We have made a LOT of playdough over the years and this is our favorite no-cook playdough recipe consisting of cornstarch and conditioner. This simple 2 ingredient playdough recipe great for kids of all ages. Whip up a quick and easy batch of homemade play dough in less than 5 minutes. The reason we love it so much is that it has this amazing soft and silky texture like no other homemade playdough around!
Best No Bake Playdough Recipe: cornstarch & conditioner
My kids love a fresh batch of homemade playdough. This is the EASIEST play dough recipe because it is no cook play dough. Making this play dough only uses two ingredients and about 5 minutes: cornstarch and conditioner. My kids love to mold and create with homemade play dough for hours.
Related: Traditional playdough recipe has been shared over 100K times
A bonus with this homemade playdough recipe is that after playing with the silky play dough, your hands will feel like they just had a spa treatment. Did we mention this is our favorite no cook playdough recipe?
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Ingredients Needed to Make Playdough
- 1 part Hair Conditioner
- 2 parts Corn Starch
- (Optional) Food Coloring or Food Dye or even glitter
Watch Our Easy Playdough Recipe Tutorial Video with cornstarch and conditioner
Directions To Make Cornstarch Play Dough Recipe
Step 1
Mix 2 parts cornstarch with 1 part hair conditioner in a bowl.
Step 2
Stir with a spoon then dump onto flat surface and knead with hands until combined fully.
(Optional) Step 3
If you want colored playdough, then add drops of food coloring. Keep adding food coloring until you have achieved the desired play dough color.
Playdough making tip: We have found that adding the food coloring at this stage is the easiest. You can add it in step 2, but it can be controlled so much easier in this step.
Finished No Cook Playdough Recipe
Your playdough is now ready for play!
Safety Information: This is playdough recipe is NOT taste-safe and should not be used with younger kids who are still putting things into their mouths. Check out our favorite Edible playdough recipes.
Storing Your Homemade Conditioner Play Dough
Because this no cook playdough recipe’s primary ingredient is conditioner, it tends to last a little longer than food-based playdoughs. After play, store your playdough in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. If the playdough consistency changes during storage, then follow directions below to fix your homemade playdough!
How to Fix Your Cornstarch Playdough Texture
Since not all hair conditioners are the same consistency, you may need to alter the amounts just a bit so it is dough consistency:
- Play dough consistency is not soft enough: Add additional hair conditioner at any step to adjust the softness.
- Play dough consistency is too soft: Add some additional cornstarch and knead into dough.
No Cook Play Dough Recipe
This super simple 2 ingredient homemade playdough recipe is the easiest and softest we have ever made. Combine the two ingredients quickly and get playing within minutes! And because it is a no cook play dough recipe, kids can help!
Materials
- 1 part Hair Conditioner
- 2 parts Corn Starch
- (Optional 3rd ingredient) Food Coloring or Food Dye or even glitter
Tools
- bowl
- spoon or something to stir
Instructions
- Add 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part hair conditioner in a medium bowl.
- Stir until combined.
- Knead with hands.
- If desired, add food coloring.
Cloud Dough Playdough Recipe
Think of this as a mix between playdough and cloud dough. It is light and airy like cloud dough, but molds better as the conditioner helps the cornstarch become more pliable.
Related: Toddler Safe Cloud Dough Recipe
More Play Recipes with Corn Starch
- Another fun thing you can make with cornstarch is Oobleck.
- We’ve had lots of fun playing with oobleck in the past on Kids Activities Blog.
- We have also made goop or silly putty with cornstarch.
Homemade Playdough Gift Idea
We made our Silky Play Dough as a gift for a friend. We packaged the play dough up with glitter, a couple of play dough toys (rolling pin, cookie cutters, sequins, etc) and cupcake liners.
If your gift recipient may not be able to play with it immediately, then you can create a cute make-your-own-play-dough kit that has the two ingredients packaged separately with a printable instructions card and an airtight container for storage.
More Playdough Recipes from Kids Activities Blog
- Try this fun homemade play doh ice cream!
- Make playdough animals with this fun activity.
- This fall playdough is scented like autumn.
- This is a fun play dough cake idea for birthdays.
- Make this adorable and sweet Peeps playdough recipe.
- Make homemade gingerbread playdough and have some holiday fun.
- This Christmas playdough idea is a candy cane with both white play dough and red.
- Make Kool Aid Playdough…it smells delicious!
