It’s been a while since we’ve made this spectacularly simple no cook playdough, and then I realized that the recipe hasn’t been shared here.
The ingredients are beyond simple, they come together quickly, and the resulting dough provides children with wonderful sensory and imaginative world experiences. The texture is different from THE BEST PLAYDOUGH RECIPE – it’s stretchier and a bit stickier. If you’re short on time or have these basic ingredients on hands, this playdough could be for you!
One of my favorite things about introducing a new batch of dough to the kids is seeing how they interpret it. One day they’re interested in building a play bakery around it and another they turn it into horse stables.
This playdough won’t last for more than a day, so if you’re looking for a long-lasting play dough, you’ll want this recipe for the BEST PLAYDOUGH RECIPE (seriously – it’s that good).
So, without further ado…
How to make this easy, no cook playdough
Supplies:
- 1 cup hair conditioner. I chose something that smelled good and was silicone-free, dye-free.
- 2 cups corn starch (also known as corn flour)
- Optional: Liquid watercolors or food coloring
Steps
- Mix the first two ingredients in a bowl with a spoon. The mixture should not be sticky. Add a tiny bit more cornstarch if your dough feels sticky. Adjust as necessary.
- Add a few drops of food coloring or liquid watercolors. Mix.
- Form the dough into a ball and play!
- Add rolling pins, small toys, muffin tins, or popsicle sticks and encourage imaginative play. More playdough tool ideas can be found in this post, 3 Essential Playdough Tools and in Playdough Tool Ideas.
A Note on the Scent
This no cook playdough has a lovely soapy smell. If you’re smell-sensitive, be sure to use a hair conditioner that you enjoy the smell of. I’m cost-conscious, and we made this another time with a cheaper conditioner. The dough turned out great, but I couldn’t escape the saturated, artificial smell of it, and could not wait to throw it out. Wah. I enjoyed the smell of this Tresemme conditioner, and as you’ll read in the Amazon reviews (link above), a LOT of people are happy with this product. Bonus: leftover conditioner can go right into your shower!
You read my mind with this one! Our kitchen is under construction at the moment and making our own playdough the regular way just can’t happen right now. This looks perfect!! Thank you for always sharing such wonderful ideas!
I’m so happy to hear that this is helpful, Cait! If you’re used to cooking your own playdough, you’ll find the consistency is a bit different, but it’s still great stuff. Have fun!
It’s on tap for this week. I bet it smells delicious 🙂
Lovely! You’ll have to let me know what you think about it, Cait.
[…] Full directions on how to make it here. […]
[…] No-cook Playdough, made with hair conditioner and corn starch (aka corn flour) is easy to make since it’s only two ingredients. What makes this dough great? It’s simple, no-cook, stretchy, and smells divine. This dough only lasts a day, so no need to make ahead of time. […]
Hi, this looks super fun I’ll. Have to try it out thanks for sharing!
[…] Two-Ingredient Stretchy Playdough […]
[…] you can find 2-minute dough recipes like this no-cook dough, and I’d encourage you to use them if you’re short on time, but the benefit of this […]