Perfect stocking stuffer!
December 21, 2012 by Missy
What is the perfect stocking stuffer?
Homemade Playdough!
It is SO easy to make and SO much better than the stuff you buy at the store.
This recipe makes the softest, sqUISHiest, longest lasting play dough…EVER!
You can make your kids’ favorite colors and package them in these perfect little containers to throw in your kids’ stockings.
Where did I get these perfect little containers? Let me show you…
My little tank has been going through a TON of this stuff! Reusing…I am feeling so GREEN!
After I put the playdough in the container, I thought it looked a little plain. I wanted to add a little circle something to the top of the lid. I sat down to my computer to design something and then I thought, “Am I crazy! There is stuff like this on ishare all the time!” I hopped over there and found these adorable circles that fit PERFECTLY to the top.
I LOVE ishare! I had already made these and taken the pictures, but the FREE printables we gave you yesterday would be perfect also – especially for stuffing the stocking!
Before you go thinking that this playdough can’t possibly be that good, make some. You will see. Every time I make it I can’t put it down, let alone my kids. I was so glad I made it this week because it was PERFECT for our SNOW day today! A snow day in Boise! Crazy! So much fun, though! Don’t believe me?…
Enough said.
But even snow gets old after a while, so after some hot cocoa and coconut toast…it was time for the PLAYDOUGH! Hours of entertainment I’m telling you. She may have had enough of the snow, but didn’t get enough of the snowmen, apparently…
Okay, Okay enough story telling. On with the recipe…
Squishiest Playdough Recipe
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbls. vegetable oil
food coloring (I used 4 drops)
Just dump all the ingredients into your pot and give them a good stir. Enlist some small help if possible – they will think you are magic.
Put your pot on the stove and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms into a ball.
As soon as it joins into one big glob, take it off the heat and dump it onto your counter or some wax paper. Wait for it to cool, then knead it a few times until it is nice and soft. This is where you have to use a little self control to let the kids have a turn too.:)
This would make a perfect gift for any kid – not just for Christmas, I’m thinking birthdays, party favors, gifts for the classroom kids, cousins, neighbors, anyone!
Who will you make happy with homemade playdough?
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Great! I love homemade fun projects like this. My kids will too. Now that they are older I wish we would have kept all the play doh toys we got rid of. They end up playing with play doh at my parents house for HOURS since school is all work and no play when they get older, they really miss the “fun” times they had in the younger grades with crafts and such, that they no longer get to do. I told them, getting old is tough
They are going to love making their own play doh. Now their old enough to cook it themselves 
Cinnamon added makes for sweet smelling play doh too, we used to make it all the time when they were pre-school ages.
Wow, I love this stuff! We used to make this all the time when our boys were young… but now they are teenagers.
However we do have friends at church with young children so I am thinking it will be a fun project with which to have them assist!
Now off to buy some baby food! (It won’t go unused as we have a divine cake recipe that used plum baby food!)
Thanks for sharing this! I just have to purchase some cream of tartar and we should be good to go to make playdoh this weekend! Thanks!
when I make it homemade I add glitter (at the very last kneading step) – makes it extra fabulous!! – Mandy, Sugar Bee Craft Edition
http://craftedition.blogspot.com/2010/02/take-look-tuesday-playdoh.html
We like to make this with two packages of koolaid as the coloring. It makes it smell really good in addition to nice bright colors. My kids love it.
what a neat idea!
I have some packages of Kool-Aid and was wondering what kind of art project I could do with them. This is a perfect idea. Do you change any other part of the recipe or just exchange the Kool-Aid for the food coloring?
I have been using a playdough recipe of 2 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c salt, mixed together with 2 c. boiling water 2 pkgs Kool Aid, 3 T oil The secret has seemed to be the temperature of water. The hotter the water the more success you willI find. Tip: mix the dry together then the Kool Aid, oil & water. It will seem gluey until it cools.
Is there anything better than playdough? I love it so much. A fabulous idea for a gift!
