grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publishing
  • SHOP!
  • Garden
  • Food
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter

how to make Homemade Play Dough

February 5, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

how to make homemade play dough

A few days ago I made homemade play dough. You may find this odd considering I have no young children at home. But I figure since we’re all coloring againย (did you get an adult coloring book for Christmas?), we may as well get in a little play dough time, too.

When we were kids, my sister and I loved toย makeย homemade play dough. This is NOTย one of thoseย woe is me I walked barefoot in the snow to school uphill both ways sort of stories. Any time we spent in the kitchen with Momma was fun.ย Plus, there was food coloring involved.

Food coloring was on par with glitter.

I dug out theย original recipe which I still have because it’s printedย on the last page of the Keiser’s Kitchen cookbook. (Contributed by Shirley Ashley.)

homemade play dough recipe

Obviously, this page was well loved.

Here’s the recipe in a handy dandy printable…

Homemade Play Dough

Print Recipe
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 3/4 to 1 cup lukewarm water
  • cinnamon
  • food coloring

Method
 

  1. Mix flour, salt, and cooking oil. Gradually add water and mix. Add cinnamon.
  2. Divide dough and add food coloring to each batch to make desired colors. Knead thoroughly.

Since the original recipe didn’tย specify how much cinnamon to add, I only added a sprinkle. You know how a smell can take you back??? I immediately realized the cinnamon mixed with flour gaveย the play dough the unique aroma I’ve never forgotten. Loveย that smell!

I’m crazy, I know.

making homemade play dough

Also, there was no direction on how much food coloring to use. I started with only a few drops but added lots more to get a darker color. Probably twenty drops.

Knead and knead and knead to get a smooth color. You might want to wear gloves. My hands became stained pretty quickly.

This play dough will store for days in a plastic container. What a fun project for a cold winter day. Even more so if you have kids…

Gracie Leeย would approve.

homemade play dough

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]How to make #GracieLee approved,ย homemade play dough. #craft #snowday #kidfriendly #playdough [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Cat Stevens, Oh Very Young

Filed Under: Crafts, Food & Recipes, Memories, Simple Pleasures Tagged With: Keiser's Kitchen, kid activities, vintage recipe

Wanna receive posts via email? Sign up here!

Comments

  1. Patti says

    February 5, 2016 at 7:53 am

    Love this post…stumbled!

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      February 6, 2016 at 7:29 am

      Thank you, Patti!

  2. Colene says

    February 5, 2016 at 8:42 am

    Fun!!! I can just visualize Gracie Lee and Abby sitting at the table with their play dough and the comic section of the newspaper and momma sweeping the floor. ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      February 6, 2016 at 7:29 am

      Yes!

  3. Barbara Tate says

    February 5, 2016 at 11:35 am

    I always loved making play dough with you kids. A fun blog today. I have been reading about Gracie Lee today. Oh, the adventures of Gracie, Abby, and Dian. What fun.

  4. Dorothy Johnson says

    February 5, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    Could bake whatever you made and have a permanent object of art? Sounds fun. I’m starting Gracie Lee tonight. I was in the middle of a book when she arrived. Looking forward to it.

    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      February 6, 2016 at 7:29 am

      Maybe so. I thought about that. Can’t wait to get your thoughts on Gracie Lee:)

  5. Karen W says

    February 8, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    My son asked me this weekend how to make play dough. Now we can actually do it!

  6. Sarah Shotts says

    March 2, 2016 at 9:48 am

    I love how this recipe includes cinnamon! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for linking up.

  7. Lorna says

    March 10, 2016 at 11:19 am

    Hi Talya, I found you through Sarah’s Venture link up. I love this! I don’t have any kids, but my husband wouldn’t be surprised at all if he came home and found me with play dough!

Trackbacks

  1. Venture Link Up | March 2016 - A Love Letter to Adventure says:
    March 4, 2016 at 1:04 am

    […] 1. Talya shares her cinnamon scented recipe for Homemade Play Dough. […]


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: May 25, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: May 4, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Rainy Day Edition
  • Spiderwort: my love-hate relationship
  • Sunday Letter: March 23, 2025

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Looking for something?

Categories

All the Things!

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer holiday recipes home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta Monarch butterflies Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer Talya Tate Boerner novel Thanksgiving The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2025 ยท Web Hosting By StrataByte