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?
Oh my god, worst play do ever! So disapointing, no amount of tweaking made this fun for my very disapointed 2 year old 🙁
So sorry to hear that!
I love it! This gets all over the place if you let it. I didn’t measure just mix until you get the right consistency. I didn’t want mine too wet so I think I used more cornstarch but it did look like your photo. If you use food coloring the color does not come out vibrant so it will look more pastel. This was a great idea and I love the teacher’s comment on using dish soap to make bubble dough. It is great to try out new things for sensory play!
This play dough recipe was great on day one. Although, it did take a lot of tweaking to get the consistency just right. However, my daughter and I got it out to play with today (less than 24 hours after we first made it) and it was a crumbly mess. Won’t be making this again. Too much trouble get the recipe just right to have to throw it out the next day.
Love it! Love it! Love it! Quick and easy. Made me feel all crafty with my kid. Fun to make for both of us. Doesn’t take long to make.
Its cornstarch and conditioner not water and flour, Janine.. that could be whats wrong..
some just dont get it lololol
This dough is amazing! It took a little tweaking to perfect but it is quite easy to figure out. Mine was real sticky at first so I just added more starch one tbl spoon at a time till it wasnt sticky anymore. It became crumbly of sorts but all it took was some kneading a little more conditioner to get it just right. If its sticky add more starch. If its crumbly add a tad of conditioner.. it turned out wonderfully. My son loves it & my husband was very impressed! If you make this and you can only complain then maybe this type of project is not for you. A little patience and common sense is all you really need.
I can’t wait to try this with my many bottles of hotel hand lotion!
If you use a natural inexpensive conditioner, like 365 brand from whole foods, you can avoid the harmful chemicals, like parabens, or pthalates. Just a suggestion for the health conscious. Everything is absorbed through the skin.
Very true! There are lots of conditioners these days that are chemical-free.
This recipe is awful. It sticks to everything or breaks apart and did coloring stains their hands.
We are so sorry that was your experience. We use this recipe all the time, but often because conditioners are of various consistencies, we have to alter the amount of starch.
I, like others, found this recipe to be sticky, yet crumbly. In fact I still have not figured out how something can be so dry and crumbly yet sticky at the same time. It dried out before I was even done making it all! I added drops of water and flour alternately to get the right consistancy, but it doesn’t last. Sorry to say I’d skip this one…it sounds good, but the finished product isn’t worth it. I just spent an hour and a half making it and cleaning it up with about 5 minutes of play before it was unusable. Its a shame because I love how it makes my hands feel, but it is not a good play dough, period.