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Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough

Kids will love this Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with baby lotion!

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

We have always enjoyed making different slimes and play dough throughout the years. My daughter especially loves getting her hands dirty and learning the science behind it all. With only two ingredients, this play dough is simple to make and has a pillowy-soft texture that kids of every age will love squishing and molding.


Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

The main ingredient in this play dough is baby lotion. It's great to use in this play dough for those with sensitive skin, because it's gentle and mild, as well as being hypoallergenic and paraben-free. Baby lotion is my favorite ingredient to use, but you can actually use ANY kind of lotion or even conditioner!

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

In a mixing bowl, add in two cups of cornstarch. You could use flour instead, but the cornstarch is a lot finer and will help give the dough an extra soft texture!

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Next, add in one cup of baby lotion. Like I mentioned, ANY kind of lotion or even conditioner will work great for this project, and will leave your hands feeling baby soft! Depending on which lotion you use, your play dough will have a different scent. The Apple baby lotion scents is one of my favorites! We also use the Bedtime baby lotion for a play dough that's great for calming before bedtime.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Stir the ingredients together until it combines and starts to thicken up. The dough will be crumbly. 

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

At this point, use your hands to knead the dough and help the ingredients to combine evenly. The more you knead it and heat it up with your hands, the dough should become less crumbly and more soft and pliable. If the dough seems to be a little too dry, you can work in a small amount of lotion. If it's too sticky, add in a little more cornstarch.

Now the play dough is ready to be molded, squished and played with for hours of fun!

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Just for fun, you can also add in glitter to create a sparkly play dough! Any kind of glitter will work: fine, chunky, multi-colored, holographic, iridescent, or even all of those glitters combined can be used for a bit of glimmer and glam!

Flatten the dough out and sprinkle as much or as little glitter as you'd like in the center.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Fold the dough over and knead it until all of the glitter has been distributed. You can flatten it out and knead in more glitter at any time if you want more sparkle.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Johnson's® Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

To color the dough, I first split a batch into small balls. Flatten out a ball, and add in 2-3 drops of food coloring into the center.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Knead the color into the dough. The coloring will get on your fingertips while kneading, so wear gloves if you are worried about it.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Once the color has been mixed in, the dough is ready to play with! Combine different colors of dye to create a rainbow of colors, and know that the food coloring doesn't rub off onto little hands while playing. Gel food coloring colors are more vibrant, but the dye seemed to come off more on my hands every time we played with the dough, so I don't recommend them for this project.

Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Kids are going to love this play dough! It smells fantastic, feels super soft, and is sure to keep them entertained for hours. When it sits out or gets cold, the dough becomes crumbly. However, if you work it with your hands and warm it back up, it seems to go back to normal after a few minutes. When the dough isn't being played with, keep it in a sealed plastic bag or container for a few days.

I hope you enjoyed this fun tutorial! If you make any play dough, I would love to see it! Leave me a comment, or tag a photo on FacebookTwitter, or Instagram! #AFMcrafts

Don't forget to Pin, Like, and Share!
Super Soft 2-Ingredient Play Dough made with Baby Lotion #JohnsonsBeautyHack

Would you like to comment?

  1. how long will this play dough last will it get moldy between uses

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    1. As long as it is in an airtight container, we have kept ours for a few weeks.

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  2. Can I make it with baby soap instead of lotion?

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    1. I'm not sure how that would work, but you could certainly give it a try!

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  3. Im a fifty year old beginner working in a daycare I will try this Thank You so much...

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  4. Did it with floor, was crumbly at first then became too thick. Added some cream and no change. Any advice?

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  5. This is so cool! I'll have to try it. Can you use any kind of lotion?

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    1. I'm sure you can! I'm planning to try it with the cheapest stuff we have in the house :)

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  6. I love all the recent comments due to quarantine! we tried it, i ran out of corn starch so we did that plus flour and it works great! Did not disappoint!

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  7. Does it have to be baby lotion

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    1. I think any lotion would work. I used baby lotion because it's what I had.

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  8. I tried it with my 4 year old. I spent about half an hour turning a giant sticky mess into useable dough. She got distracted and I was just doing it by myself. It was okay dough, but it dries out and crumbles quickly. I think the lotion goes into your hands while you work it, so you need to add more during play.

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    1. Found the same when I made it. My daughter liked asking me to roll balls but it wasn’t worth the crumbly mess!

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  9. If you don’t have food coloring.....is there anything else you can use that will work?

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  10. Can you use something other than food coloring for color

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    1. i used with colored conditioner instead of the creme. its also very good.
      another good idea: mix it in a bag! try it!

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  11. You could probably color it with marker. If you don't get the color mixed all the way in, it will create a marbled look

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  12. I made it. So fun😍

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  13. This was a great quick and easy project to surprise my 7yo with!! I used Johnson’s nighttime lotion and it came out exactly as described. Smells wonderful and it’s so soft and fun to play with! You’re correct about the gel food coloring as well- it’s all I had- and now my hands are bright pink! It’s all for fun, though! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. what if it didint work it was like cream i used jonson sleep cream and corn starch but it didint work wat do i do whit it

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    1. Double check the measuring cup you used. My grandson used a 2 c measuring cup thinking it was just one cup. It left the recipe quite runny. Lol

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    2. What is sleep cream? Maybe that’s the problem I used Dollar store lotion and the last of my cornstarch with cornstarch (lavender scented baby powder - again from the dollar store)powder to make enough :) worked great Smells so nice!

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    3. use flour not cornstarch is to thick

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  15. That's fine if you don't mind the texture being different. Cornstarch is what gives it that glossy fine texture. Flour is heavier and won't be as soft OR glossy.

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