How to Make the Best Black Playdough Recipe Ever!

Halloween is in the air and at our house, the color scheme goes to orange and black. Even in playtime! And we love making our playtime DIY, so in came a big batch of homemade playdough today. I wanted a really rich, deep, dark Black Playdough, which with the right ingredients is super easy to make.

Ever wonder how to make black playdough? It's easy, with the right ingredients, to make soft, squishy, totally black playdough. Perfect for Halloween!

Ever wonder how to make black playdough? It's easy, with the right ingredients, to make soft, squishy, totally black playdough. Perfect for Halloween!
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Black Playdough Play Ideas

We whipped up this batch of playdough for our block party so we pulled together a dollar store tray full of random Halloween themed items. Like plastic bugs, eyeball poppers, googly eyes, plus some craft supplies like beads and pipe cleaners.

 

halloween playdough tray

 

The eye poppers were the biggest hit for many because they were so dramatic and big.black playdough with monster eyes and hands playing in it

How to Make Black Playdough

Making a deep, rich black playdough is all about the ingredients. You need a super moist playdough so that it doesn’t get ashy looking and turn grey. My secret ingredients for moist, shiny dough is glycerin! It gives it a subtle sheen and a heavenly feel for anyone playing with it, plus it helps keep it from drying out. Then it’s about the right color. You absolutely need a gel food color to get the dough past grey into black.

Now on to the recipe! If you need a printable version of this, hop down to the bottom of the post.

Black Playdough Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup salt
  • 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 1 teaspoon black gel food color
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon glycerin

Black Playdough Recipe

  1. In a large pot, add flour, salt, and cream of tartar. Stir with a whisk until thoroughly mixed.

  2. Measure 2 cups of hot water and add the black food coloring. Mix until color is fully dissolved.

  3. Add black water, vegetable oil, and glycerin to flour mixture in pot. Mix thoroughly with a spatula.

  4. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until almost playdough texture. Do not overcook as playdough continues to cook a bit and will get dry if overcooked. Remove from heat.

  5. Remove playdough from pot and place on a plate. Once playdough is cool enough for an adult to handle, knead well.

  6. Cover with a wet paper towel until cool enough to play with or store. Store in a zipper bag or other air tight container. Store in a cool, dry place.

Some More of Our Favorite Playdough Recipes

For fall, we also like this heavenly scented Pumpkin Pie Spice Playdough.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Playdough

When we want our playdough to have a little STEM, we make Robot Playdough.

Robot Playdough

Or Pi Pie Playdough :)

Pi Day Pie Playdough

Have fun playing!

The Best Black Playdough

Ever wonder how to make black playdough? It's easy, with the right ingredients, to make soft, squishy, totally black playdough. Perfect for Halloween!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Cooling time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: playdough

Equipment

  • large pot

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup salt
  • 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 1 teaspoon black gel food color
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon glycerin

Instructions

  • In a large pot, add flour, salt, and cream of tartar. Stir with a whisk until thoroughly mixed.
  • Measure 2 cups of hot water and add the black food coloring. Mix until color is fully dissolved.
  • Add black water, vegetable oil, and glycerin to flour mixture in pot. Mix thoroughly with a spatula.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until almost playdough texture. Do not overcook as playdough continues to cook a bit and will get dry if overcooked. Remove from heat.
  • Remove playdough from pot and place on a plate. Once playdough is cool enough for an adult to handle, knead well.
  • Cover with a wet paper towel until cool enough to play with or store. Store in a zipper bag or other air tight container. Store in a cool, dry place.
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