DIY Easiest Play Dough - All natural and safe for little ones!

I have been testing out play dough recipes and natural color combinations for awhile, and have finally put together a basic recipe that is simple to make, inexpensive, durable, safe if ingested, and completely free of any artificial dyes or coloring (even the "natural dyes" such as carmine).

Real food is used to color the play dough, so I wanted to test it out long enough to see if it would spoil. So far, we're going on a month and a half, and it's as fresh as the day I made it.

For the coloring, I tried a couple different options that I will share below. I found it easiest and cheapest to work with the powder form, but both work fine. If using the liquid coloring, you will definitely need to use Vitamin E (optional with powder) in order to prevent rancidity.

The recipe below is for 1 batch (approximately 2.5 cups).

What you need:

*1 cup Flour (Any will work but white tends to show color best)

1/2 cup Salt (Fine works best!)

2 tsp Cream of Tartar

**1 Tbsp Powdered Color

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2/3 cup Water

1/4 tsp Vitamin E (optional; acts as a natural preservative)

* If creating for younger babies who put EVERYTHING in their mouth, I would use a healthier flour (quinoa, oat, or brown rice are good options and you can make your own inexpensively - just grind in blender or coffee grinder until powder forms)

** Omit this if using liquid coloring

What you do:

1. Combine dry ingredients and mix well.

Using Beet Root Powder

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir until elastic. Add more flour if you feel the dough is too wet and not easy to handle. (If using liquid coloring, cook dough on low heat for 3 - 5 minutes until fully elastic).

Added Wet ingredients

All combined

3. Store in glass containers when not in use. (Create your own free glasses here).

Beet Root Powder

For Dry Coloring

I liked this option the best because it was the easiest and created a rich, vibrant color. There are many options for powdered coloring. The easiest is to buy it. You want to make sure you are buying organic, pure powder (only the food, nothing else added). Or you can make your own following these steps:

1. Thinly slice vegetable (a mandolin works best!) and dehydrate overnight until fully dry.

2. Grind to a fine powder using a coffee grinder or high speed blender.


For liquid Coloring

I found this method to be a little more time consuming and it created a more pastel color. Follow the steps below to create a liquid color.

1. Cook vegetable in water over medium heat, until the water has turned a rich color.

2. Use 2/3 cup of the colored water in the recipe and make sure to cook the dough on low heat for 3 - 5 minutes. You will want to add Vitamin E to these batches to keep fresh.


Color Options


Green: Spinach Powder (It also has a neutral taste and can be used in many recipes to create a green color without changing the flavor). You can also use Spiralina, Kelp, Wheat Grass, or Kale Powder, but would not be a good substitute for baking because of the strong flavor. They are also harder to find and a bit more expensive. (This is what I used.)

Yellow: Turmeric Powder. You could also use carrots or ground mustard for a lighter yellow, or just scale back the amount of turmeric you use. (I use this a lot in cooking so always have a ton on hand!)

Bright Pink: Beet Powder. You could also use dried hibiscus, raspberries or strawberries, but they will produce a lighter pink. Beet powder is the least expensive and easiest to find. It surprisingly has a fairly neutral flavor and can be used (in moderation) in baking. (This is what I used.)

Cotton Candy Pink: I cooked 1/2 a red cabbage to produce this color and the light blue. I reserved 2/3 cup of the color water (It looks blue/purple until mixed with the other ingredients). You could also achieve this color by using less beet powder.

Light Blue: I used the remaining 2/3 cup of colored water from the red cabbage I cooked (see above note), and mixed it with 1 Tbsp Baking Soda. Then continued with the recipe as usual. You could also try blueberries or blackberries (although it will probably create more of a purple color), but it will be more expensive.

There are other color options I'm sure you could explore if you wish. I found the powders to be much easier, cheaper (because a little goes a long way and they provide many other uses!), and they seem to last a little better.

Enjoy!

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