I love the ideas of adding cinnamon to make it smell good and of adding glitter to make it sparkle! Making your own play dough – what a cheap and cheerful idea! Did Boise really get that much snow?
I love the ideas of adding cinnamon to make it smell good and glitter to make it sparkle!
Make your own play dough – what a cheap and cheerful idea!
Did Boise really get that much snow?
Love homemade playdough – love the containers – wish i had a need for baby food
I love, love, love playdough! We use it for so many projects and it is so great for developing fine motor skills! I love making it with my daughter… it’s so fun to cook together and know that if she sneaks a bite, it won’t hurt her, though it doesn’t taste so great. We make ours with peppermint extract in the winter and add red food coloring and glitter for candy cane playdough! Check it out here
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63326123/snowman-to-go-kit-1130. Thanks for posting!
I love this idea..and the containers just make it even better!!
LOVE IT! I make this for my kids all the time!
I love making homemade playdough. Great Idea, I’m going to make it for my 14 preschoolers! Now I just wished I had a baby to get all those adorable containers : )
Great idea! Or maybe party favors….love it!
I have a recipe that uses Kool-aid…it smells absolutely wonderful!!! You use different colored Kool-aid to get different colors and an array of different scents!!! It is the best!!!!
this might make a inexpensive and cute gifts for my son’s Pre-K class – If I can find the right containers. thank you.
What a fun post! This makes me happy.
I used to make this all the time when I taught preschool. I used two packages of koolaid for the color and scent, as others have mentioned but I didn’t cook it. I used boiling water, stirred it until it cooled, then kneaded it until it formed a soft dough ball. I stored it in the fridge in air tight containers.
I am a big fan of the Kool Aid homemade playdough. It smells sweet enough to eat. Those containers are perfect. I am going to have to find a mommy with babies and mooch those off of her.
hi ladies….why not buy the baby food even if you dont have a sweet baby in your life and add it to yogurt or a smoothie to drink……seems like an easy healthy addition…..!!!
Great looking containers! Homemade playdough is the best
This would make a great stocking stuffer. So simple but SO cute! Thanks for sharing. I have an oatmeal playdough recipe you may like.
thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.com/2010/08/oatmeal-playdough Stop by sometime.
This is great! I especially love the packaging! Would you mind linking this up on my Baby & Child Gift Idea link party? http://findingmyaloha.blogspot.com/2010/12/gift-ideas-for-little-ones-link-party.html
I hope to see you there!
I would love it if you would agree to guest posting on my blog. I am putting together some tutorials to celebrate my Handmade for Christmas theme- and this would make a great gift idea.
About how much does your recipe make? Will it fill more than one container? I’m definitely making this today!!
The recipe makes enough for one of the colored balls pictured at the top of the post – it would probably fill 5 of those containers, at least. Have fun!
Playdough is really an amazing invention! And recently I found out a great way how to make it even more fun! I just added coloured rice and the dough gets a really nice tecture!
I loved this article when it was originally posted and then proceeded to completely forget about it. So now I’m cursing my memory because if I had remembered like two weeks ago, I would have had a boat load of those up and up baby food containers to use. But I threw them away! *Sad face* Anyway, thanks again for the idea, I’m going to make the dough today but I guess I’ll just have to pull out some regular old tupperware for my son to keep it in.
I love the idea of scented play doh. Do you think this would turn out with a packet of kool-aid instead of food coloring???
This is my fave dough recipe! Thanks!! It is sooo soft! We made pink with glitter, black with glitter and (first failed attempt at black) a khaki green brown – all in one day!
We got a yucky green too! But my sweet girl said, “That’s ok” and used it anyway.
Do you know how long this lasts and if it needs to be refrigerated? I found your blog on Pinterest. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this great post! My kids really enjoyed playing with it. Question- I went back to check on it 3 days later and it’s SO SO sticky- any way to prevent that or fix it?
I am not sure what happened, I haven’t had that happen. Did it get extra moisture in it somehow? Maybe try adding some more flour? I am not sure.
