Making homemade playdough is such a fantastic activity with toddlers and preschoolers. It’s easy, fast, inexpensive, and your kiddos will love watching all the ingredients come together. Plus there’s nothing better than watching little hands at work.

You will need: flour, salt, oil, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Buy a big jar of cream of tartar because you’ll definitely be making this over and over.

1. Stir together the first four ingredients in a small-ish sauce pan.

2. Add water and mix well.

3. Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it becomes difficult to stir and starts to form a big clump.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured cutting board and knead until it becomes elastic.

5. Add a few drops of food coloring at a time and knead the color in. Add more until you and your little one are happy with the color. The key is to do this little by little or your hands will definitely be stained for a few days.

Playdough is extra fun with a bunch of tools. Anything that makes interesting textures and shapes goes. Cookie cutters, lids, buttons, string, pretty much anything (safe) in your kitchen gadget drawer. You can also add things like glitter or cinnamon for pretty sparkles or a yummy smell, but really just basic playdough is lots of fun.

And if your kiddo has a gluten sensitivity, no worries! We’re made this same recipe with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour and it works beautifully.

Playdough keeps for at least a week or two when stored in an airtight container or bag in the fridge.