The Best Homemade Playdough Recipe (super soft, lasts for months)

By Rachelle 83 Comments

At TinkerLab, we love making playdough, and today we’re sharing what is easily the BEST playdough recipe ever. I’ve been making this recipe for over seven years, and haven’t looked back since. The recipe was handed down to me by a preschool teacher, and it can’t be beat. I’m so confident about this recipe, in fact, that there’s a copy of it in my best-selling book, Tinkerlab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors.

Why this is the best playdough recipe

It’s easy to make (see our no-cook version of the recipe below)
It will last for months if stored in a sealed container or bag
It’s inexpensive. Compare it to store bought dough and you are saving loads of cash.
The texture is divine. It’s soft, pliable, and fun to work with.

Our Plan

My plan was to make a simple batch of play dough to replace the sparkly dried out purple stuff that happily met our cookie-making, glitter infusing, practice cutting, snowman-making needs over the past two months. I asked my daughter what color she would like this time around, and she answered with…

ALL of them.

Ahem. Right.

The way I have always made playdough requires that I add the color to the whole batch while it’s cooking, making it difficult to make multiple colors. But by some lucky, happy accident we managed to add the ingredients in the wrong order, which is no doubt the result of making dough with a two year old while chatting with my mother-in-law and goo-gooing at my baby! But, as that same luck would have it, I think we landed on the best playdough recipe yet. The texture is buttery and I was able to deliver on the multiple colors request.

And this ingredient, my friends, is the secret to having strong, smooth playdough that won’t crumble.

So, without further ado…The Best Playdough Recipe

Ingredients

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2.5 cups water
1 1/4 c. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. cream of tartar
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
2.5 cups flour
Food coloring or liquid watercolors. I’m a fan Sax Concentrated Liquid Watercolors and Wilton Icing Colors, which make gorgeous shades of play dough to match any occasion, mood, or toddler request.

Steps

Mix everything but the food coloring together in a large pot until somewhat smooth. It will be lumpy. Not to worry, the dough will get smoother as it cooks.
Cook the dough over a low heat. Mix frequently. The water will slowly cook out of the mixture and you’ll notice it starts to take on a sticky dough appearance. Keep mixing until the edges of the dough along the side and bottom of the pan appear dry. Pinch a piece of dough. If it’s not gooey, the dough is ready.
Place the dough on a counter top or large cutting board that can withstand a little food coloring.
Knead the warm dough until it’s smooth and then divide it into the number of colors that you’d like to make. I divided mine into four balls, flattened each of them, added a little bit of food coloring or liquid watercolors, and then kneaded it in. I added more food coloring to get the desired shades of yellow, pink, teal, and lavender.
Play with the dough right away or store it in a large Ziplock bag or sealed container. Unused, it’ll keep for months. For play dough tool ideas, you can read this post.

There you have it, rainbow play dough (aka the best playdough recipe ever).

No-cook Best Playdough Recipe:

I’ve been making this dough for a few years now without too many changes. After investing in this amazing BPA-free electric kettle, I was wondering if I could make this playdough off the stove top. So I did some experimenting, and low and behold — this recipe can be even easier and still the amazing dough that we all love. Here you go: No-Cook Playdough recipe.

More Playdough Recipes

How to Make Cloud Dough, the easiest dough recipe that calls for oil and flour.

How to Make Goop with just cornstarch and water.

Make amazing scented pumpkin spice playdough.

How to make Gluten-free Cloud Dough

Glowing Playdough

DIY Masa Playdough, made with masa harina

How to make Salt Dough with just salt, flour, and water.

What Else Can you do with Liquid Watercolors?

Liquid watercolors can be used for so many other recipes and projects such as:

Painting with Straws
Doily and Watercolor paintings
Marbleized Paper
Colorful Goop, a seriously amazing sensory experience

Celery Science Experiment

By Rachelle 32 Comments

While I’m an art educator by trade, having small people pull at my pants has turned me into a mini-alchemist who’s suddenly found herself reading books to her kids about Galileo and brewing all sorts of concoctions in our kitchen (vinegar and baking soda, anyone?). Preschoolers are simply curious and see no boundaries between art and science, making this celery experiment a wonderful early STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activity for young children.

The celery science experiment is easy to achieve with basic kitchen materials and it’s embedded with all sorts of opportunities for introducing the scientific method (in short: asking scientific questions, making predictions, and conducting an experiment).

Supplies

Celery with leafy tops
Clear glasses
Water
Food coloring

The Celery Science Experiment

N poured water into three glasses. about 3/4 cup in each.

