Does you child have food allergies, or like to play with kids who have food allergies? This homemade, gluten free play dough recipe can be made with your kids, and unlike the commercial brands, it is also chemical free for the safety and enjoyment of all children.
As an added bonus, making your own play dough costs a lot less than the name-brand, chemical-filled stuff—with no packaging and manufacturing pollution!
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour (or sub millet or other fine flour. Coconut and nut flours don't work for this.)
- 1/4 cup sea salt (makes the dough unpalatable)
- 1 tsp. cream of Tartar
- 1 Tbsp. sunflower oil
- 1 cup purified water
- 3-5 drops natural food coloring (or to desired color. You could also make your own colors from turmeric, beet juice, berries and more.)
- 2-3 drops lavender essential oil (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Mix the flour, salt and cream of Tartar in a saucepan.
- Add the oil and stir.
- Mix the water and food coloring, if using, then gradually blend into the mixture. You will need to use more natural coloring than you would with chemical food dyes.
- Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until mixture is stiff and leaves the sides of the pan clean.
- Set aside until cool enough to handle, then knead gently on a work surface until smooth.
- Store in an airtight container.
thanks for the play-dough recipe. Now its getting too sticky to handle – any suggestions? I tried adding more rice flour, it made it more sticky. I tried leaving container open overnight I helped a little
Thanks and I hope you will have an answer!!
You can try a few more drops of oil, or even add some arrowroot starch.
!!!Thank you very much for posting this.
🙂
Thanks for posting these very helpful articles on children’s art materials– as an art therapist, this is very relevant news to those of us who use media with children. My work has been with traumatized children who have special challenges; we need to pay more attention to what you are offering in these postings!