DIY Gourmet Homemade Playdough Gift {Made by Mom}

The Christmas holidays are one of my favourite times of year to make things for the little ones in my family, and when it comes to Christmas gift making and giving, I always love to go back to the classics. When it comes to kid-related DIY recipes is there anything more classic than homemade playdough? What child doesn’t love to touch and squeeze that thick dough, moulding it into their favorite shapes and using it for all manner of imaginative play? Not only that, but it’s a great gift for almost any aged child. The vibrant colors and texture make it ideal for the littlest ones, and its ability to be used with other tools make it engaging for older children too!

It’s easy to find a recipe for homemade playdough online, but I’m sharing my favorite here with you today – it takes a bit more work because it’s the type you have to cook on the stove-top, but I feel it’s certainly worth it! This playdough is rich in feel and easy to manipulate – and the addition of Creme de Tartar gives it a shelf life much longer than most recipes – because there is nothing worse for a kid than playing with cracking playdough!

I also like to make my playdough a little more special than the average dough – let’s call it “Gourmet”. I find that by adding vibrant colors and a little scent, the children’s sensory experience is enhanced so much!

Here is my recipe:

DIY Playdough INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup flour
• A number of drops of food coloring
• A drop or two of food grade flavouring oils 

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine water, oil, salt and Crème de Tartar in a saucepan. Heat until just warm.
2. Remove from heat and add flour.
3. Stir, then knead until smooth.
4. Divide into smaller balls, one for each color you wish to make (recipe is perfect for four colors). Flatten the balls or create a small indent in the centre of each to place to place your coloring and flavoring oils.
5. To each ball, add in a few drops of food coloring and a drop or two of flavoring. Fold balls over onto themselves to trap the oils inside and drop each ball into a small plastic baggie. This allows you to mash and blend in the color and flavoring without getting any on your hands! Continue to add in oils until you reach the desired color and scent level.

You can store your playdough in an airtight container or a plastic baggie once it has cooled completely.

What makes this an awesome gift is the way that you can bundle and personalize it!

I recently made some for my nephews who are still little, so I used fruit flavors and fun neon colors to make the dough. I then purchased four small food storage containers with nice blue lids to store the dough in. I also picked out a variety of plastic cookie cutters in fun shapes and some small plastic cutting and rolling tools in the kids section. I then packaged it all up in a large translucent toolbox container for them, and they loved their new playdough set!

You could get really creative and use more obscure scents for older children, or you could include other things to play with such as large gemstones, ribbons, pipe cleaners, or anything else you can think of that would either shape, mould, texturize or stick into your dough! The possibilities are endless and so is the fun!