Then she added a few drops of food coloring — 5-8 drops, but who’s counting! — into the glasses and stirred with a piece of celery, which was left in the glass. And then we talked about what might happen if we left the celery in the colored water for a while.

We oohed and ahhed over the lava-lamp effect of the food coloring as it hit the water.

The Scientific Method: Make Predictions

We started off with red, yellow, and green, but N really wanted to mix colors and added blue and red to the green water (far right). We revisited our earlier discussion and made predictions about how the celery might change.

While waiting for something to happen, I chopped the celery heart off the bottom of the stalk and set up a printing activity.

N humored me by making a few prints and then asked if she could play with colored water. Totally!

While I only have one photo of this, it was probably the highlight of the afternoon.

When we checked the celery a couple hours later, this is what it looked like. I put a leafy top next to it so you can see how subtle the change is. Hmmm. While I could see the change, I wasn’t sure it would make a big impact on my daughter. And then I realized that I should have just put the leafy parts in the water for a more dramatic result. Done!

A few hours later the blue/green had the most pronounced shift, but the red and yellow were visibly different too.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the red and blue-green died celery tops, about 16 hours after the stalks had been sitting in the water. N seemed to appreciate the difference, but wasn’t nearly as impressed as her dad and I were.

Why does celery absorb food coloring?

In terms that preschoolers can understand…

Plants need water to survive and they draw water up from their roots through their capillaries. The capillaries are hollow and act a lot like a straw. Adding color to the water helps us visualize this usually invisible process.

Pom Pom Christmas Bauble Ornaments

By Rachelle 3 Comments

Oh what fun! When the holiday season gets a little bit too busy, I like to retreat with a hot cup of tea, cozy socks, and a juicy magazine. And when it comes to crafting, I try to keep things super simple so my mind doesn’t feel that intense overwhelm that can come with doing too much. In that spirit, this Pom Pom Christmas Ornament Bauble has got to be one of the easiest ornament crafts around. To set this up requires little effort, and the result is charming.

Supplies

Note: This post contains affiliate links

Clear plastic ornament balls like these.
Small pom poms like these
Ribbon
Low-heat glue gun << We used this dual temperature glue gun from Elmer’s

Set-up and Steps

Clear the table and set up a bowl of pom poms, a few clear ornament balls, ribbon, and the low-heat glue gun.
Invite your child to create an ornament.
Fill the ornament with pom poms.
Tie a ribbon around the top loop.
Add pom poms to the ribbon with the glue gun.

Creativity Corner

Sometimes kids will come up with their own ideas that stretch outside the bounds of what you may have in mind. I love these moments and encourage them as they help children develop their independence and imagination. If your child wants to add sequins or buttons instead of pom poms, or wants to fill the ball with glitter, be open to the possibility that your child may come up with his or her own ideas. This is a great opportunity for playful crafting. Encourage creativity and imagination!

Glue Gun Crafts with Kids

Scrap Wood Sculptures: Glue Gun Skill Building Activity

Build Found Object Junk Critters

More Ornaments with Kids

Salt Dough Ornaments. These are gorgeous and last for multiple seasons.

Pipe Cleaner (Chenille Stem) Ornaments with beads

Stacked Felt Ornaments that teach sewing basics.

DIY Fabric Ornaments, beginning sewing project.

More Pom Pom Ornaments!

Click here to learn how to make another super easy Pom Pom Christmas Ornament with Pinecones…

Pom Pom Christmas Pinecone Ornament Craft

By Rachelle 6 Comments

The holiday season is upon us and the smells of the season are filling our home with cinnamon, fir, cloves, vanilla, and pine. It’s delightful!

Making Christmas crafts from pine cones is easy, seasonal, and inexpensive. This pom pom Christmas craft can be set up in just a few minutes, clean up is easy, and kids get the chance to exercise their glue gun skills (so fun!). Glue guns and kids? Don’t fret – keep reading for details on how to build glue gun confidence.

Supplies

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Low Heat Glue Gun such as Elmer’s Craft Bond Dual Temp
Pinecones
Small Pom Poms
Ribbon or Yarn

Glue guns and kids? Yes! Glue guns enable kids to bring their 3-D visions to life in a matter of seconds, while avoiding the frustration of waiting for white glue to dry. Just be sure to use a glue gun with a low heat setting like Elmer’s Craft Bond Dual Temp. I really like this glue gun because I can flip the switch to high temp (for my mama super-gluing needs) and safely back to low temp for the kids.

Let’s talk pinecones: If you live somewhere where they’re dropping everywhere like they are here in Northern California, bonus! Your pinecones can be found for free! Our new puppy loves chewing on pine cones – this one did not make it to the crafting table.

