How to Make Homemade Playdough
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0.5-1
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Beginner
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Playdough is a childhood staple. Even though it is ubiquitous in the stores, it’s also easy to make yourself. It makes great party favors, birthday presents, and Christmas gifts. Plus, it’s just as much fun to play with now as it was when you were a kid. Here is an easy step-by-step guide to make your own playdough. This recipe makes about two cups.
Step 1 - Mix It Up
Begin by mixing the flour and salt together in a pot. Then add the oil and water to the mixture and cook it over low heat on your stove. Stir it frequently with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and then cook it for about five minutes longer until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot. Turn off the heat.
Step 2 - Knead It
Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it. Although it will be sticky at first, you won’t need a lot of flour. Just work out the air bubbles until it becomes smooth.
Step 3 - Add Color (Optional)
Your playdough is ready to go, but if you would like to color it, simply add a few drops of food coloring to the mix. You can break your playdough into smaller balls and make each one a different color if you want. This is the messiest part of the project so protect counters and clothing as needed. Alternately, you can add the food coloring when you add the other liquids if you want the entire ball to be the same color.
Step 4 - Store It
This playdough will dry out so make sure to store it in an airtight container or a tightly-sealed plastic bag.
Playdough is a lot of fun and when you make it yourself, and you know that it is non-toxic. But, it’s not just for the tiny tots. Recently when we were in a pinch the night before a science project was due for our middle schooler, we whipped up a batch and recreated the human brain. We’ve made the solar system before too. Have fun.
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![Dawn Hammon]()
Dawn Hammon has thrived in freelance writing and editor roles for nearly a decade. She has lived, worked, and attended school in Oregon for many years. Dawn currently spends her days convincing her children she is still smarter than them while creating new experiences with her husband of 24 years.  Her multiple interests have led her to frequently undergo home improvement projects. She enjoys sharing the hard-earned knowledge that comes with it with the audience of DoItYourself.com. Dawn and her sister make up a power-tool loving duo that teaches classes to local women with the goal of empowering them to tackle their fears and become comfortable with power tools. Tapping into her enthusiasm for saving money and devotion to sustainable practices, Dawn has recently launched a passion project aimed at connecting eco-friendly products and socially-responsible companies with consumers interested in making conscientious purchases, better informing themselves about products on the market, and taking a stand in favor of helping to save the planet. When she is not providing stellar online content for local, national, and international businesses or trolling the internet for organic cotton clothing, you might find her backpacking nearby hills and valleys, traveling to remote parts of the globe, or expanding her vocabulary in a competitive game of Scrabble. Dawn holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, which these days she mostly uses to provide therapy for her kids and spouse. Most recently, I worked for a small local professional organizing and estate sale company for four years where I learned a ton about organizing and/or disposing of just about anything. She was raised in a tool-oriented, hands-on, DIY family. Her dad worked in the floor covering business and owned local floor covering businesses, so of course selling floor covering was one of her first jobs. Her brother was a contractor for about 30 years and site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity. I worked with him often, building decks, painting houses, framing in buildings, etc. With her sister, she holds power tool classes to empower women who are scared or have never used them. Not quite homesteaders, she did grow up with a farm, tractors, motorcycles, expansive gardens, hay fields, barns, and lots of repairs to do. Plus she and her family preserved foods, raised cattle and pigs, chopped and hauled firewood, and performed regular maintenance on two households, outbuildings, fencing, etc. As an adult, she has owned two houses. The first one she personally ripped out a galley kitchen and opened it up to the living area, plus updated every door, floor covering, and piece of trim in the place. In her current home, she's tackled everything from installing real hardwood flooring to revamping the landscape.![H.R. Helm]()
H.R. Helm is an accomplished DIY craftsman. He has been DIY since childhood and is now a septuagenarian. He is experienced in wood and metal construction, having designed and built several houses and metal buildings. He built every permanent building on his current homestead and did all the plumbing and electrical work. He has several years experience as a professional cabinet builder, and he is an accomplished auto repairman, having operated an auto repair business for many years. He currently has a home shop where he sharpens and rebuilds saws, repairs lawn mowers, mobility scooters, hydraulic jacks, and anything else that comes along. He also builds custom tools for metal working. Invention prototypes are another of his many accomplishments. He owned and operated a manufacturing business building Compact Utility Vehicles for homeowner use. H.R. enjoys making jams and jellies during fruit season along with cooking meals. He is committed to outdoor cooking in a Bar-B-Q pit he welded together several years ago. He maintains fruit and nut trees along with helping his wife with a vegetable garden. He farmed commercial garden produce for several years. It helps to have over 50 years of farming and ranching experience. Employment/Education Highlights ASE Certified Master Auto Technician Certified Welder Cross country truck driver -- over dimensional freight Design Engineer/Project Manager for injection molded plastic company Bus Driver/Substitute Teacher Inventor with two patents (weight training – anti-rollback for manual wheelchair) BS in Industrial Technology
