• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Activities
  • Crafts
  • Games
  • Parenting
  • Toys
  • Videos
  • Game Night
  • Educational Activities
  • Toddler Art Activities
  • Toddler Motor Skills Activities
  • Preschooler Art Activities
  • Winter activities for kids
  • Cooking Activities for Kids
  • Traveling With Kids
  • Christmas Crafts
  • Mommy Time
  • Motherhood Tips
  • Acts of Kindness Ideas
  • Kid Friendly Recipes
  • Things We Love
  • Easy Halloween Costume for Kids
  • About/Contact

Playtivities logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Activities
  • Crafts
  • Games
  • Parenting
  • Toys
  • Videos
  • Game Night
  • Educational Activities
  • Toddler Art Activities
  • Toddler Motor Skills Activities
  • Preschooler Art Activities
  • Winter activities for kids
  • Cooking Activities for Kids
  • Traveling With Kids
  • Christmas Crafts
  • Mommy Time
  • Motherhood Tips
  • Acts of Kindness Ideas
  • Kid Friendly Recipes
  • Things We Love
  • Easy Halloween Costume for Kids
  • About/Contact
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Activities
  • Crafts
  • Games
  • Parenting
  • Toys
  • Videos
  • Game Night
  • Educational Activities
  • Toddler Art Activities
  • Toddler Motor Skills Activities
  • Preschooler Art Activities
  • Winter activities for kids
  • Cooking Activities for Kids
  • Traveling With Kids
  • Christmas Crafts
  • Mommy Time
  • Motherhood Tips
  • Acts of Kindness Ideas
  • Kid Friendly Recipes
  • Things We Love
  • Easy Halloween Costume for Kids
  • About/Contact
×

Home » Activities

Published: Nov 24, 2014 · Modified: Aug 10, 2022 by Birute Efe · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

How To Make Homemade Playdough with natural dye

homemade playdough

This is a story about how to make homemade playdough, be the "coolest mom ever" and why you will never use food coloring for playdough again, nor cream of  tartar, nor your stove and those poor pots that you usually have to throw away after cooking the playdough.

The moment I thought playdough got boring in our house... it got to totally new level of AWESOMENESS!

Homemade paydough with natural dye.

It all started from kids being really bored due to bad weather and being stuck in the house all day. Playdough seemed the wise decision for this moment.

We have our favorite playdough recipe that we would never trade again, but we were out of food coloring.

By the way, all of our recipes come from this play dough book.

Meanwhile, Sofia asked if she could have some of the carrot juice that I squeezed earlier in the morning. "Sure", I said. She took few sips of it and put the glass on the counter.  I glanced at her for a second, saw her carrot mustache and had one of those "why didn't I think of that before" moments. Use vegetables as a natural (super natural) playdough dye!

We simply used freshly squeezed juice (of beets and carrots) instead of water part in the playdough recipe. First, I wasn't sure how it will come out, but you guys, it blew my highest expectations.

Kids were amazed at the results too. That's when you get your "coolest mom ever" reward (even if it's for few minutes, if feeeeels good).

Jump to:
  • How to make homemade playdough recipe (our favorite)
  • Why use essential oils in your playdough?

How to make homemade playdough recipe (our favorite)

Homemade playdough with natural dye
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 Cup of Salt
  • 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed vegetable juice (today we used carrot and beet)
  • 2 cups of plain flour
  • few drops of your favorite essential oil (we used lemon one this time)

1. Mix salt and flour

2. Add oil and essential oil

3. Pour the juice

4, Mix well and start kneading really well.

Yes, no cooking no waiting, it's that simple. Truly the easiest playdough recipe.

Here are some moments caught on video while we were making (and playing with) playdough.

Why use essential oils in your playdough?

We used lemon essential oils today.

Homemade playdough with natural dye close-up.

Yes, the playdough smells amazing, but it also has some other pretty incredible benefits. Lemon essential oils stimulate our immune system and also increases our clarity of thought. This is a great play dough choice for after nap time, or for an early morning activity. The scent is invigorating and so refreshing.

Our family have been using essential oils for few years now and we are so pleased with the quality of Natural Living Essential Oils.

playtivities starter kit If you are interested in these essential oils, there is a pretty good deal going now (affiliate/sponsor link).

More fun:

  • 14 Creative Art and Drawing Ideas For Kids
  • 19 Easter Activities For Older Kids
  • 25 Team Building Activities for Kids to Build Stronger Bonds
  • 23 Amazing Role Playing Ideas and Games For Kids

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tugce says

    December 09, 2014 at 2:55 am

    This is truly genious :))) i've been looking for playdough recipes and tryimg to find sth that works. Because some of the ingridients that are apparently very reacable in US are very hard or expensive to find in Turkey, like cream of tartar. Would this work with just water for white playdough? And since it had veggie juice how long is it good for playing? Thanx 🙂

    Reply
    • Birute Efe says

      December 09, 2014 at 6:47 am

      Merhaba! Thanks so much for stopping by. Actually, I have never used cream of tartar for our playdough. It's just water, oil and salt. If you want color - add either food coloring or like I did this time - vegetable juice instead of water. You should keep it in the air tight container and preferably in the cool place. I have mine over a month now and is still good. I think we will play with it few more times before we throw it away.
      P.S. It's funny, we are in Turkey now. Where do you live?

      Reply
      • Tugce says

        December 12, 2014 at 3:21 pm

        Oh, that's great! i live in İstanbul, have a blog called evde oyun var and a facebook page with the same name 🙂 it's in turkish of course :)) hope you and the kids are enjoying your visit and eating lots of delicious turkish food :)))

        Reply
  2. Tara says

    December 12, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    This looks great! I have celiac, so keeping my kitchen and surfaces free of gluten is vital...So, other than using a crazy expensive gf flour blend, do you know if tapioca or cornstarch would work to replace the flour?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Birute! I've created playtivites to eliminate boring afternoons and family gatherings. With hundreds of family activities and play ideas, and crafts both parents and kids will enjoy.

More about me →

Recent:

  • Billy Boy Printable Lyrics, Origins, and Video
  • Aiken Drum Lyrics Printable Lyrics, Origins, and Video
  • The Ants Go Marching Printable Lyrics, Origins, and Video
  • 27 Exciting Sports Crafts For Kids

Popular:

  • 25 Family Friendly Dare Ideas For Game Night
  • 20 Family Game Night Ideas
  • 25 Easiest Low Prep Obstacle Courses for Kids
  • 20 Activities for Siblings to Bond, Compete and Cooperate

Pages:

  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Have a question?
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023

145 shares
  • 1