However, you may not want those lovely sap-infused, rain-drenched pinecones, and the good news is that they’re easy to find this time of year at craft stores. I found a bag of about 20 pinecones, infused with cinnamon, for just a few dollars. I like the natural rustic look, but for a beautiful holiday ornament, you could start with shimmery gold pinecones like these.

Steps

Clear the table and cover it with paper or a table covering if you don’t want the glue to stick to the table. I’d recommend this step if your table is a precious surface.
Plug in the glue gun.
Set up a bowl or plate of pom poms, a few pine cones, and ribbon.
If your child has never used a glue gun, walk through some safety steps on how to use it: don’t touch the tip and don’t touch the glue immediately after it comes out of the glue gun. Make a practice pinecone together to work out any kinks. Patience is so important with this step, so take your time if you need to.
Invite your child to attach pom poms to the pine cone.
Make a loop of yarn and glue it to the top of the pine cone.
Hang your ornament!

Creativity Corner

Sometimes kids will come up with their own ideas that stretch outside the bounds of what you may have in mind. I love these moments and encourage them as they help children develop their independence and imagination. If your child wants to add sequins or buttons instead of pom poms, or wants to wrap the pine cone in ribbon, go for it! This is a great opportunity for playful crafting.

Glue Gun Crafts with Kids

Scrap Wood Sculptures: Glue Gun Skill Building Activity

Build Found Object Junk Critters

More Ornaments with Kids

Pom Pom Christmas Bauble Ornament. These are so simple – just fill the bauble with pom poms!

Salt Dough Ornaments. These are gorgeous and last for multiple seasons.

Pipe Cleaner (Chenille Stem) Ornaments with beads

Stacked Felt Ornaments that teach sewing basics.

DIY Fabric Ornaments, beginning sewing project.

Thank you Elmer’s for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Shoelace Manifestos

By Rachelle 10 Comments

We were invited by Famous Footwear to participate in their Step Forward campaign, which celebrates creativity, being our best selves, and stepping forward with confidence. I’m a big champion of encouraging self-confidence in kids, and this is a message I can easily stand behind. The TinkerLab philosophy is rooted in giving children voice, supporting their individuality, and encouraging self-expression, so of course I had to look to some kids, which happened to be my own, for direction on this project.

These are the questions that guided us:

How can we encourage children to be their best selves and step forward with confidence?

What do they care about?

What are their dreams?

All sorts of ideas were brewing in my mind, mostly along the lines of painting or stenciling our shoes with brave colors or bold messages, but again, I wanted my kids to take the lead on this one. After all, following a child’s curiosity is a tenet of my philosophy as both a parent and arts educator.

So I posed this question to my girls:

“How can we celebrate our personalities through our shoes?”

And that’s when my 8-year old suggested that we make Shoelace Manifestos.

Ohhhh, I love this idea so much, and it’s so her!

She loves to write affirmations and positive statements in her journals, so we decided to celebrate this.

But how? She suggested square letter beads as a way to create a mini shoelace billboard of our affirmations.

#shoelacemanifesto

man·i·fes·to

/ˌmanəˈfestō/

Noun:a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer. (Merriam-Webster)

This quote by French fashion and shoe designer, Roger Vivier, is a lovely sentiment for this project:

“To wear dreams on one’s feet is to begin to give a reality to one’s dreams.”

Like so many children, my kids love their sneakers, and so we all decided to bead up new shoes from Famous Footwear.

My 8-year old and I both chose classic Chuck Taylors. I haven’t owned a pair of these since college, but oh-how-I-loved-these. It’s so fun to get my feet in these again. Swoon!

My 6-year old fell madly in love with these Roxy Rizzo shoes, and practically wore them into the ground before I had a chance to shoot these photos, but it’s a sign of how much she enjoys them.

They are the cutest and get tons of compliments…especially when clean. 😉

We set up the shoes for inspiration, and filled a bowl with these beads.

I didn’t give the kids any guidance and was curious to see where they would take this. My 6-year old spelled out NEW YORK. I asked her about it later and she told me that she loves New York. Not all the noise, but the tall buildings.

After lacing these up, we took them for a ride on the swing. To give them some air and speed in true New York fashion.

My 8-year old adores reading and came up with this message: I ❤️ READING.

She really does. In fact, after pulling this together, she quietly snuck away and happily curled up with a book.

My initials are RAD, which I love, so I knew I wanted the word RAD on one shoe, and my kids suggested SOUL for the other. They’re into puns and thought it was both meaningful and funny to play with the words soul and sole.

