today.

What you’ll need:

Food colouring
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
4 cups of plain flour
1 cup of warm water
1 1/2 cups of table salt

Method:

1. Pour 1 cup of warm water into a bowl (or separate into more bowls if you want to make more than one colour)

2. Add a few drops of food colouring to the water

3. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in total

4. Combine 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cups of salt in a bowl.

5. Add to coloured water and mix.

6. Knead until soft.

It’s now ready to use.

Store the playdough in an air tight container and will last a long time. Personally I find homemade playdough lasts a lot longer, is easier for the kids to use and it’s certainly more cost effective.

View the YouTube video for full instructions:

Try it out and let me know how you go. Please add a comment below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

58 Comments

- - BellaB said
  - 29 May 2024
    7:00 pm
This was so great when my kids were younger.

- - My Littlebuttons said
  - 18 Jun 2022
    12:19 pm
How easy is this to make love it thank you

- - mom485263 said
  - 12 Jun 2022
    9:46 pm
Great idea and because it is no cook the kids can help without any chance of getting burnt.

- - CJStar21 said
  - 10 Jan 2022
    8:39 pm
awesome, love that it’s no cook, that’s what always annoyed me with making playdoh.

- - meedee said
  - 30 Oct 2021
    8:33 am
Play dough is always a winner with kids. You can also add coloured gillter to sparkle things up a bit.

- - mom462038 said
  - 04 Oct 2021
    3:07 pm
I’m willing to try. Just looks a bit too basic to be any good though. I’m happy to be proved wrong. I’ll give it a go, simple ingredients I always have on hand

- - ashna9 said
  - 30 Sep 2021
    2:44 pm
Thank you. I’m going to make some for school this weekend.

- - tea4tee said
  - 29 Sep 2021
    11:08 pm
That looks so easy to make and I already have those ingredients

- - Frankiielot said
  - 28 Sep 2021
    9:06 pm
I always thought you had to cook it just in case any of the kids decide to eat it then it’s not as toxic???

- - BellaB said
  - 19 Sep 2021
    7:20 pm
Playdough is such a classic – who hasn’t played with this?

- - mom479232 said
  - 30 Aug 2021
    7:51 pm
My child has anxiety and is all about textures! She would love to make this.

- - tea4tee said
  - 03 Aug 2021
    6:31 am
Looks so easy to make! Definitely trying this once my baby is a little bigger

- - HelenP5 said
  - 26 Jul 2021
    12:07 pm
The best thing about this playdough is the kids can help make it

- - Dockerchic said
  - 26 Jul 2021
    12:12 am
Does anyone find the dye comes off onto kids hands?

- - MelissaK said
  - 02 Jul 2021
    2:55 pm
1/4 turned out nice, the other 3/4 were a bit dry and crumbly, any suggestions?
- mom478886 replied
  
  05 Jul 2021 , 9:17 am
  Try kneading a small amount more oil through the dough mixture. When I make homemade play dough I store it in the fridge and when i notice it drying out I add a 1/2tsp oil and knead it until it’s supple again. You can add more if needed.
- - tessie said
  - 02 Jul 2021
    10:38 am
My boys are well past this stage now but I’ll certainly be sharing it with my Mum friends. Thanks for sharing this idea

- - Mom466555 said
  - 02 Jul 2021
    6:57 am
So easy!

- - mumof3 said
  - 01 Jul 2021
    12:53 pm
So easy! Yay! My kids would love this. But does the food colouring stain their hands?
- mom478886 replied
  
  29 Jul 2021 , 12:04 pm
  It’s never been a problem for me. Sometimes we change it up and use natural items to colour the dough – boiled beetroot water, tumeric powder, cocoa etc.
- - BellaB said
  - 01 Jul 2021
    10:57 am
We’re a bit past this stage now, but I do recall that home made playdough goes off and smells after a while.

- - rovermum said
  - 01 Jul 2021
    8:48 am
I had no idea it was so easy to make your own play dough. Fantastic.