Super Soft Playdough Recipe
It’s no secret that we love playdough at our house. We play with it almost every day! Since I like making different kinds of play dough, like jello playdough, marshmallow playdough, and kool-aid playdough, I wanted experiment in the kitchen and try some of my other ideas out. And it worked because I came up with a recipe for SUPER soft playdough. It is really the softest playdough we’ve ever made!
Ingredients for Super Soft Playdough
Now that I’ve talked it up, are you ready for the recipe? Here’s what you need:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup baby powder (this is the secret ingredient! If you don’t like using baby powder, corn starch is a good alternative)
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon of baby oil
- 3/4 cup of water
- food coloring (I used gel food coloring)
Steps for Making Super Soft Playdough
- Start by mixing 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup baby powder, 1/4 cup salt and 2 teaspoons of cream of tarter in a bowl.
- Next, mix in the 1 tablespoon of baby oil, 3/4 cup of water, and a few drops of food coloring.
- Cook the mixture on the stove on low heat for a few minutes.
- Keep stirring and watch for it to start sticking together. If the mixture seems too dry, add in a little water.
- Cook the dough until it does not stick to your fingers when you touch it. If it is too sticky, try adding a Tablespoon or two of flour.
- Once it looks like a dough, remove it from the heat and then knead in some flour until you get a good consistency.
This playdough feels SO soft and squishy! And it smells really great, too! We had fun being creative with the new playdough.
Ways to Play with Playdough
We love playdough for so many reasons! When children play with playdough, they are building strength in their hands, which will help with fine motor skills and handwriting. Try the following activities with playdough:
- Use a roller to roll the dough flat. Then use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
- Roll the dough and cut it with scissors.
- Give them toy animals to play with the playdough.
- Form letters and numbers with the dough.
- Roll the dough into balls and smash them with your palm.
- Decorate the dough with small items, such as gems, pony beads, and googly eyes!
You can also add a few drops of essential oil to make it smell lovely!
Check out how we made the dough with the video below!
Super Soft Playdough
Equipment
- 1 bowl
- 1 spatula
- 1 mat
- 1 burner or stove
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup baby powder
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon baby oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 3-5 drops food coloring
Instructions
- Start by mixing 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup baby powder, 1/4 cup salt and 2 teaspoons of cream of tarter in a bowl.
- Next, mix in the 1 tablespoon of baby oil, 3/4 cup of water, and a few drops of food coloring.
- Cook the mixture on the stove on low heat for a few minutes.
- Keep stirring and watch for it to start sticking together. If the mixture seems too dry, add in a little water.
- Cook the dough until it does not stick to your fingers when you touch it. If it is too sticky, try adding a tablespoon or two of flour.
- Once it looks like a dough, remove it from the heat and then knead in some flour until you get a good consistency.
Notes
Make sure you store this in an air-tight container so it will last longer! Hope you will try this recipe out and let me know how you like it!
Loved this. We don’t like the smell of baby powder so we just swapped in corn starch. Had to add a bit more flour to the mix, but it came out great. Thanks! I added lemon essential oil to it and it smelled so clean and fresh the whole time.
So glad you were able to adapt the recipe and it turned out well! I’ll have to try it with lemon essential oil…it’s one of my favorites!
Hi, I love this recipe,,, I have been using it for many years.
What can I use instead of baby oil. I don’t have any on hand at the moment
Thanks You
You could try vegetable oil or olive oil. It won’t be quite as soft.
Does this stay soft for a good while? If I make it a week ahead of when I need it for a group, and wrap it up well, will it be ok?
Also, can I double/triple/quadruple the batch or would you recommend making in single batches?
Yes it does stay soft! I would make it in either a single or double batch.
This is my go to recipe for playdough- It’s soft and lasts a long time!! I havent added essential oils yet–But Im about to make another batch…And I think I will add some this time! Thanks so much!
just made some dough for my 3 yr. old granddaughter! Its the second time using your recipe, turned out fabulous! so soft and pliable! Thank You for sharing. … we’ve got yellow (her favorite color), off to make blue and green!!
Hi, I love this recipe!! I have been using it for many years.
What can I use instead of baby oil? I don’t have any on hand at the moment
Thanks
Ashleigh
Thank you! You can also use vegetable oil.
Hello. I was wondering at what temperature we’re supposed to cook the playdough at?
I usually heat it at low to medium heat. I don’t have a specific temperature…sorry!
This is a great recipe. I am going to try it. Do you find it to be stretchy compared to other recipes you used?
Yes it is a bit more stretchy. It’s not like slime, but it’s stretchier for play dough!
Thanks for this cool recipe! It still leaves a little grease on my hands while playing. Ive tried everything. Any ideas?
