Here is a wonderful DIY recipe to include your kids or grandkids in making, then they can have lots of fun playing and creating with it. This homemade essential oil play dough no cook recipe is not only easy, but also has aromatherapy benefits too!

Kids love the fact that they can customize with color and the scent, parents love how simple this play dough recipe is to make with ingredients found in most homes.

Homemade Essential Oil Play Dough - No Cook Recipe

Here is the video where I found this recipe, they go kinda fast but I love that I don't have to sit through a long tutorial on how to make essential oil playdough. It gets right to the scented play dough recipe without any fluff. I have added the recipe and step by step tutorial from my homemade batches I made with my youngest son.

Ingredients for Aromatherapy Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup hot water
• Food coloring of choice
• 10-15 drops of essential oils of choice

Instructions for Homemade Play Dough

Step 1: In a mixing bowl place flour, salt and cream of tartar and mix together with a spatula.

Step 2: Add vegetable oil to dry ingredients and blend in with spatula.

Step 3: Measure out 3/4 cup of hot water (I used hottest faucet water but you could boil the water if you desire). Add several drops of food coloring into the water and stir with a spoon to blend. I used 6-8 drops of food coloring and my colors came out mostly pastel. I recommend not adding essential oils here and instead add them at the end for best scent (see step 6).

Step 4: Pour in 1/4 cup of colored water into mixture and stir, slowly add the additional water until the desired consistency is obtained. My batches only needed about 1/2 cup to reach the consistency in the video.

Step 5: Add some flour to kneading surface, then knead the dough until it is becomes smooth, squishy, and no longer sticky.

Step 6: Flatten out the dough a little and place drops of essential oil onto the playdough then knead with hands until it is mixed in.

Step 7: Store at room temperature in an airtight container for best results. Can last up to six months depending on how frequently it is played with. If aroma fades, repeat step 6.

For more vibrant play dough colors, try Wilton Icing Colors.

Aromatherapy Benefits of Essential Oil Playdough

Aromatherapy benefits of play dough will depend on which essential oil you or your child picks to go into the dough. As your child plays with the scented dough, they will be inhaling the essential oil aroma and gain powerful aromatic benefits.

• For our yellow batch of homemade playdough, my son chose lemon essential oil. Lemon oil has a very bright and energizing effect.
• For our pastel green we added spearmint essential oil, perfect for focusing and creating.

Here is a quick chart with some options you may want to pick, you can also pick a favorite essential oil blend too!

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