Easy DIY Edible Marshmallow Play Dough

Kids love sensory activities. Anything they can squeeze, squish, mix and even taste is often an instant win. When I mix up a batch of homemade play dough, my kids want to help choose the colors and stir the dough. We used marshmallows to make edible marshmallow play dough for the kids to play with one afternoon. Edible play dough easily resembles moldable fondant and it’s simple to make with a few ingredients. If your family is anything like ours, you probably have a bag (or 2) of old gummy marshmallows sitting in your cabinet — which is perfect for this DIY kids’ activity!

How to make Edible Marshmallow Play Dough

Gather the Ingredients:

• 1/2 bag of marshmallows
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup flour
• food coloring

Instructions:

Mix together a homemade batch of edible marshmallow play dough and let your kids choose their favorite colors to use. First, select a large pot to cook the dough in. Empty the bag of marshmallows into the pot and add 1 cup of water. Next, melt the marshmallows over medium heat until the lumps are gone, stirring regularly. You don’t want the marshmallows to get too hot or burn. Once melted, mix in 1 cup of cornstarch until completely combined. The liquid edible dough will start to become thicker.  Turn off the heat and mix in 1/2 cup of flour. Finally, turn out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper to cool.

The dough will be pretty sticky while it cools. If you add too much flour during the cooling process you will end up with hard, dry dough. However, if the fully cooled dough gets too sticky you can knead in a bit more flour.

Color the Play Dough

Divide the white edible marshmallow play dough into sections. My kids always enjoy choosing their favorite colors to add to the play dough. I use a food processor to add the coloring, to avoid getting food coloring on our hands or the counter top. Drop 1 ball of edible play dough into the food processor and add 2-3 drops of food coloring. Secure the lid in place and turn on the food processor, which will mix the food coloring into the dough and neatly ball the dough up. Remove the ball of colored dough and repeat with more white dough, to mix the next color of edible play dough.

DIY Marshmallow Play Dough with Pictures!

Make homemade edible play dough in a large pot. First melt 1/2 bag of marshmallows together with 1 cup of water.

Next, cook the marshmallows over a medium heat until all the lumps are gone, stirring regularly.

Mix in 1 cup of cornstarch and cook a minute longer, stirring as the edible play dough becomes thicker.

Turn off the heat and mix in 1/2 cup of flour.

Finally, turn the edible marshmallow play dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and allow it to fully cool. The dough will be fairly sticky while it is still hot, but adding too much extra flour will create hard and dry dough once it fully cools.

Once cooled, you can knead in extra flour as needed and mix in food coloring. To avoid getting the food coloring everywhere, I use a food processor to do the mixing. Drop a piece of white dough into the food processor, add a few drops of food coloring, secure the lid and turn it on. The food processor will mix in the color and ball up the dough, making the play dough easy to remove once finished.

You can make a full spectrum of colors with homemade edible marshmallow play dough. Kids will have fun mixing colors together too!

Decorate Your Play Dough

I let my kids play with some sprinkles to decorate their homemade marshmallow play dough creations. Kids can also sample the dough, which tastes similar to lightly sweetened fondant.

This homemade play dough doesn’t have a super long shelf life because of the sugar in it. You can store your edible marshmallow dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days. Once you make the dough, kids can enjoy a few sessions of creative sensory play and design colorful creations that they can also taste. My kids created a selection of miniature cupcakes and cookies decorated with sprinkles. We hope you enjoy this creative kids’ project!

Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!