How to make your own playdough party favours

You have a kids’ party coming up and you want to add some creative and meaningful party favours to those oh-so-exciting party bags. 

But you’ve heard all the debates in those parenting groups and you are slightly hesitant about making it just another bag of sugary junk. So you are scouring the internet for ideas and inspiration. What can be meaningful, creative and fun?

Well, worry no more mum or dad! 

We’ve got the perfect recipe for you! (Literally!)

DIY home-made playdough party favours! 

Add it to a bag with other fun party bag fillers or use it as a party favour all on its own! There’s a lot you can do with this delightful favour!

All children love playdough! It promises hours of squishy fun and creativity! And you don’t have to rely on the boring store-bought versions. It’s actually quite easy to whip together your own creative and customized version for your special party theme!

You can avoid the cheap, toxic versions of playdough you get at stores just by mixing up your own. We know that is a concern especially if you have tiny toddlers that love putting everything in their mouth! (Like some things don’t even remotely resemble food, but God knows how they find their way into those tiny mouths!) 😉

Read along to learn how to create some awesome DIY playdough favors:

Making the playdough:

First things first, let’s make the best natural playdough and then we can add our own creative customizations. Trust us, it’s easy and quick and you will have it ready in no time and you can get the kids involved for a fun activity!

You will need: 

½ cup fine table salt

1 heaped tablespoon Cream of Tartar

A little over 1 cup (250 g) of boiling water

½ teaspoon food colouring of your choice

A little over 1 cup (250 g) of plain all purpose flour

1 ½ tablespoon oil (any kind - vegetable, canola, coconut etc)

This is what you have to do:

1. Boil the water and turn off the stove or pour boiling water into a safe bowl
2. Add salt, cream of tartar, food colouring and oil to the boiling water. Give it a quick mix to make sure the salt is dissolved well
3. Add salt and give it another mix. About 30 seconds of mixing should do.
4. Now scoop it out into an open dish to begin the process of drying it out. Check if it isn’t too hot and then give it a bit of a knead with your hands
5. As it cools, it will start to resemble playdough!

Get creative!

Now is the time to get creative and add some fun to it! 

You can add chunky glitter to give it a stunning sparkle! This is especially great for those unicorn or princess themed parties. 

You can add kid-safe essential oils or food-grade flavorings to give it an irresistible scent. Here are just a few ideas to get those creative muscles working in your brain:

Ice-cream playdough with colourful sprinkles and frostings.

Rainbow playdough with all the different colours of the rainbow.

Sparkly galaxy playdough with confetti stars. 

Magical unicorn playdough to add some wonder..

Night Sky playdough that resembles starry nights. 

Sparkly winter playdough with blue sparkles. 

Construction playdough with pea gravel or decomposed granite.

Autumn themed playdough with autumn colour, scents and leaves added to it. 

The possibilities are endless and the sky is the limit!

Putting the favours together:

Now that you have your creative juices flowing, you can think of some activities you would want kids to do with your playdough party favours. This can be based on your party theme or it could just be a nice educational activity. 

Once you have an idea, it will be easy to decide what else you can add to your party favours to make it a fun and meaningful gift for your little guests. A gift that can give them with hours of entertainment and creativity beyond just your party. Remember party bags and party favours are all about keeping the party going after the big day ends!

Here are some ideas for you;

Generalized Playdough favours:

You can add conventional plastic cutters, rollers and knives to your DIY Playdough favours. Or you can include plastic toys like animals to the playdough box to spice up the favour a bit. You can stack different color playdoughs together and then wrap it up with cellophane wrap and tie it up with a nice ribbon to give it a festive look.

Themed party favours with plastic toys:

If you want a simple way of adding your party theme to the playdough favours, you can add a simple plastic toy or figurine based on what your theme is. For example, plastic animals, cars, unicorns, dolls or stamps or themed cutters can all add a bit more fun to your playdough party favours. You can burry dinosaurs or seashells fossils in playdough if you have a dinosaur or ocean themed party. 

Educational activity inspired party favours:

If you want to turn your party favour into an educational activity, you can include alphabet or number stamps. Or print out and add number mats or shape mats like these for a fun educational activity. You can also print and add general playdough mats like these that allow kids to make things to fill up a plate for example, or design a house or fill up a planter. You can also add popsicle sticks to give kids a chance to build 2D or 3D shapes with playdough. 

Include add ons like sparkles and star confetti and guided printouts to make it an opportunity to learn about things like the night sky, galaxies etc or the different seasons. You can also add plant and animals to allow kids to make their own rainforests. 

Sensory activity inspired party favours:

Add materials like stones, pebbles, beads, beans, pasta, rice, sea shells, sticks, pipe cleaners etc to allow for lots of different sensory activities with playdough. Color these items or make them fit your theme and you have a great on-theme party favour that promises loads of joy and squishy educational fun!

Good party fillers that will go well with your DIY Playdough party favour:

If you feel like you would want to add more to your party favours, here are a few suggestions of good things that can complement this awesome favour:

• Add theme appropriate mini balloons like these available at The Little Things
• Add theme appropriate pens like superhero pens or unicorn pens
• Add theme appropriate stickers like these sea life stickers
• Add games like labyrinths or water games

Playdough is a great party favour allowing room for a lot of creativity and flexibility. It’s versatile enough to be able to fit different party themes and to appeal to different age groups. 

And best of all kids love it! 

You can’t go wrong adding playdough to kids party bags!