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Have some fun with your kids this holiday making Snowball Playdough! This homemade playdough recipe is easy and great for party favors or stocking stuffers. The printable tag is great for adding to packages for neighborhood or classroom gifts. If you’ve ever wondered how to make playdough for your kids, I’m going to show you how!

This post has been updated from 2013.

Glittery Snowball Playdough! Homemade playdough recipe. How to make playdough.

On a recent rainy day, my kids were going crazy having to be cooped up inside, so I thought I’d make them some playdough. I haven’t made homemade playdough for some time, not since my preschool teaching days, in fact. But the recipe is so incredibly easy that pretty much anyone can make it.

HOW TO MAKE PLAYDOUGH

Since we were having our snow party the next day, I thought it would be perfect to make some snowball playdough, and make enough for each of the kids to take home a little jar of dough and  a snowflake cookie cutter!

My kids had fun playing with the leftovers – it’s really a great rainy day activity, especially if they have a part in making it. I put enough of the dough for each of them on cookie sheets to help contain the mess in my dining room. My daughter, no joke, sat at the table for two and a half hours playing with her little tray.

kids playing with playdough.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE PLAYDOUGH:

  • All-purpose flour
  • Cream of Tartar – This is an acid and is acts as a stabilizer, thickening the dough.
  • Vegetable oil
  • Salt – Yes, there is an obscene amount of salt in the recipe, but it is a preservative that keeps bacteria from growing.
  • Water
  • Add-ins: glitter, food coloring, scented oils or extracts

EASY PLAYDOUGH RECIPE:

Playdough is made in a pot on the stove, cooked at a medium heat to form the dough. It can also be cooked in an electric griddle (as I recall from my preschool teacher days!).

  1. Start by mixing the first five ingredients together in a large, 5 quart pot.
  2. Once the mixture is combined, continue to stir often with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
  3. Once the mixture is thickened and no longer seem “wet,” transfer the dough to a flat surface. If you are adding food coloring or extracts, do that before removing the playdough from the pot. I recommend using a silicone spatula to avoid color transfer with food coloring. It will be hot, so you’ll want to let it cool for several minutes after which time you can begin kneading it and adding the glitter.

Playdough is one of those versatile recipes that you can change up to suit your tastes. (Just remember that this particular recipe is NOT edible. There are several edible dough recipes out there, but this ain’t it!). To the basic white dough recipe, I added a splash of vanilla for a yummy scent, and some white, iridescent glitter, but you can add other scented extracts, like Peppermint, or Kool-Aid for color and scent, or food coloring.

WHAT CAN I USE INSTEAD OF CREAM OF TARTAR?

Cream of Tartar is an acid that works as a stabilizer. You can replace this with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice or leave it out completely.

HOW TO STORE PLAYDOUGH

Store your dough in an airtight container or zip-top bag. It will last seemingly forever with proper storage. Do have your kids wash their hands before playing with it to avoid spreading germs.

Glittery Snowball Playdough! This homemade playdough recipe is easy and great for party favors or stocking stuffers, neighborhood or classroom gifts too!

homemade playdough in a jar with a free gift tag,

Here’s the free printable tag so you can make your own homemade playdough gift!

Here are some more fun Christmas ideas and free printables for kids:

Homemade playdough recipe:

Recipe
A jar of snowball playdough

Glittery Snowball Playdough

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Have some fun with your kids this holiday making Snowball Playdough! This homemade playdough recipe is easy and great for party favors or stocking stuffers. 
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 5 cups

Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup iridescent glitter

Instructions
 

  • Mix all ingredient in a 5 quart pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until mixture is a thick dough consistency, and no longer sticky. Scoop out on a cookie sheet to cool before playing with it.
  • *Add glitter after the dough is cool: Flatten playdough into a 1/2-inch disk. Top with glitter, then knead until glitter is evenly mixed throughout the playdough.

