Here’s a glow in the dark playdough recipe that’s sure to be a hit with kids of all ages! It’s perfect for sensory play and no black light is needed to make it glow.

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I’ve had this idea for creating some glow in the dark playdough in my head for sometime and finally got around to putting it into action, and it turned out absolutely amazing!

I adjusted my favorite playdough recipe (it’s super soft and has such a nice texture) and added just one extra ingredient to make this awesome glowing playdough. My favorite part is no black light is needed to make it glow. It just needs to be in the sun for about 15 minutes, and then it’s all ready to go! (This post contains affiliate links.)

Glow in the Dark Playdough Recipe

Materials for Glow in the Dark Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons glow pigment
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon oil (We used canola oil.)

Directions for Making Glow in the Dark Playdough

1. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients in a saucepan (flour, salt, cream of tartar, and glow pigment).

2. Add the water and oil and mix over medium heat.

3. Stir continually until the dough thickens and creates a ball as you stir.

4. Place the dough on some parchment paper or other surface.

5. Knead it until smooth.

6. Store it in an airtight container. Ours keeps for about 2-3 weeks!

Tips

• The homemade playdough needs about 15 minutes of sunlight to glow. I set it up on a table in our sunny kitchen and let the kids play with it. Later, we moved into a dark room to play with it as it glowed!
• We made our playdough pink for Valentine’s Day, but the glow pigment also comes in orange and purple.
• An important reminder: Only the part of the playdough exposed to the sun for approximately 15 minutes will glow in the dark. We ended up rolling out the dough, letting it sit in a sunny spot inside for about 15 minutes, re-rolling it and letting it sit again, in order to get the majority of the dough exposed to the sun.