Homemade Christmas-Scented Playdough Recipes Your Kids Will Love

If you are looking for an easy way to bring the winter and Christmas season into your home, then you need to try this easy DIY homemade Christmas-scented playdough. These smell so good you will almost mistake them for the actual thing! With simple ingredients and just a few minutes by the stove, you will have yourself, or your child, an incredible winter activity for hours of play and fun!

Ingredients You Need to Make Homemade Playdough

Flour – All-purpose works great for this. Bleached or unbleached is just fine.

Salt – Use any fine-grain salt you want, but iodized or sea salt works well. I usually go with the cheapest option since it is not for consumption. 

Oil – You can use any oil. I used basic vegetable oil but melted coconut oil can also work.

Cream of Tartar – This is needed to help make the dough stronger and stiffer. It also gives playdough that elasticity characteristic we all love. I recommend getting a large bag of this. It is much more cost-effective than getting the small containers at the grocery store. 

Cinnamon – Use ground cinnamon for this. 

Ginger – Use ground ginger for this.

Vanilla Extract – Use vanilla extract that you use in baked goods. You can find this at any grocery store in the baking section.

Peppermint Extract – Peppermint extract can be found at most grocery stores in the baking section.

Food Coloring– This recipe is for liquid food coloring drops. Adjust as needed for your type of food coloring. You can also use gel food coloring. 

Christmas Season Playdough Scents

The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year as we bring in a whole new array of fragrances like peppermint, gingerbread, and lots of Christmas cookies. Also, be sure to check out my blog post on making Christmas-scented playdough with essential oils for additional seasonal recipes.

Peppermint Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour (160 g)
• 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
• 1 cup of water (205 g)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 70 drops of green food coloring to make a dark green dough

Gingerbread Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour (160 g)
• 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
• 1 cup of water (205 g)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 10 drops of red, 10 drops of yellow, and 2 drop of blue food coloring to make brown dough

Sugar Cookie Playdough

Ingredients

• 1 cup of flour (160 g)
• 1/2 cup of salt (165 g)
• 1 cup of water (205 g)
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (24 g)
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar (26 g)
• 2 tablespoon of vanilla extract

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How to Make Homemade Playdough

It is so quick and easy to whip up this homemade playdough recipe! I will never buy playdough from the store, knowing it just takes a few simple ingredients. Not to mention I can make it smell so much better! I’ll walk you through every step of the way so you know exactly what to do to make the perfect Christmas-scented playdough!

First, measure out the water and then add food coloring to the water, if needed. Mix the water and food coloring before adding the oil.

Add any liquid additions at this point such as peppermint or vanilla extract, if necessary.

Measure out and then combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar, and any needed spices for the Christmas-scented playdough you want to make into your saucepan.

Add dry and wet ingredients into the saucepan.

Heat your saucepan over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until it all begins to solidify and come together. As it heats, it may get a little lumpy, but this is okay. This process only takes a few minutes, so don’t walk away from your stove!

Once it comes together, scoop it out of the pan onto some parchment paper or I like to do it directly onto my counter. Knead the playdough to help it cool off a bit. If you forgot to add in any of your food coloring or add-ins, you can do it at this point, but it will be harder to incorporate. If you want a stronger scent, you could add additional extracts or seasonings as well.

Once your playdough has cooled, store it in a Zip-Lock bag or an airtight container. These plastic containers are the perfect size for one batch of playdough and make a great way to store various scents and colors.

How long will Homemade Playdough last?

Playdough, if stored in a Zip-Lock bag or an airtight container, should be stored for up to 6 months but likely longer!

Setting Up Your Playdough for Independent Use

It is important to make things accessible to our children. We can make playdough more accessible by making a Montessori-inspired playdough kit that fosters both creativity and independence. This Christmas-scented playdough would make a perfect Christmas gift for