I’m sorry! I didn’t find the dough to leave grease on my hands, so I’m not sure how to fix that.
I love this play dough recipe! I have noticed however that sometimes when I make it the next day it’ll have a coating of fine white powder, as if an ingredient has come to the surface? Can you advise as to what is causing this. I’m baffled as sometimes it doesn’t!
I honestly have no idea. I’m guessing it’s the baby powder? You should be able to knead the dough to fix this.
this is THE best play dough recipe i’ve tried yet! so soft 🙂
& like the idea of adding essential oils for added sensory experience. thank-you for sharing 🙂
I prepared this play dough, it took me just 5 minutes to make it. My kid enjoyed playing with it. it was super soft
Unique recipe. .thanks for sharing
Anyone know if Oat flour would work okay?
Hmm I have no idea! I’m sorry. I’ve never have used oat flour.
will this work if you don’t use the stove?
I’m sorry, but I don’t think it will. Cooking it on a low temperature helps it gel together into the dough.
What temperature/timeframe are you using to cook the play doh? I’d like my students to make this with me next week, but the kitchen is a hot commodity at school, so I’d like to send an adult to do the cooking part.
Would this keep finger prints? I want to do my babies hand prints so it needs to keep fine details… love the idea!
Hmm I’ve never tried it for finger prints. Usually play dough works for this type of thing, but may take a while to dry. I’m sorry I’m not much help!
Salt dough works for hand and foot prints 🙂 there are plenty of recipes outthere.
Hi
Just wanted to say that this is a fantastic recipe! I use it frequently including for our playgroup. I replace the baby powder with cornflour (I’m in Australia…maybe cornstarch??) and the baby oil with coconut oil. It smells amazing and it’s fine if any small person decides to taste it! We think it’s the best playdough ever!
We tried the jelly one. It was nice but went mouldy very quickly. This recipe lasts a whole term….8-10 weeks plus.
Thanks heaps!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for the tips and suggestions!
Hello,
If i omit the cream of tartar will the recipe work?can’t find it here in France !
It should work, but it may not last as long. Usually the cream of tartar helps it not mold.
Thank you – just tried this recipe for my 3 year old this morning and it’s definitely the best one we’ve tried!
I am using this for hand exercises for a broken wrist which is just out of plaster. I was told by the physio to buy ‘theraputty’ from the hospital pharmacy. This is graded by colour from soft through to hard but the colour I was told to buy was too stiff for my weak hand and wrist. Not wanting to go back to the hospital to buy a different grade (£7 for a small pot) I checked the web for a soft dough specifically for this purpose and your recipe is perfect for my hand exercises. Very grateful, thanks.
I’m very happy to hear this!! I wish you a wonderful and speedy recovery!
Brilliant! I made some for my Kinders and they loved it! The baby oil has that lovely smell about it, and we went and picked some herbs and used some spices to colour some of it rather than food dyes. Still useable after a few weeks- am hoping it will last, but with fresh herbs, i’m watching it closely!
Thank you so much for the easy to follow recipe. I’m terrible at crafty things and even with using cornstarch it turned out amazing. My kids love it!
THank you so much for this recipe! I have made it for a toddler group and they all say they’ve never played with such a soft dough – love it! x
Hey!
This turned out great for us. I added some sparkles to the mix. So fun!
How much play doh does it make? Looking to use this for my class and trying to decide how many batches I need to make.
The recipe is for 1 batch of playdough (one of the colors in the photo). I would say that would be enough for 2-3 children to play with, depending on how much you want them have! Hope that helps 🙂
How long does this play dough last? (if kept in ziplocks of course)
It should last for at least a month.
I made this tonight for my preschoolers, and it turned out perfect! It is so soft almost like velvet. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy to hear that! Enjoy!
For those looking for small rollers. You can order them from cricutmachines.com for only 1.00. Great for baking too. I loved looking through your website and all the different ideas. My kids are grown now but I have 5 grandkids that I can still use these ideas with so thanks.
The “small rollers” are called breyers and can be found in art sections/stores as well.
Could i use corn starch instead of flour? or half flour and half cornstarch plus the baby powder?
I have not tried that, but I would think it would work. Good luck!!
could you replace vegetable oil for the baby oil? my little one loves to sense things with his mouth.
Yes you can. Just keep in mind that baby powder in your little one’s mouth wouldn’t be good either. Maybe my jello playdough recipe would be better to try: https://teachingmama.org/how-to-make-jello-playdough/
Angela – where did you get your kiddo sized roller?
I believe I got it at Michaels in their cake section. It is for rolling out fondant 🙂
Thanks! My mIL has one and we want one too!
What’s mil🤔
Mother In Law 🙂