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 playdough, 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 made.
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)
First, mix all your dry ingredients together. Then, mix in the oil, water, and food coloring. Place on the stove and cook on low 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 ready, 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.
You can also add a few drops of essential oil to make it smell lovely!
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!
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 🙂
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/
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!!
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.
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!
How long does this play dough last? (if kept in ziplocks of course)
It should last for at least a month.
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 🙂
Hey!
This turned out great for us. I added some sparkles to the mix. So fun!
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
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!
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!
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!
Thank you – just tried this recipe for my 3 year old this morning and it’s definitely the best one we’ve tried!
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.
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!
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.
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.
Anyone know if Oat flour would work okay?
Hmm I have no idea! I’m sorry. I’ve never have used oat flour.
Unique recipe. .thanks 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
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 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.