Just wondering how long this playdough lasts? And, does it need to be refrigerated? We are going to make some for my sons party this weekend!
no need to refrigerate although I wonder if it would help it last longer? It lasts a month at least if you keep it tightly sealed.
For those that used koolaid, did it stain anything?
Thank you so much for this recipe, saved me on a soon to be rainy day with my daughter
I love being able to come to your site and know I can trust anything you guys put on here!
I just made a red batch and a blue batch using Kool-aid for coloring. Oh it smells soooo good. I have a question regarding the labels. What size/brand labels did you use to label the containers. I’ve got a few of those containers I’d love to use up! Thank you!
I love this! I just made a orange batch with pumpkin pie spice for the little Trick-or-Treaters! Thank you!
Just wondering… I made the playdoh last night for my kindergarten class and it was a little sticky. Should I have cooked it longer? Not sure what I did wrong. Thanks
yes – the more it cooks the more it will dry out or you could add more flour. You want to keep it soft, though so don’t dry it out too much.
We frequent KFC and they put their sides in great containers with tight fitting lids. They are a great size for this wonderful play dough!
Great idea…the packaging really makes the whole thing come together! I am definitely doing this for my daughter’s stocking!! Thanks!
My son and I made this last year for his cousins and it was a hit!
This is great! We have 4 girls & are bringing 2 siblings home from Uganda ANY day now so stockings REALLY add up. I love this idea – thank you!
I never know where to find cream of tartar but now I’m on a mission to find some!!! Love this project!
Cream of tartar is sold with the spices in the grocery store. Hope that helps!
Fantastic idea for stocking stuffers!!!
I love play dough..and this is a great recipe! Love the great ideas on your blog, I am glad I subscribed!
I love this, but I have no idea where to find cream of tartar (I live in Ireland) Can anyone help me?! Thanks! This is a great stocking stuffer idea! S xx
What a great idea for stocking stuffers or favors or friend gifts…the possibilities are endless!
I love this playdough. My girls are 12 and 9 but still will play with their younger cousins. I was thinking of making some candy cane dough I saw on Pinterest. Make red and white dough add glitter and peppermint extract for scent the roll into ropes. Twist and put into a clear recyled jar. Use that cute twine in red and white to tie a card on the jar. Fun Christmas gift.
I want to so do this! Great idea. Some stocking are huge and you feel like you have to fill it. No way, these tubs are prefect fillers and worth hours of fun! My kids love play dough!
Perfect gift for my little preschoolers at Wednesday night church group. Am excited to make it. Wish I had those baby food containers.
Great idea and I love the containers. Off to get some apple sauce.
I LOVE this idea!!!
I’ve been wanting to make homemade playdough. This would be so much cheaper than buying it!! Thank you for posting this!!
Ok, I LOVE home made gifts…this is too neat and the packaging is adorable! So fitting for youngsters!! thanks for the ideas!!
Hugs,
Michelle
I printed those cute labels, but they are much smaller than what’s pictured. How did you get them larger?
I loved this project and featured it in my blog today! http://creatingthehive.com/blog-post/183243/kids-crafts-fun-to-make-with
Perfect idea! Thank you!!
Oh my this is amazing! This was my first time making play dough. My mom told me just to mix flour, salt and water together, but I really wanted to try something more legit and the I found this on pinterest. I really love it. And I’m proud of myself for getting it to work, too
Thanks so much for posting this!
How much will this recipe yield? Can it be doubled?
THANKS– on game night over Thanksgiving weekend, we discovered the playdough in CRANIUM dry —ahhhhh– had to skip all the SCULPT cards. Not for Christmas game night tho–I WILL be ready!!
Thanks for such a cute gift idea! Found you on Pinterest, just in time for a birthday party this weekend. Made extra for my daughter’s stocking!
I love this idea, I like the way you gift wrapped it. I will be making this for my nieces and nephews for xmas and will buy them a cheap pack of playdoh toys to go with it.
An easy and inexpensive gist idea.
That is sure to be played with.
Heaps better than spending $$$ on plastic cr@p that will end up in landfill anyway.
