Homemade Gluten Free Playdough is the perfect sensory activity for kids! All the fun, none of the gluten.
Gluten Free Playdough
I don’t know about your kids, but my little one loves playing with playdough. When she was younger she just loved to squish it through her fingers and crumbling it all over the place. Now that she’s older she still loves to squish it, but is getting better at making shapes and loves all of her playdough toys.
Playdough is great for gross motor skills and development, but it is a problem for this momma with celiac disease. Traditional play dough is not gluten free and anyone with a toddler knows that playdough gets everywhere. Under nails, under shoes, you find it in places it never was to start with.
Problem Solved
When I was teaching, I always made playdough instead of buying it. It was so much cheaper. Gluten free playdough is sold on Amazon, but it is pretty pricey, so I pulled out my trusty homemade playdough recipe (I’ve been using it forever, no idea where I first got it) and decided to try it with some gluten free flour. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.
I tried one other time to make gluten free playdough with cornstarch and it was a disaster. This was so much easier and fairly inexpensive, plus it has a great texture and molds really well.
Recipe Notes:
I used Trader Joe’s gluten free flour. It is cheaper than what I use for baking and it worked perfectly.
Use cheap salt. The kind that comes in the round cardboard cylinder. It is super fine. If you use a coarser salt, the texture will be off.
Add the food coloring with the water. If you try to add it later, it is really difficult to knead in.
Those cute little storage containers? I got them at the dollar store. 10 for $1.00 and they are perfect for playdough.
I hope you enjoy this gluten free playdough recipe, do you have any fun gluten free playdough recipes you like to use?
Gluten Free Playdough
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free flour I use Trader Joes
- 1/2 cup salt the cheap fine kind
- 1 Tablespoon cream of tarter
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- Food Coloring
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, and cream of tarter in medium saucepan.
- Turn heat to medium.
- Add water, vegetable oil, and food coloring.
- Stir constantly until dough forms. (2-3 minutes)
- Dump onto wax paper.
- Let cool a few minutes and then need till smooth.
32 Comments
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July 11, 2022 at 6:28 pm[…] Stickers, coloring books, markers, sidewalk chalk are all great ways to fill an Easter basket. Homemade gluten-free playdough would be fun, too! I like to balance the big item with a few little items. I try to plan ahead and […]
Nancy Rotatori
September 22, 2021 at 6:42 pmHelp, we have been making this for our preschool classes, but it is so sticky. I used so much extra Trader Joes GF flour then let it sit for 4 days and finally it wasn’t too bad. Why does it come out so sticky and what can I do to make it not sticky. We used almost a whole bag to get it not sticky.
Amanda
October 25, 2021 at 2:55 pmHi! I just bought some GF Flour from Trader Joe’s and will be trying it again. It is possible they changed the formula. I would recommend adding a spoonful or two of cornstarch to help with stickiness, but will be updating this shortly! Also, please make sure your cream of tarter is fresh. Thanks!
Gia
February 4, 2021 at 12:15 pmSo I DID use King Arthur Allpurpose gf flour and made it work. I stirred until I couldn’t anymore for about 1 minute. It was insanely sticky, so I added about 1tsp more of oil and kneaded that in, then kept adding flour until it was smooth, dry and malleable. It worked great. I may try adding 1/2 cup of flour from the start then kneading the rest in. It was annoying but I find homemade play dough always is.
Gluten Free Playdough Brands - MI Gluten Free Gal
August 12, 2020 at 12:00 pm[…] Gluten Free Playdough Recipe from Eat at Our Table […]
Kathy S
December 9, 2020 at 11:23 pmI have used this basic recipe for about 40 years using all purpose flour. My recipe has one difference—the one I use calls for 2 t. Of cream of tartar instead of 1 T.. For those who had problems with the consistency, our preschool recommended heating it until it looks like mashed potatoes. Using that consistency hint helped us make a successful play dough.
I would also recommend putting your web address on the printable items. I am actually looking up information for someone else. Putting the web address on the printable gives credit where credit is due. Your site looks great and I suspect that the mom will come back and look at it. I did put the web address on the copy that I printed.
Amanda
December 15, 2020 at 2:27 pmHi! I will have to try the added cream of tarter. GF flours tend to behave differently, I’ve also added cornstarch at one point. I need to do an overhaul of this recipe, but time just hasn’t allowed. I will also double check to make sure the name is on the printables! Thanks!
