Best Play Dough Recipe

The best play dough recipe will meet the following criteria:

Fast and easy to put together, no lengthy cooking or soaking or having to run out to buy ingredients that you don't have in the pantry or fridge.

Safe and natural-- non-toxic ingredients, organic if possible-- no alum (which is listed as an ingredient in some of the recipes on-line)and nothing that you don't want in your grandchild's mouth and tummy, because 90% of the time it will end up there one way or another! I would be hesitant to use many of the 'vegetable food dyes' these days, as well.

Smooth and squishy and plastick-y (yes, no such word, but you know what I mean). The #1 play dough will have a large range of mold-ability, from rolling excellent long, thin, ropey worms to sustaining fairly recognizable people shapes and teeny-tiny people features.

I personally rate scented play dough very high on the contest scale, so a lovely sniff-able fragrance is a must-- but must be something that will not create respiratory or allergic reactions, or be toxic if ingested. Pure and natural food-quality essential oils are preferred.

Gran's job is to help with the making of the play dough (maybe to make it before the child arrives) and to be part of the play. It's nice to provide roller items, such as dowels, actual rolling pins, small round jars, and other "tools", such as plastic picnic knives. You can generally dispense with all the gadgets that come in the commercial packages with the brand name play dough... they are just there to substitute for an absent playmate-Gran anyhow. Work out that imagination!

A broad, clean table space is useful. An old plastic table cloth or recycled shower curtain might be useful for large gatherings and lots of dough projects.

Hungry kids can be given a snack BEFORE the play dough play so they are not inclined to eat the toys.

The best play dough recipe of all time? Here it is:

Old Hippie Play Dough

1 cup all-purpose Flour (the only time I use 'white' flour)

1/4 cup Celtic Sea Salt

1 cup Water

2 T Vegetable Oil

Beet, Spinach, and Carrot Juice

Few drops of pure Lavender or Citrus Fresh or Lemon Essential Oil

Mix Flour, Salt and Oil, and slowly add the Water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiffened. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the dough until you get the proper consistency. Divide into balls and add a few drops of the Vegetable Juices and Essential Oils to make green, pink, and orange and fragrant! Comment: Only use pure essential oils that can be ingested without harm... if the bottle says "for external use only" you will know that those oils should NOT be used in this recipe. Gran is the person who handles the essential oils and kneads them into the dough at the beginning.)

We are delighted with your Questions or Comments!

footer for best play dough recipe page