I just made these for my sunday school kids tomorrow. I LOVE it!!! I think I’ll make my nephews some for their birthdays (I already bought them too many Christmas presents).
DO you think this would work as self hardening clay or maybe bake-in-the-oven clay?
The link to the labels on ishare is broken. If you want the original post for those, here it is: http://www.iloveitallwithmonikawright.com/2010/11/making-it-pretty-tutorial-and-free.html
I used this recipe 30 years ago for my children and now am having fun with this recipe again for my grandchildren. I store my play-dough in zip-lock bags and it lasts for months!
Just made it! Had it pinned for ages! My kids love it and it was so easy! My children and I thank you!
Do you think this recipe will work with Gluten Free flower
I am making this when little girl wakes up from her nap! So excited — she loves playdough and you’re right, the stuff from the store is just crappy. I hope it works with self-rising flour, cause that’s what I’m using!
We made this earlier today…the kids loved it and it came out great!
Is anyone else concerned about the possible negative health effects from the artificial food coloring? I was a bit concerned prior to making this recipe but went ahead and made some. My 3 year old twins seem fine but I feel a little dizzy and nauseated. I’ll try with kool-aid next time (although there is artificial food coloring in there as well… but maybe it won’t affect me as much).
Hi Elizabeth
we don’t use artificial colours as we found some lovely
Plant based colours awhile ago that work beautifully and have no nasties. We also made a gorgeous yellow using turmeric powder and you could also try beetroot powder (purply pink) and many others. Check you health food shop for natural colours (liquids) or powders. In Australia we have Hoppers natural colours (Inc 100s & 1000s) and another company who’s name I forget sorry! Hope you spot this answer and that it helps
I came across this recipe this weekend and can’t believe how well it turned out! I linked to your recipe on my blog:
http://www.fineandfairblog.com/2012/02/truth-in-advertising.html
I just made this, and totally loved it. If it’s possible, I think I enjoyed making it even more than my son playing with it. I just want to make all the colors!!!!
Thanks for such a great post
I made this last night with my twins and I have to sing your praises!!!! I let them mix all of the ingredients in their pans on the table and then I cooked them and they got to knead them. They loved it! I love the fact that unlike the store bought stuff, there are not a million little pieces all over my table and floor unless they pulled them apart! I will definitely be making this again! I printed out the recipe for quick reference and also pinned this to my pinterest! Thank you!!!!
I made this tonight and it worked out fantastically- I added about 20-30 drops of food coloring and it turned out a nice vibrant color. Thanks!
I’m stoked to try this out. We intentionally went really simple and low-key with our Easter baskets this year, and while I don’t want to go back on that ideal, my daughter’s looks pretty bare. A few jars of this will really fill up her basket nicely, and it’ll give me a chance to use some of the baby food jars I’ve been hoarding. Win, win. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. This is the only thing that my 3 year old plays with by herself. I’ve tried the kool-aid, coconut extract/flavor, and peppermint oil. My favorite is the peppermint, the scent lasts the longest. I really like the coconut too. I wasn’t a big fan of the kool-aid but I only used one pack but it limits the amount of colors you can make. I added the color right before kneading it. If you have a toddler I suggest making only one color or two that go together such as green and blue or red and orange. That way you don’t have an ugly color afterwards. Be careful because like any dough, it can get stuck in the carpet but it easier to clean that regular play dough.
Instead of food coloring, I started using a couple of packages of Cool-Aid mix (the small packages without sugar added). The color comes out great and the play dough ends up smelling great!
Well I just made 4 batches in red, yellow, green & blue and my 21month old is silent and having the best time ever. I remember someone making some home made play dough when I was a kid but I don’t think there was cooking involved, and I think it was very dry and not that fun to play with, this is really soft & easy to play with and the best part is that it costs next to nothing, takes minutes per colour, and I actually halved each colour so I have a fresh un muddled up batch in the cupboard for next time. I just hope my puppy doesn’t eat too much of it, or hopefully she doesn’t like it eek! Thanks for an awesome recipe, it really is awesome.
I have used this recipe for years. It’s the best one out there. I always used Kool Aid to color it. It also smells great!