Wifey With a Knifey
July 15, 2020 at 1:45 pmI feel bad leaving a poor review but we made this today it is so sticky! Any idea why? I keep adding more and more GF flour (brand is King Arthur) and it’s just a sticky mess 🙁
Amanda
August 3, 2020 at 2:48 pmNo worries, I have never made this with King Arthur flour. I usually use the Gluten Free Flour from Trader Joes for it because it’s cheaper. Did you use table salt? I did try it once with a thicker salt and it was a mess. I’ve actually only used King Arthur one other time and my recipe didn’t work with it either, it didn’t thicken up at all. In the next few weeks I am going to see if I can get my hands on a few other gluten free flours and see if I can figure out why that happened. Thanks!
Aditi
May 3, 2020 at 1:05 amMy son is allergic to wheat and I tried making this dough for him, since all the store bought dough has wheat in it. This is an awesome recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it. Tip: I also added the color after the dough was slightly cool. Made 4 portions and had 4 different colours 🙂
Amanda
May 18, 2020 at 1:47 pmAwesome! I’m so glad you liked it!
Hannah
August 28, 2020 at 4:43 pmMine was so goopy
One was like hard and the other one was liquid it would look fine while it was hot and then just like liquify
I used king Arthur’s
And after I made it I saw the other moms Recipe
Maybe you should put not to use king authors?
Not trying to be a Karen
Thanks!
Amanda
October 13, 2020 at 2:34 pmHi! thanks for letting me know. I am going to add that note. I have actually tried using King Arthur’s in a tempura batter and it did the same thing. I did make some salt dough the other day and I mixed the king arthur’s and some cornstarch (it was a no cook dough) and it worked well. I will definitely add that note. Thank you!
Amanda
August 3, 2020 at 3:01 pmI’m so glad you loved it? Do you mind telling me which gluten free flour you used?
Ginny
January 12, 2018 at 12:31 pmThanks for the recipe! My four year old helped me make it 🙂
Jacki
March 21, 2017 at 8:06 pmThis looks really easy to make!! My kids would love it!
Amy Blake
March 21, 2017 at 2:55 pmGreat idea! Making your own is so much more cost effective.
Amy Blake
March 21, 2017 at 2:54 pmI love making play dough for my kids, I m defiantly going to try this recipe out.
candy
March 21, 2017 at 10:39 amI have always made all our play dough homemade and think it last so much long and is better. I don’t have to worry about it being gluten free thank goodness.
Lauren
March 21, 2017 at 9:21 amIs it bad that I don’t have kids but I still want to make this?? 😉
Casey
March 21, 2017 at 8:20 amI have always wanted to make our own play doh and just have not DONE! I think we should put this on the to do list for this weekend!
Amanda M Rodriguez
March 21, 2017 at 8:18 amGoing to try making this tonight!
Leah
March 21, 2017 at 5:28 amThis is a great alternative to buying it. My boys love it but we go through it like no man’s business cause Son no. 1 leaves it out and mummy forgets to check to make sure it’s away. So it would be good to be able to just whip some up with some staples from the pantry!
Alisa Fleming
March 20, 2017 at 11:06 pmThis is too much fun! So great for kids parties and almost makes me wish I could play, too!
Kelly @ TastingPage
March 20, 2017 at 9:42 pmWhat a great idea for those kiddos who have big ol allergies. Fun for everyone!
Christina Shoemaker
March 20, 2017 at 7:49 pmWhat a great recipe for playdoh! And I was going to say how much I love the plastic containers! Thanks for sharing where you got them!
April K.
March 20, 2017 at 6:36 pmI think I’m going to make some of this for my parents house. My daughter has play dough at my parents house already but when she runs out, id rather her play with this than what is at the store.
Lindsey
March 20, 2017 at 2:29 pmThis looks amazing! I will be coming back to this recipe as we have a wheat allergy in our family.
Beth
March 20, 2017 at 9:30 amWould you believe that I have never actually made my own playdough? I need to and this recipe looks perfect. Thank you!!
Kelly
March 20, 2017 at 8:58 amThis is awesome! I’ve been needing to re-up our Playdoh supply, so I’m definitely going to pin this for later!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
March 20, 2017 at 8:41 amI was just going to make some play-duh the other day! Ha!
Jenn
March 20, 2017 at 7:28 amI love to make playdough! It is a cheap easy thing to make and it keeps kids entertained for such a long time!
Jenn
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