Yes, it’s perfect!

Make a Shoelace Manifesto

If you need a little kick-start, start here:

Ask: What are you curious about?
Try to limit the beads on each shoe to six, although seven could work. “Reading” is seven letters, and barely fit on a size 3 kids’ shoe.
Use these beads. Heads up: Some packages don’t come with even quantities of letters, so it’s best if you can see the beads in person.
Try one of these affirmations, or use these as a point of inspiration:
1. Smart – Cookie
2. Kind – Kid
3. Dream – Big
4. I am – Strong
5. Cre -ative
6. Posi – tive
7. I am – Loved
8. I am – Kind
9. Good – Human
10. I ❤️ – Myself
11. I ❤️ – Soccer
12. I ❤️ – Dance (etc.)
Take a photo of your shoes and tag it with #shoelacemanifesto

Thank you to Famous Footwear for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.

Vegetable-Dyed Easter Eggs

By Rachelle 51 Comments

Have you ever thought about making vegetable dyed Easter eggs?

I’m trying to make a move away from synthetic food dyes and wanted to use natural, homemade dyes this year. Not only are these colors absolutely healthy for human consumption, but the process of making them is a wonderful lesson in creating art materials from scratch and can help children think critically about how to achieve various colors colors.

As I was cutting the onions and beets I asked my daughter what colors she thought they’d make. I also asked questions like, “If I wanted to make blue dye, what might I make it with?”

She had fun making guesses based on what we had in our kitchen and garden, and also came up with her own wild suggestions such as, “let’s take the skins off the bananas to make yellow dye!”

How to Make Vegetable Dyed Easter Eggs

Supplies

Hard boiled eggs
Skin from one onion, two beets, large handful of spinach, half head of red cabbage
Vinegar
Water
Bowls
Ice cream scooper
Rubber Bands
Stickers
Crayons
Parsley Sprigs
Cheesecloth

Make the dye

I set up four pots of dye:

Pot #1: Onion Skins

Pot #2: Beets

Pot #3: Spinach

Pot #4: Chopped Red Cabbage

Add about 3 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar to each pot. The vinegar helps the dye set onto the egg.

Cook the dyes for about 30 minutes and then strained the colored water into some bowls.

*Note, you could also experiment with hard-boiling your raw eggs in the dye itself. I’ve heard this works really well.

Three Decorating Techniques

While the dye cooks and cools, this could be a good time to get your eggs ready for dipping.

1. Wrap the Eggs with Rubberbands

We wrapped some eggs with rubber bands. Fine motor skill training for my almost 3-year old!

2. Cover Eggs with Stickers

We covered eggs with spring stickers and office stickers.

3. Color the Eggs with Crayons

And we drew on eggs with crayons. Nothing too crazy. The crayon will resist the dye. White crayon would make for more drama in the end, but my 2-year old had her heart set on blue.

How to Dye Easter Eggs

Some people like to use tongs or whisks to grab their eggs, but our ice cream scooper made for a good egg scooper.

Do you see that barely green water up there? That’s what transpired from cooking our spinach…for thirty minutes! Pale green water. As you can imagine, it didn’t do much to our eggs. Next time I think we’ll try using more spinach…or use green food coloring.

Have you had any success achieving a vibrant green color with natural dyes? I’ve heard that liquid chlorophyl l is the best thing to use for green, but I haven’t tried it personally.

Pale Yellow from Onions

We unwrapped the eggs to reveal the hidden images! This pale yellow color was made by the onion skins. We’ve also made yellow dye from ground turmeric (cooked the same as above), which it works really well.

Grey from Beets

It looks brown here, but the beets made a grey-ish color. Dye seeped into the openings of the bunny sticker, revealing a blotchy silhouette that’s still quite nice. A bunch of these all over an egg would be kind of cool, or a simpler sticker would look nice (scroll down for an example).

I’ve had success making a pale pink from beets, and I’m not quite sure what happened here.

Blue from Red Cabbage

But small stickers like this little butterfly left a clear impression. Lovely.

Brilliant blue came from the red cabbage! To make this egg, we wrapped cheesecloth around parsley sprigs and then dipped it in the cabbage dye. If you have pantyhose, that could work even better.

Hole Reinforcement Stickers on Easter Eggs

I found a new life for a stack of hole-punch reinforcement stickers! Don’t you love this? The grey color came from the beets (sad, because I was hoping for pink, but still beautiful), the egg in the back is a brown egg dipped in red cabbage dye, and the yellow egg is colored by onion skin.