Thrifty Craft Thursday: Best Ever DIY Play Dough

Thrifty Craft Thursday: Best Ever DIY Play Dough

Not long ago, my middle school-aged daughter had to make a clay sculpture for her art class.  Of course for such a project, we used the real stuff, and got sloppy up to our elbows in earthen clay and water.  Watching her have such a grand time brought back memories of hours spent sinking fingers into play dough for the rest of The Chickens.  So what’s a crafty mom to do, but get online and look for the best possible recipe to satisfy such a craving!  This friends, is a very nice play dough.  It’s easy to make (8 and 10 year old’s made it themselves), is that perfect play dough softness, the colors are so fresh and beautiful (just look at that picture again), and the SCENT…!!!  The secret to this yummy play dough is that it’s made with JELLO.   We made ours with Watermelon flavor, so the whole time we were squeezing away on our lumps of dough, we almost feel like we were playing with our dessert.  (Disclaimer: while it smells like dessert, it does NOT taste like it.  Yes, I had to taste it…it just smelled like it had to taste that good.  I also figured Baby Girl would sample it sooner or later during her playtime.  And while I knew all of the ingredients were edible, I kinda just wanted to know what she’d be tasting, ya know?).  So, without further ado, let me introduce Modern Parents Messy Kids recipe for DIY PlayDough.

Supplies:

• white flour – 1 cup
• warm water – 1 cup
• salt – 2 tbsp
• cream of tartar – 2 tbsp
• cooking oil – 2 tbsp
• Jello – 1 3oz pack

Directions:

1.  (Fun part for The Chickens in your life):  Mix all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan.  Keep mixing until most of the lumps are gone.

2.  (Mama’s turn):  Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until it thickens into a ball of dough.  This step does take a little while.  Just keep stirring, you’ll know it’s ready when won’t be able to stir anymore.

3.  Once it has finished cooking, place the dough onto a silpat mat or floured cutting board and wait for it to cool.

4.  Once it is cool (at least 20-30 minutes) let the little ones knead it, adding in flour until it is no longer sticky (about 1/2 cup).

5.  When you are finished playing, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.  It will keep for at least a few weeks in the refrigerator, with daily use.  If at any time it starts to be a little sticky, just add more flour.