Easy, Affordable, Play Dough!

Play dough is a fun, clay - like substance that kids love! It is very easy to make, and provides hours of fun! It can be expensive to buy at stores, but it's very easy and costs nothing to make it at home! The only materials you will need are:
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
food dye (any color, be creative!)
newspaper to cover the surface you're working on

It only takes about 10 minutes to make

Some credit goes to my younger sister for the help. (most of the pictures are of her.)

Step 1: Set Up

Find a good work space (I used the floor) and cover it with newspaper. also, find a medium sized bowl for mixing.

Comments

[people101]

o_0

[people101]

relly cool it is also called salt dough

[amcgugan]

Thank you for this great post it is very clear and the pics are brill...

[baileeann]

i love my sister and brother love it 2

[Kimberley Allatt]

hey there i must agree with you because my childeren love to help me make it because you dont have to cook it they can help me.

[lupita romero]

i dont agree mine did not work came out too sticky my kids threw it out

[lupita romero]

this does not work it came out to sticky i had to throw it out but thx anyway for posting

[mgonzalez37]

how long does it last?

[lbennett10]

I do this all the time with my pre-school students and it works like a charm. I do add a little but of cream of tarter for elastic purposes. I also use a little less salt than the recipe instructs, and it works just fine :) The problem with this, as any play dough made from scratch is the food coloring part, I find that using plastic gloves works the best until all of the color is kneaded.

[abihunter]

this is fab, thanks for posting it, i made some to use in some photos on my blog, pictures here http://abimakes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/play-dough.html

[marcilyn]

;;this was so easy to make .

[DKpuppets]

(removed by author or community request)

[JibJab16]

Ofcorce Dummy

[jsanderson94]

OF COURSE....dummy

[bag0816]

I just made some for my brothers science project...soo much fun!

[tutdude98]

and its also conductive

[tutdude98]

how long you can keep it?

[polerix]

i added glitter, highlighter juice, and mint essence. makes blacklight reactive, glittery, and smells great!

[thepelton]

Highlighter juice. Do you mean whiteout? I should think there are other things that could also make it blacklight reactive. They might even result in different colors.

[bannana split]

Can you give some examples, please? I love playdough but playdough that reacts to black light would be totally awesome! :)

[thepelton]

Highlighter Juice that Polerix talked about is probably the ink from an orange, yellow or green highlighter pen, but you would probably have to ask him directly. What occurred to me is that Visine and Quinine (Tonic Water) both flouresce under UV light.

[jibbzy2000]

I love playdoh. I really needed to know hoow to make this for a diarama at school. it's quick easy and fun! THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!

[ldarsee]

this was awful. i had to add 3 times as much flour and some corn starch and it was still sticky. by the time all the extra was added the bold color we had was faded to a mute pastel. not a good color for a boy! i guess if you are up to "playing" with the ingredients you can make it work.

[Lefrançois]

+oil

[owood1]

i made it with sprikles it is colerfull

[cbrown51]

Heey, this recipie was very useful THANK YOU !!!!!!

[svessell]

I am so happy to see this. My Webelos Den is going to create their own island nation, and I needed something like this that they could use to create the island, water, trees, etc. Thanks a million!

[hana salama]

hey i really liked your recepie thank u :)

[dombeef]

Someone made this before you on instructables, here is the link http://www.instructables.com/id/SALT-DOUGH-CLAY/

It also isnt called play dough, it is called salt dough clay.

[akutcher]

i would suggest to start with 1/3 cup water. because with the half cup it was way way too sticky. start with 1/3 cup of water and add some more when needed.

[mwestbrook]

Thanks so much for this. I just finished making 7 batches with 7 happy kids:) I did notice that if its too sticky you can sprinkle just a little more salt and flour in, kneed well and you're good to go. If you need to add more water, just a few drops at a time was the best way to go for us. The kids are very happy, and very proud off their handiwork!

[joanna12]

i have tried making this an copel of times but when i make is it just goes hard but still not quite hard is it best to put it in the fridge

[dclark11]

no but you can put it in the frezer

[dclark11]

it did not work for me

[sarah0524]

this is a good recipe im glad you put it up i used it for my demonstration speech and got an A

[thepelton]

Another thing. I recall reading in Fine Woodworking Magazine that there are some non-toxic sources of color that could be used. Beet juice for red, carrots for orange, and turmeric spice could be used for yellow.

[eheber]

Another good idea would be to use food coloring or icing dye...

[Lkl610]

Very cool recipe! My playdough turned out to be extremely delicate and easy to be torn, is there any way i can make it a little stiffer?

[Nelson_Yepez]

Add 1 tablespoon cream of tartar powder for elasticity

[Tunkis]

Great recipie! I do have a question though .. does the play dough eventually dry??