How to Make Homemade Edible Play Dough

This homemade edible play dough recipe uses 5 simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! I also have whole food options for coloring if you prefer to avoid artificial food dyes like we do. 

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My daughter is busy. Like the busiest 15 month old you’ve ever seen. We’re constantly trying to come up with things to keep her little mind and hands busy in a safe way, which brought me to this homemade edible play dough recipe. 

When we were kids, my mom ran a home daycare for kids 5 and under, and I remember her always having a bag of homemade play dough in the fridge. The little guys she watched had a blast using cookie cutters, and other tools to work the homemade play dough for hours. 

Yes, I could just pick up the real stuff at Target, but when I make it myself, I know everything going into it. This brings a huge peace of mind when my daughter decides to stick a piece in her mouth and proceed to eat it. It’s also really cost effective! I estimate this homemade edible play dough recipe to cost about $1.50 batch, and it yields about 2 cups of dough. 

What You’ll Need: 

Supplies:

• Sauce pan
• Whisk
• Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients:

• Flour – I use organic all-purpose flour that I picked up at Target
• Water
• Salt 
• Cream of tartar
• Olive oil
• Optional food coloring or whole food coloring

How to Make Edible Play Dough:

1. Add flour, salt, cream of tartar, olive oil, and water to saucepan. 
2. Whisk together to combine. 
3. Add coloring if you plan to.
4. Turn burner onto medium/low and stir constantly until mixture thickens into dough consistency. This will take about 5 minutes. 

Why Make Your Own Play Dough?

I choose to make as many products as I can to reduce the load of toxins my family comes in contact with on a daily basis. Doing simple things like making my own playdough is a great way to have total control over what my kids are coming into contact with. 

Whole Food Dyes:

While you totally don’t have to add any coloring to make this homemade playdough, adding colors makes it fun! 

I choose to use whole food colorings options as opposed to food coloring dyes. Below are the items I use to color our playdough and other homemade products around the house. 

• Blue spirulina powder – this is literally the most vibrant cyan blue you’ve ever seen! I seriously love this color! Spirrulina is an algae that is dried and then blended into a powdered form. It’s also super high in antioxidants! This is a great way to add some fun color to your kids’ food and give them an added health boost while you’re at it! 

• Pitaya powder – this will give you a bright pink color. Pitaya is another name for dragon fruit, so again, it’s a whole food. An added bonus of Pitaya is that it’s packed with vitamin C! 

• Turmeric – this is a common cooking spice that is a golden yellow. Turmeric is known for its anti inflammatory properties. 

• Combine blue spirrulina and turmeric to get a green color. Pitaya and turmeric will give you an orange color, while blue spirrulina and Pitaya will give you a beautiful purple! 

How to Store

We keep our playdough in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can technically last about a month before the texture starts to get weird, but we always end up catching crumbs and other particulates long before a month is up. We usually toss it when it starts to get yucky. 

Fun ways to use Homemade Play Dough:

1. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. 
2. Work on cutting skills using a plastic knife or safety scissors. 
3. Add essential oils for additional aroma therapeutic value. 
4. Make pots, snowmen, houses, whatever you can come up with! 
5. Stamp with cookie stamps. 
6. Roll with a rolling pin. 

How do you and your kids like to use play dough?