Hello! I was so excited when i saw this on pinterest i had to gather my kids (and niece and nephews) to try it with them. I was so excited tho i didnt read the whole recipe! It still turned out great. We didnt cook it (i didnt read far enough down to get to that part!) we ended up doubleing the flour and cream of tartar and kneeded well and turned out just fine
Thanks for sharing this recipe
I prefer to use mineral oil. Vegetable oil can go rancid in time. Mineral oil won’t and just seems to ‘feel’ better (kid rating).
I have been making play dough since my 40yo twins were 2. My 32yo & I made some when she was a jr. in high school for a class project. Also 3 years ago I made a huge batch for use at VBS at my church.
Has anyone tried this recipe with olive oil instead of canola or vegetable? I would like to substitute but I’d love some advice first.
This really is the best recipe. My mom used to make this when she taught preschool 20+ years ago! Just wondering if you think it would be possible to add essential oils to it for scented dough? Maybe after it has already “cooked”?
Just made this with my kids for the first time (shame on me, I’ve made it several times in classrooms). They are having a blast. A couple of tips that I’ve learned is to mix the coloring into the water for even coloring. And I mistakenly used 1/3 cup of salt for the first batch (my son’s color) and it turned out just fine. The second batch (my daughter’s color choice) is according to the recipe and is fantastic. If you prefer a firmer dough you might just want to use the 1/3 cup salt like I did by mistake. It’s not much different but just a bit firmer.
Ready for the rain!
We made this the other day and it was a huge hit! But, a few days later it is too sticky to play with. I have tried to add more flour but it does not seem to help. Would love to do this for gifts, but can’t if this is what happens after only a few plays;(
When my girls were little, I used to add vanilla to this recipe. It makes it smell yummy!
Thank You for the recipe! Perfect!
Where did you get the containers for the Play Dough? I’m thinking classroom gifts for next year.
Thanks,
We add koolaid packets to the water to dye it and make it smell yummy….
I just made the play dough! Wow…it was so fast and easy. I love it. I can’t wait for my primary children to test it out for me. It was hard for me to stop kneading it. Thanks for the great recipe and idea.
I’ve made playdoh similar to this for over 30 yrs!! Now making it for my grandkids! But I’ve found that using baby oil instead of vegetable oil makes it smell even better, and will never get rancid. I esp like the lavender scented oil! thanks for all the great ideas. Sure wish there was an internet when my kids were young!!
Hey awesome idea, just made it with my so and loved it. And apparently our puppy likes the way it tastes cuz he ate some that fell to the floor And then was begging for more lol.
I was wondering how much you think this costs to make?
MOLDY? I was so excited to find this recipe, my 2 year old plays with play dough on a daily basis. I made four batches and my girls loved it. I put it old playdough containers I have been saving, 3 days later it was ALL moldy! Ewwwwww… Have you ever had this problem? Do you know why? I used the regular drop food coloring you get at the grocery store. HELP please! I want to make more as my daugther is down to her last store bought container from Christmas and this stuff was much better…the first day.
shoot! I have never had that happen – mine has lasted up to a month! I have no idea why yours did that – the only thing I could recommend is maybe try keeping it in the fridge??
Hello, i just did this with my daughter and she loved it! One question though, how do you make it smell nice?
Do you have any advice on what to put in? Thanks!
I have tried 8 play-dough recipes since I started teaching Kindergarten 2 1/2 years ago. This is the first time I’ve ended up with play-dough, instead of a sticky lump of what felt more like bread dough or something. THANK YOU!!
WOW! These were absolutely amazing!
I had my 3 year old mix all the ingredients and pick out the colours one day when home from school sick.
All I had to do was stir it on the stove, he did the rest!
Thank you for sharing this, they were perfect, not oily, no crumbs and so easy to make.
Can someone tel me what cream of tartar is? I live in the Netherlands and realy want to make this for my day care center children. So I need a little help.
Tanks
I found this article about cream of tartar
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19/cream-of-tar-tar_n_2322569.html
hope that helps!