How to Make Playdough Without Flour

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What if I told you that you could make playdough without flour, salt, oil, or cream of tartar?

Now what if I told you that you could also make this playdough without cooking it?

This simple flourless playdough recipe is one of my all time favorite and a complete game changer for making playdough at home!

How to Make Playdough without Flour

In our home we go through playdough like it is nobodies business. This quick playdough recipe is quickly becoming my go to when it comes to making homemade playdough. It is so much easier than making playdough with flour!

Cornstarch Baking Soda Playdough

Supplies Needed to Make Playdough Without Flour:

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  • 1 c. Baking Soda
  • 1/2 c. Cornstarch
  • 3/4 c. Water
  • Food Dye, optional (we love this brand of food dye)
  • Essential Oils, optional

Playdough Recipe Without Flour:

1. Add dry ingredients, water, and food dye/essential oils to a microwave safe bowl.

2. Stir everything together until it is fully blended.

3. Pop your bowl into the microwave for 2 minutes.

4. Once it is done in the microwave pull it out immediately and stir very carefully. The playdough will look absolutely crazy at this stage. Let your children check it out – it will fascinate them!

5. Once all of the playdough is blended together let it sit aside for a minute or so and then give it another stir. If they playdough is still sticking to your spoon at this point pop it back into the microwave for 30 seconds.

6. After you have a playdough that doesn’t stick to a spoon lightly cover your bowl and leave it out on your counter until it cools down. If you do not cover the playdough it will begin to dry out. If you seal the cover too tight it will create a soggy sticky playdough. To cover ours when we make this I simply set a cutting board on top of the bowl.

Once cooled down play!

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Quick Playdough Recipe Notes:

This playdough will dry out quickly if it is not being played with. Make sure to keep it in a covered container when it is not in use.

This playdough does not use cream of tartar or salt to help preserve it. When we make this it will last us for months. As always, check the homemade playdough for mold before handing it over to a child. If this is something that you are worried about you can add lavender or tea tree oil to the cornstarch and baking soda playdough.

To learn how to use playdough to challenge your child check out our article on the developmental benefits of playdough.

We have also made these amazing adapted visual recipe cards for flourless playdough. The packet includes recipe sequence, visual supports, and a card sized recipe that would fit perfectly on a binder ring. Visual recipes are a great tool for your special education students and a lot of fun for giving kids more independence in their “recipe” creations 🙂

More Homemade Playdough Recipes You Might Love

Gingerbread Playdough Recipe
The Secret to Vibrant and Soft Homemade Play Dough
Color Changing Playdough Recipe
How to Naturally Dye Playdough Using Dandelions

Not making this flourless playdough right this second? Then pin this post so you can easily find it later!

DIY Flourless Playdough

How to Make Playdough without Flour

This simple flourless playdough recipe is one of my all time favorite and a complete game changer for making playdough at home!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 3 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • 1 c. Baking Soda
  • 1/2 c. Cornstarch
  • 3/4 c. Water
  • Food Dye, optional
  • Essential Oils, optional

Tools

  • Microwave Safe Bowl
  • Spoon

Instructions

  1. Gather all your supplies - cornstarch, baking soda and food dye.
  2. Measure out 1 cup of baking soda, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, and 1/2 cup of water.
  3. Add everything to a microwave safe bowl with the food dye color of your choice.
  4. Stir playdough mixture until it is well blended.
  5. Microwave playdough mixture on high for 2 minutes with help from an adult.
  6. Remove bowl from microwave (carefully) and stir.
  7. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds if needed.
  8. Allow playdough to cool down before playing with it.

Notes

This playdough will dry out quickly if it is not being played with. Make sure to keep it in a covered container when it is not in use.

This playdough does not use cream of tartar or salt to help preserve it. Always, check the homemade playdough for mold before handing it over to a child.

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Play Dough Mats for Kids

Looking for some ideas on how to play with the flourless play dough? Find all of our play dough mats for kids below!

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