Best Homemade Playdough Ever…Check Out the Secret Ingredient!
This morning, in honor of the start of Boycraft month, Jasper and I mixed up a batch of our favorite playdough. I know, I know, homemade isn’t ever quite as smooth and nice as the store-bought stuff and doesn’t have the distinctive scent but I swear that this recipe is really great. It’s smooth, the color is beautiful, and it smells delicious. The secret? Jello. Seriously! I think that it has to do with the gelatin–this recipe produces a very smooth, not at all crumbly dough.
Now, Josie and I played with a lot of playdough, rolling it out carefully, using cookie cutters, making tiny plates of food…but Jasper and I take a different tack. We play rough. We smash it down on the table and whack it with a rolling pin and our hands to make hills and various terrain. Then, we take our significant collection of little plastic animals and trees and stick them in (the added benefit is that they stand up…which they won’t do on the floor).
The best part is when we pull the animals out and observe the prints that they leave behind. The elephants leave big round prints, the moose and horses leave hoofprints, and the dinosaurs leave, well, dinosaur prints. Finally, we drive our little cars, trucks and tractors around on it at check out the prints that they each leave.
Jello Playdough
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 Tbsp. cream of tartar
2 Tbsp. oil
1 c. water
1 small box Jello (any flavor/color)
Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and mix. Stir continuously over medium heat until forms and changes color slightly. Remove from heat, let cool a bit, then knead well. Store in an airtight container.
So what fun are you up to with the boys in your life? Head over to the Month of Boycraft post and share a link or comment!
I have three boys and I am loving your month of boy crafts. Can’t wait to try your play dough recipe!
Haven’t tried this one and we just composted our old dough…thanks for the recipe!
Homemade Play Dough is one of my boys favorite things to do! I will have to repost my recipe on my blog. We use Kool-Aid for the color and it smells so good! I am excited for the boy crafts. Thanks for sharing.
***
Of course, I didn’t even think to compost my old playdough…the worms would love it!
thanks for the comments
xo, Amanda
***
another great Boy or Girl project is called super goop….it is 2 C. boiling water and 1/2 C. corn starch…then just add food coloring….my 3yr old daughter loves to squish her pink goop in her fingers…then you just wash it off….for my 2 yr old son I put it in 2 ziplocs and then it makes just a fun squishy bag….he like to take it on our walks and just squish it around in the bag as he rides in the stroller. Thanks for all your ideas!!! -KC
Wow I’m going to try this out with my son - he’s only really played with playdoh once because well I just don’t want to clean it up but this sounds fun. I also think the super goop that someone else posted would be fun (in the bag) for my 2 year old. Thanks!
Thanks for the recipe - haven’t tried this one!
I’ve used this recipe in the past and I love it as well! Has anyone found a good substitute for cream of tartar? It is expensive for such a small amount and I had hoped to find an alternative as I make it quite often for my pre-k class.