easy homemade play dough for learning!
This EASY TO MAKE homemade play dough is great for fine motor development & strengthening & can be paired with literacy activities at every age! An easy homemade play dough recipe you’ll save & use for years to come!
“Play dough!! More play dough!!”
This is yelled regularly at my house by the babies and the big kids who LOVE the easy homemade play dough!! Even used when they were as young as 18 month old … AND it is SO good for those tiny little hands as they develop the muscles needed for great fine motor skills!
It’s also great for the bigger kids too! That’s the beauty of it! Whip up a couple batches – and it lasts a long time and serves every age level some fun!!
So if you were searching for easy homemade playdough – you’ve come to the right place! Then looking for ways to use it to help those kiddos learn? You know I’ve got you covered!
Homemade Play dough Recipe
Why easy homemade play dough? Well, mama, if you’re like me, maybe you’ve been frustrated by the quick dry out factor of the stuff you bought for the Christmas stockings or Easter baskets last year.
Or maybe you’re looking to save a few bucks with a homemade play dough recipe with non toxic ingredients.
One reason I’ve enjoyed making it at home is because the kiddos can join in the fun of making that easy homemade play dough – which then encourages them to want to use it more often too!
It’s pretty amazing how “hey, do you want to do some letter stamps in playdough?” is met with MUCH MORE excitement when the kiddos feel excited about using the play dough that they actually helped make!
So you guessed it… I choose easy homemade play dough over the store bought stuff EVERY time.
The easy play dough is easy to make and doesn’t require cream of tarter! Who has that in their cabinet anyway?!
Throw it in a tupperware container and IT LASTS A WHOLE YEAR! Can you believe it?
Best Homemade Play dough Recipe
Easy to Print!
Alright friends. I’ll talk you through making your first batch of this special recipe – but it will be a piece of cake!! Then I’ll show you where you can print your own copy of this cute recipe for safekeeping AND give you all the ideas for using this great stuff for LEARNING FUN!
Here we go!
Easy Homemade Playdough Ingredients
Stock up on these items (or check your pantry because you probably already have them!)
Flour (2 cups)
Vegetable Oil (3 tablespoons)
Salt (½ cup)
Water (2 cups boiling)
Kool-aid packages (2 packages)
That’s it!! Nothing complicated that you have to order and mostly things you already had, right?
And you probably figured this out – whatever color Kool-Aid you get determines the color of your play dough! Mix and match for fun new colors, of course too!!
Here’s Your Easy Homemade Playdough Directions!
Mix dry ingredients together.
Add boiling water and oil, stirring quickly!
Allow to cool enough to mix with your hands.
Knead together until the playdough is smooth and mixed well. Add flour if it’s too sticky.
Store in a sealed bag or container. Lasts for one year! Woohoo!!
I like to pick one day for this homemade play dough recipe fun and make all the colors I know my kiddos will love. Then I store in small containers that all go in one larger container. Keep it in an easy spot where kiddos can grab on their own and get playing!!
Want that recipe in an adorable one page printable? You got it! Inside my FREE Parent Guide, I’ve included the easy homemade play dough recipe as a BONUS. You can grab that quick, cute, one page printable inside that FREE guide HERE!
Once you print it, I like to laminate and then hang inside of a kitchen cabinet door. Now forevermore our fam is ready to whip up the best homemade play dough recipe without ever looking it up again! I call that a mom win!
Homemade Playdough Easy Learning Activities
So now, what do we do with all of this fun easy homemade playdough we’ve just created with our kiddos? Well, just let them play, yes! Of course, just free, fun creative exploration time is great with playdough. Great for their little growing minds and finger muscles!
However, if you’re looking for a little more strategic playdough learning for the kids – I’ve got your back.
favorite ways to use this homemade play dough recipe for learning!
Letter stamps! Push those letter stamps in the play dough for practice with letter recognition, phonics, sight words, spelling names, and so much more!
Writing with a closed writing utensil or any plastic writing utensil! Practice writing names, letters, sight words, and more!
Story retell! Work on comprehension in a SUPER engaging way by having your kiddos retell a story they read (or that you read to them!) by creating the scene, characters, items from the story, etc.
Quietly play with it while listening to a chapter book being read aloud or an audio book. This is the perfect way to keep little hands busy while they practice sitting still for longer listening and learning.
Build letters and words by rolling out the dough into long “snakes” and forming letters and words with it!
Practice phonemic awareness for early readers by having them “press sounds” into the dough. Or syllables! Ex: “Tell me the sounds in cat!” And your child presses their fingers into the dough as they say “c, a, t!” Do you the same thing with syllables!
What Else is in That FREE Guide that Includes the Printable EASY Homemade Play dough RecipE?
If you haven’t grabbed that FREE GUIDE to get your printable play dough recipe yet, you’re going to want to do that now and know that you’ll have ALL KINDS of goodness coming your way!
It’s FILLED with EASY and TANGIBLE tips for any family with lots of plates in the air - but that still wants to be intentional with learning.
It’s easy to implement as you try to balance it all and help your kiddos learn.
Great for a stay-at-home mama, work outside the house mama, or homeschool family – you’re going to LOVE this guide for quick tips to keep those kiddos learning without extra work for you!
9 Steps to Calming the Chaos: A Must Have Family Guide to Building a LOVE of Learning in Your Home
This guide will help you:
✔ Get routines in place that work for you.
🌸 Be the rock star mom whose kids LOVE learning.
✔ See results that will make you and your kids smile about learning.
It will also include your cute easy to print homemade play dough recipe you just read about!
You CAN do this, Mama. I’ve got your back.
Pick Up That FREE PARENT GUIDE HERE!
Now quick – throw some Kool-Aid mix in your Amazon cart & be ready to make the best homemade play dough recipe ever!
Have so much fun! You’ve got this!
I’m praying for you & cheering you on!