- Looking to make playdough with younger kids? Check out our 15 fun edible playdough recipes.
- This peanut butter playdough recipes is one of my favorites.
- This sparkly and colorful galaxy playdough is really cool and easily made at home.
- This homemade playdough with essential oils is our favorite sick day activity.
- All of our favorite homemade play dough recipes.
- You can buy this 2-pound bucket of playdough?!
- Check out these awesome playdough mats.
- Have you tried this cornstarch clay?
How did your soft no cook playdough recipe turn out? Is it the softest playdough you have ever made?
I never knew conditioner could be used to make dough. Very fun!
Dish Soap can also be used with cornstarch to make the same thing (if not very similar.)
It is soft, silky and when you’re done playing, just head to the sink and your hands are full of bubbles as you wash off. 🙂
My preschoolers LOVE “Bubble Dough!”
Great idea 😎
For us folks in the USA, the proportions by Delphine D. work out to be about 1 1/4 C hair conditioner and 2 C corn starch (maybe add 1 more heaping tablespoon.) Going to try this today!
this couldn’t have been featured at a better time. i just threw out our fall play dough a few days ago and had been meaning to make some summer dough to replace it. finally made this this today and i love it! i started with a 1:1 ratio of each ingredient which was too goopy. i added cornstarch little by little till i was satisfied. still plan to add some lemon scent although the suave eternal sunshine conditioner already gives it a nice summery scent. planning to make a strawberry scented batch as well.
work very well with 300ml of hair conditioner and 500 gr of corn starch, good fun to make and play with
Please include the exact ingredients for I know not what I’m doing and who doesn’t want a spa experience while working with little ones, who??
Yes what quantity of each?
What is the amounts you used?
I tried this — and it IS wonderfully soft, which I loved. BUT, I found that it STUCK to everything — the table, the floor — and turned out to be a bit messy, in the end. Maybe I don’t have the proportions right?
same thing with me they are right just sticky
roll in some flour then the stickiness is gone
ours did too at first but we just added a bit more corn starch until it firmed up. 🙂
Its because the corn starch. When it dries it has the same effect as a glue. Depending the surface you can take it out with a razor easily. Be careful if they try to mix it with water or something, because mine did that and put it on her LEGO figures to make them dresses and it was impossible to take out that thing for a whole week!.
Try a bit of salt not too sure on how much, but im pretty sure it’ll do the trick.
kids inevitably eat play dough. and even when they don’t, they will put their hands in their mouth during and after using it. either way, hair conditioner is not likely to be an ingredient that you’d want your young child to ingest. the blood brain barrier is not fully formed in kids, making them more sensitive to exposure to toxic or semi-toxic substances.
Children who are still putting things in their mouth should not be playing with any play dough. Most children need to be at least 3 years old before you can trust them to play with it unsupervised.
Love, love, love this! I cannot wait to try it out with my son and my students! 🙂
hi just wondered what corn starch is
just found out and made some and its being played with smells lovely !
Cornstarch looks like flour, but is used a thickener in things like gravy or custard. Available from any supermarket.
Cornstarch is a powder that is used in cooking things like gravy. It is usually found in the baking goods isle with the flour and stuff and is very inexpensive. It also works great on diaper rash or for men to use on their sensitive areas when they work a job where they seat alot and get chaffed.
LOL Y ou must not be very old It is used to make gravy It can be found in the baking supplies if you are going to use it for play dogh or for anything really get the cheapest they are all the same
Not sure it’s an issue of age. More likely nationality. Here in the UK I’ve had local folks asking me to “translate” American recipes. Corn starch is widely used here, but it’s call “corn flour.”
We have something we call corn flour (also in Spanish masa harina I think). What do you call that stuff?
May I share this with credit to you in my monthly ArtsyKidsNEWS that I send out by email? I want to talk about how to morf it into a Valentine’s gift… MaryAnn Kohl, [email protected]
Hi, Can anyone tell me what they use for the colouring of the play dough?
I believe it was food coloring.
While this is a well intentioned project; Why would anyone in their right mind use hair conditioner for a child’s toy? The chemicals in hair conditioner are meant to apply to hair and rinse out, some of them are quite harsh and toxic, so much so that I will not allow anyone in my family to use anything but olive oil and/or vegetable glycerin as a conditioner. Little ones playing with this “play dough” are likely to put the stuff in their mouths, rub their faces and eyes, etc.