Whip up a batch of Homemade Easter play dough in the softest shades of spring! Perfect for Easter activities and the spring-themed activities that follow. This dough is silky and supple, won’t go hard, and will keep for months if stored in an air tight container.
If you’ve been following along with us, you know how much I love coming up with themed play dough ideas! Today, I’m sharing the Easter play dough activity we had going on yesterday. My toddlers and preschoolers loved it.
Older kids will love our Painted Clay Dough Egg Decorating Activity.
First, you’ll need to need to make your Easter playdough!
Won’t go hard, keeps for months
This recipe makes the softest, silkiest play dough. It won’t go hard if the kids leave it out, and it will keep for months if stored in an air tight baggy or plastic container. Of all the play dough recipes I’ve tried over the years, this one is my favourite.
More ways to play with homemade play dough:
Glycerine is optional but it makes it extra silky
There’s an optional ingredient, and that’s glycerine. You can leave it out if you don’t have any, but if you have it, use it! It makes the play dough extra soft and silky.
PRINTABLE RECIPE AT BOTTOM OF POST
Softest No-Cook PlayDough Recipe
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tbsp cream of tartar
- 1 to 1.5 cups boiling water (I fill my kettle and bring it to a boil)
- food colouring
- few drops glycerine (optional – makes it silky)
Instructions:
- Combine the dry ingredients and the oil in a large heat-proof bowl or pot.
- Measure out 1.5 cups of your just-boiled water.
- Add food colouring to the water and then add 1 cup of the coloured water to the bowl/pot.
- Stir to combine, and add more water in small increments if necessary, until you get the desired consistency.
- Continue stirring until combined.
- Turn dough out onto the counter and knead in the glycerine.
- Continue to knead until ingredients are well blended (2-3 minutes).
- Store in air tight container. Will keep for months.
For your conviencience, this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Getting the colours right for Easter:
The secret to getting these soft, pastel colours is to use very little food colouring. I used Wilton Icing Gels
. I added just a tiny bit at a time, kneading it in until I was happy with the colour of my dough. The Wilton Gels tend to intensify over time, so when you’re going for soft colours, less is more!
Just look at the gorgeous spring shades of this playdough! Aren’t they pretty?
Time to play!
Tools for your Easter playdough activities:
Don’t think you’re limited to cookie cutters and rolling pins when playing with play dough! Think of interesting and unique items to provide for exploration! You can use almost anything. For our Easter themed play, we used:
- plastic Easter eggs
- glass vase fillers
- craft foam flowers
- googly eyes
- craft feathers
- egg cups
- coloured buttons
- along with plastic knives, scissors, rolling pins and cookie cutters
The girls had a great time creating easter bunnies with the googly eyes, buttons and feathers.
And they pressed and rolled the foam flowers into the dough to make imprints.
They filled the plastic eggs with dough, and explored all of the materials while decorating their dough. It was a true sensory experience.
Providing a variety of tools and materials allows kids to get really creative!
Have a look through your craft supplies to see what other supplies you can set out with your playdough activity! Craft sticks, plastic straws, candles, beads, cocktail toothpicks! The sky’s the limit!
When you think outside the box, you’ll come up with all kinds of ideas!
More Easter Activities for Kids:
- Easter Crafts for Toddlers through Tweens
- Easter Egg Crafts for Kids
- Easter Chick Crafts for Kids
- Fruity Pebbles Easter Egg Treats
Softest No-Cook Play Dough Recipe
Supplies
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tbsp cream of tartar
- 1 to 1.5 cups boiling water I fill my kettle and bring it to a boil
- food colouring
- few drops glycerine optional – makes it silky
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients and the oil in a large heat-proof bowl or pot.
- Measure out 1.5 cups of your just-boiled water.
- Add food colouring to the water and then add 1 cup of the coloured water to the bowl/pot.
- Stir to combine, and add more water in small increments if necessary, until you get the desired consistency.
- Continue stirring until combined.
- Turn dough out onto the counter and knead in the glycerine.
- Continue to knead until ingredients are well blended (2-3 minutes).
- Store in air tight container. Will keep for months.
Get the 3-5 Playful Preschool e-Book!
25+ Preschool activities by 25 bloggers, 10 printables, PLUS 50 links to activities not featured in the book.
Click to download your copy now!
Follow the Hooligans on Facebook!
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Emily
I’m using your recipe from Valentine’s Day for chocolate playdough & we’re making “chocolate Easter bunnies”! 🙂
Rachel
will it harden so we can keep it?
happyhooligans
I’m not sure I understand, Rachel? You’re wondering if the playdough will harden?
Amanda
Playdough doesn’t harden the way you’re thinking, for keepsakes. Look for a basic salt dough ornanent recipe, bake them at low heat, and then you can paint and keep forever. My mom still has mine and they’re about 40 years old now.
mariz
This is so cute. It looks fun. I’m sure my son will love this. Thank you for posting. You might want to see this.
Amanda
Thanks, this is exactly what we need for the spring break since our chocolate playdough from Valentine’s day has seen better days!