Indoor Activities Day 6: Perfect Play Dough


It seems a little funny to be discussing indoor activities because it’s 60 degrees outside right now where I live! Actually, the month of January has been very nice so far.  I’m sure we will experience negative temps in the near future, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts!

Today I’ll be sharing a perfect play dough recipe!

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

I found a play dough recipe using Jello on Pinterest and thought it
looked interesting, but the instructions were not very clear, so I
thought I’d try it out and take some pictures in the process and added a few modifications! I really did love the end results compared to other play dough I’ve made in the past.  The colors were vibrant, it smells nice and the texture of the play dough is very soft and smooth.

Here’s what you will need to make the perfect play dough.  This amount makes one nice size ball of play dough.  I made 3 different batches to get my 3 colors.

  • 1 cup of  flour
  • 2 Tbs salt
  • 2 Tbs cream of tarter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tbs oil – (I used vegetable oil, but I’m sure any edible oil would work!)
  • 1 3oz. pack of Jello in the color of your choice (I used the off brand and it worked fine)

First, mix all your ingredients in a medium saucepan

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

Mix in your jello and watch it turn a bright color! This is the cherry flavor

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

After it’s mixed, turn the heat to medium-high and stir constantly

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

It will start smelling great.  It will also start slowly thickening and clumping together..this is after about 2 minutes

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

And here it is almost done after 6 minutes or so

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

Once it’s in a ball and there aren’t any wet areas, take it out and plop in on some waxed paper to cool.  Once it’s cool, you may want to knead it with a little flour if it seems sticky.  I had to do this with 2 of my colors.  Then you are ready to play!

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

I used orange, lime and cherry for my colors.  They all have a nice light scent, but the cherry has the strongest smell.  Thankfully it’s not a strong enough scent that my girls have tried to eat it….yet. 🙂 There you go, now you know how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

Store in an airtight container and it should last a long time…or until all the colors get mixed up and it turns brown, of course.

Learn how to make the ultimate perfect play dough!

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