Celebrate the culture of agriculture & share skills (Growing! Cooking! Eating!)

Playdough 101

The following 101, on making your own playdough, comes from beloved former flock tender Jennifer, current flock tender Emily, and the young at heart Farm Aid staff, all of whom put their crafting skills to the test during this hands-on sculpt session.

We at the Farm Aid office tried this fusion of playdough recipes from firstpalette.com, busybeekidscrafts.com, and Jennifer’s finely sculpted crafting expertise. Give this easy recipe a try with your kiddos, or heck, just go for it with your pals. Let the reminiscing begin!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1 cup salt

2 cups flour (it’ll be good to have a little extra on hand just in case… More on that later.)

1 cup lukewarm water

WHAT TO DO

1. Mix the salt and flour in a large mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add in the water, and stir until it reaches a doughy consistency. At this step, we found ourselves adding a little extra flour, as the dough felt too moist to handle. You can use your best judgment here; just get the dough nice and shape-able.

Want to add a little color? Add some natural food coloring to your water before stirring it into the flour/salt mixture.

3. Shape your dough into a ball and kneed it for about 5 minutes.

4. As far as we’re concerned, you’re ready to start rolling, molding, shaping, and playing! We made some snakes and squiggles, flowers, a mouse to startle our unsuspecting coworkers, and more.

5. The playdough can be stored in an airtight container and used for days. However, if you find yourself particularly attached to one of your creations, bake it off! Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and place your dough sculptures on an ungreased cookie sheet. On average, thinner items tend to take 45 minutes to an hour, while thicker ones (like our mouse) took a little over 2 hours to fully dry out in the oven.

SPEAK UP!

We’d love to put together a Natural Food Dye 101! Reach out to flock tender Emily with your greatest ideas for HOMEGROWN colorants.

Got your own favorite playdough recipe or creation to share? Post it below! You can always find more things to make, craft, cook, bake, plant, grow, and play with in the HOMEGROWN 101 library.

ALL PHOTOS: JENNIFER