How to Make White Playdough
Ever wondered how to make white playdough? This is a gluten free playdough recipe that create perfectly pure white playdough. This post will take you through all the nuts and bolts about how to make playdough, too.
This playdough all feels cool to the touch, making it perfect for a winter playdough invitation to play. It feels like real snow, and since it’s bright white, it looks like real snow, too. You can add some iridescent glitter to make it sparkle like snow, too!
Every preschool teacher needs a solid recipe for homemade play dough that is bright white. That’s this recipe.
It is soft and pliable, making it easy for preschoolers to smoosh and roll, but also strong enough to hold its shape for cookie cutters, playdough cutters, and textured rolling pins.
The base of this playdough recipe can be found in my Playdough Cookbook. If you love this recipe, then you’ll be sure to love the other 45 recipes in the cookbook, like our lemon scented playdough or our go-to playdough recipe without cream of tartar. That’s plenty of recipes so you can have a different playdough for every sensory experience.
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Why Make Bright White Playdough
Flour, even when it is bleached, is off-white, making a dull colored dough, rather than a pure white. Since this recipe doesn’t use flour and salt as a base, it remains a bright white play dough.
Rather, this playdough recipe calls for baking soda and corn starch to keep its white extra white.
Wondering when you might use white playdough? Here are some ideas:
- Use white playdough to roll snowballs for these snowman counting cards.
- Add white playdough in a winter small world play.
- Or practice shapes with these playdough shape mats.
- Use white play dough to build playdough snowmen.
- Use it as a sensory component to any of these winter preschool themes.
- Make it into a candy cane peppermint playdough.
Gluten Free Playdough Recipe
The base of this play dough recipe is made with baking soda, making it gluten free and a safer choice for preschoolers who have severe allergies. Baking soda, known for its versatility and non-allergenic properties, is often recommended by dermatologists for allergy-prone individuals.
So, a baking soda playdough recipe like this one is can be a safer choice for some allergy sensitive preschoolers.
Ingredients to Make White Playdough Recipe
Like all my playdough recipes, this one is made with typical household ingredients. This recipe only calls for a couple of ingredients!
- baking soda
- corn starch
- cooking oil
- water
- essential oil for scent (optional)
How to Make White Playdough Without Cream of Tartar
You read that right! This is another homemade playdough recipe without cream of tartar! And it’s not your classic cooked playdough recipe, either.
In a medium size saucepan, whisk together the baking soda and cornstarch. Slowly pour in the water and the cooking oil, stirring thoroughly to eliminate any lumps.
Turn on the stove to medium heat. Continue stirring constantly until the mixture begins to bubble around the edges. Turn the heat down to low and keep stirring. The liquid will continue to thicken and eventually form into a ball. This should take about five minutes.
Because of the cornstarch, you’ll want to take it slow and keep stirring to prevent lumps. The mixture will form into a ball of dough and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Once this happens, plop the ball of dough onto some parchment paper or wax paper and allow to cool.
After the playdough has cooled completely, its time to start kneading the dough. Taking the additional few minutes to knead the dough allows for all the ingredients to become more fully incorporated. If you want to add a scent, like peppermint essential oil, this is the time to add it.
Add Some Chunky Glitter (Optional)
During the kneading, you can add some glitter if you would like the added sparkle. We opted not to this time, but often add chunky glitter. I always suggest chunky glitter because the flecks will reflect more light in the playdough and therefore sparkle more. It will look like sparkly snow in the sunshine!
Here are my favorite glitters to use in snow playdough. Just click the image to read more.
Snow Sensory Play
Playdough is easily one of the best sensory tools for the preschool classroom, and this white playdough recipe is excellent for snow sensory play! Instead of using faux snow, which can get expensive, use this white playdough for a cheaper, but similar, option.
When I offered tis snowy white playdough to my preschoolers, we kept the sensory play simple by adding acrylic snowflakes and glittery white foam balls.
This playdough has the most amazing texture. It’s slightly grainy from the baking soda, but still somehow silky from the cornstarch and allows for perfect cutting with playdough tools and cookie cutters.
Now, if you’re looking for a silky soft playdough recipe, this one uses mostly cornstarch and will turn out nearly pure white, too.
Winter Sensory Tray
Sensory play can take on a lot of looks and can be taken to a lot of different levels. You can use this playdough in a winter sensory table, or in a small winter playdough kit. Here are our favorite winter themed playdough toys to add to our small world play and playdough sensory play.
Winter Playdough Mats Free
Bright white playdough is also pairs wonderfully with our Shape Playdough Mats and our winter scenes playdough mats. I like to use this playdough in our winter fine motor preschool centers.
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Bright White Playdough Recipe
This playdough recipe makes bright white playdough, making it a perfect snow dough for winter sensory play. It even feels cool to the touch, just like real snow!
Materials
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Tools
- medium suacepan
- wooden spoon
- measuring cups and spoons
- parchment paper
Instructions
- In a medium sized saucepan, thoroughly mix the baking soda and cornstarch.
- Turn the stove on to medium heat and slowly pour the water into the saucepan, gently mixing. Add food coloring if using.
- Add the cooking oil and continue to stir until the mixture begins to bubble. Turn down the heat to low and keep stirring until it forms a dough and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then drop onto the counter and knead until the dough is well formed.
- Once cooled, if the dough is sticky, knead in more corn starch, one tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.
Notes
Since this playdough doesn’t require flour for the binding, it is a good alternative for children who are gluten free.
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I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
