EASY NO COOK PLAYDOUGH RECIPE

Soft, squishy and easy no-cook playdough recipe which will last you longer!

Playing with playdough is one of my daughter’s favourite activities. Mishika is only 21/2 years old and she loves playing for hours with her playdough. I am always very excited to watch the different forms in which she plays with it. Sometimes she will make fun forms out of it like a duck or a birthday cake or sometimes playdough becomes dinner for her dolls 🙂

I had started making playdough at home when Mishika turned a year old, as she was in that stage where she would put anything in her mouth. To be safe and keep her away from toxins I started to try out different playdough recipes at home and also different ways of storing them so that it would last me longer. I have adapted my recipe over the past few years to find the one that fits our needs.

Playdough is a fun and highly engaging activity for kids. You can either play with them indoors or when it’s sunny outside throw in a mat and let your little ones have some fun. I had bought a few playdough carving tools like cutters, stencils and rolling pins. I would give that to my daughter when she would be playing with her playdough and let her have fun with it.

Pin this post to keep it handy all the time!

Why is this playdough recipe so good?

• It is easy to make
• It does not require any cooking
• It can be made in under 5 minutes
• It will cost less than $2
• It is very soft and squishy to play with
• It will last longer once stored properly

Kitchen gadgets

• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cup
• Measuring cup and spoon set
• Spatula
• Ziploc bags or airtight jars

Instructions to make

In a mixing bowl add the flour, salt, and oil and then stir together. Next, add water to the entire mixture and keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken.  **If the entire mixture is too sticky then add additional flour to make it dry or if the dough is very dry then add water in small quantitates and keep stirring till you get the desired form of the dough.

Once the dough is soft and squishy in the form you like then make three or more separate balls of the entire dough depending upon the different colors that you have. There are two ways to mix color to the dough.

• The first method is as shown, make a small hole in the centre of the dough ball and add 1-2 drops of color in it and then keep kneading it till the required color and consistency of the dough is achieved.
• The next method is very simple, and you can also have your little one take part in it. Place the dough ball in the Ziploc bag and add 1-2 drops of color in the Ziploc bag (to prevent food color from straining your hand) and let your kids have fun squishing the bag, till the required color consistency is achieved. This activity can give your little one something to do while you get to make homemade playdough.

Storing the playdough

Storing the dough properly is key to how long will it last you. If you store that dough properly in a Ziploc or airtight containers then it can last you for months. My one batch of playdough usually lasts me 1-1/2 months. After my daughter has played with it I refrigerate the dough in Ziploc bags and it's good to use again.

**Tip – Every time you start to notice that the dough is getting dry or is cracking, just add one drop of oil and knead the dough till it becomes soft again.

Also to make the dough permanent you can use cookie cutters and create fun shapes of the dough and then bake it. Once they are baked and cooled down give your little one some brush, paint and sparkles and let them have fun decorating the playdough shapes. You can find the baking instructions below.

**Baking Instructions – Bake the dough at 225°F until hard. The time it takes to bake the dough depends upon how thick or thin the dough is. If the pieces are thin then it usually takes me 45-60 minutes while the thicker pieces might take 2-21/2 hours. Keep checking on the dough every 1/2 hour to make sure it hardens properly.

I hope you enjoyed the easy no-cook playdough recipe. It’s a great indoor as well as outdoor activity for the kids that can help them think creatively and out of the box!