Easy Cinnamon Play Dough Recipe

Written by Pam Published on January 28, 2019

The weather has been cold and rainy in our area for the past three months. That’s enough to make anyone go stir-crazy, especially Critter, the resident overly active two-year-old. In an attempt to find her something to do and to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I made this homemade Cinnamon Play Dough Recipe. With its sweet pink color and the fresh cinnamon scent, its the perfect play dough to shape into hearts or use with heart cookie cutters.

Easy Cinnamon Play Dough Recipe

Usually, I offer up gluten-free options for most of my recipes. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that if you use gluten-free flour in this recipe, it doesn’t ‘set’ correctly. It’s just too crumbly. On the plus side, this recipe is simple to make and uses common ingredients you probably have around the house. I like to use a mixture of ground cinnamon and cinnamon bark essential oil, but feel free to substitute one or the other. Remember, the cinnamon smell will not be as strong if you use only ground cinnamon.

This is a no-cook play dough that can be prepared in around ten minutes. It’s also a fun project to make with the kids. They can help with the measuring, mixing, and kneading.

Here’s what you need:

flour
salt
water
vegetable oil
red food coloring or food paste gel
ground cinnamon
cinnamon bark essential oil

Printable Recipe:

Easy Cinnamon Play Dough Recipe

Easy seven ingredient play dough that requires no cooking. Store in an airtight container and the play dough will keep for several weeks.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5 to 6 red food coloring or food paste gel
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
5 to 10 drops of cinnamon bark essential oil

Instructions

Mix the flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and vegetable oil together.
Add the water and essential oil.
Stir in the food coloring until the mixture is the desired color.
Stir until the mixture forms a ball.
Place the playdough on a piece of waxed paper or cutting board.
Knead the dough until it is firm.
Store the dough in an airtight container.

Storage Tip: This playdough should stay soft for several weeks if it is stored in an airtight container.

I adapted this recipe from my Christmas gingerbread playdough recipe so this can be easily changed for different seasons.

Here are some quick variations:

For A Fresh Christmas Play Dough, eliminate the ground cinnamon and substitute green food coloring and pine essential oil for the red food coloring and cinnamon bark essential oil.
You can also make Gingerbread Play dough by using 2 teaspoons gingerbread spice in addition to the ground cinnamon. Eliminate the cinnamon bark essential oil and substitute brown food coloring or food paste gel.
For Valentine’s Day play dough, eliminate the ground cinnamon and the cinnamon bark oil. Substitute peppermint essential oil and use a few extra drops of red food coloring or paste to create a red colored dough.