Video

Notes

  1. Feel free to experiment with different colors of glitter.
  2. For different colors of playdough, add food coloring during the cooking process. (It's not fun to knead the food coloring in with your hands - you'll end up with very colorful hands!).
  3. Experiment with scents by adding extracts to your playdough. Again, this is better to do during the cooking process so it can be evenly distributed.
  4. Please note that while the basic recipe (sans glitter) is not toxic, it should not be eaten.
Keyword cooked playdough, DIY playdough, snowball playdough

Here’s to another great inexpensive Christmas gift idea with a free printable!

Glittery Homemade Snowball Playdough recipe collage.

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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Comments

  1. HI, love this it is such a great gift idea for my kids to give their friends. I can’t seem to download the tag, I click on the yellow download square but nothing happens.

  2. Love this snowball idea! Do you have a free printable for the snowball playdoh tag?

    I’m making these as gifts for storytime at our library

    1. Yes there is a free printable; just scroll down to near the end of the post (after the playdough recipe) and you’ll see a graphic that says “download.”

  3. How much mess is there from the glitter? They look so cute and I would to make them as favors for my daughter’s birthday party but have visions of vacuuming up glitter seven years from now!

  4. Hi! I’m looking forward to making this for my daughter’s FROZEN party towards the end of August. How far in advance can I make this play dough? Not wanting to wait until the last minute… 🙂

    Thanks!
    Jennifer

    1. You can store it I’d say up to a week as long as it’s tightly wrapped and in an air tight container.

  5. Hi, I stumbled on your blog via pintrest and these cute snowballs will be the perfect take home for my daughter’s frozen party this weekend!
    thanks So much for your creativity!

  6. This idea gave me another idea. What about white icing with edible glitter? It’s more expensive, but less hassle and kids can eat it!

  7. Making this tonight for my daughters frozen party! How much will this recipe make? I need it for 20 kids

    1. It depends on the size of the ball that you make, but I’d say each recipe would be enough for 6 kids.

  8. Hi, I love your site! I am going to do these fabulous little snowballs as a party favouror my 7 y/o Frozen birthday party, but I was just wondering, roughly how much glitter did you use? I’ve never made play dough before!

    Thanks!

    1. Honestly, I just kept mixing it in until I was happy with the results. Maybe 1/4 cup. Good luck!

  9. Hello!! I did have one question about this awesome idea… Is this like any playdough that you just keep it in an air right container and it will last for a while? I guess I was going to make this today to play with next weekend… Will tht work? Thanks!!!

  10. HI there!

    love everything you have done here…so exciting as my two little girls want this for their shared party!!

    Please let me know if the play dough is really that white or did you alter the picture? It looks as though the pic of your kids playing with it – it is the normal creamy beige…not crisp white like the first pic you have with the mason jar? I just don’t want to make enough for 15 kids and have it lose it’s effect by producing beige play dough – you know?! 🙂

    Thanks so much for your generosity.

    1. The image of my kids was taken with my phone under the ceiling light so the lighting is definitely off. The playdough does come out a creamy white color – it’s not bright white – but it’s definitely not beige! 🙂

  11. Wonderful idea. I think I’m going to use this for my daughter’s third birthday party. She wants a “Frozen” themed party. Can you tell me where you found the white snowflake cookie cutter? Thanks so much!!!

    1. The snowflake cookie cutter came from Walmart, but that was at Christmas time. You could do a Google search – I’m sure you could find a store that carries them. Or maybe try a local cake shop?

  12. I love this! Planning to make for my daughters’ bday party next weekend as treats for the kiddos. How long does the dough stay soft? Wondering how far in advance I can make this?

    1. I actually bought that one at Goodwill. The ones I sent home with the kids were small, reusable plastic bowls, like the GLAD brand you can find at Target or any grocery store.

  13. HI, lovely idea for a Christmas party or gift. One question, how did you get the dough to look so white? It looks more creamy on the pictures of the kids playing – whenever I make playdough it comes out a mucky beige colour, so I put food colouring in. I’m in the UK, so maybe it’s the type of flour?

  14. I am so doing these as party favors for my annual Snow Party I was telling you about in IG. (You’re such a fabulous momma, Kristen!)