If ever there was a quintessential DIY toy it’s play dough! Parents and children have been happily cooking up this stuff at home for decades. Today our newest contributor Kaley is sharing her favorite play dough recipe using another kid classic: Jell-O (because it just wouldn’t be an MPMK post without some sort of twist). I think you’re going to love this recipe. Kaley promises it comes out silky smooth and I could practically smell the fruity scents wafting form my computer as I read her post.
What kid doesn’t love play dough? Squishy, cool, bright, and so fun to play with. Even better, it helps develop fine motor skills and imagination. Instead of going out and buying commerical Play Doh, try making it at home! It’s super easy, inexpensive, and a perfect project for the kids to help with. We love making our own play dough, and after trying a handful of different recipes we finally found a winner. This play dough comes out in beautiful, soft shades, smells delicious, and feels the closest to store bought Play Doh of all the recipes we’ve tried.
You will need:
- white flour – 1 cup
- warm water – 1 cup
- salt – 2 tbsp
- cream of tartar – 2 tbsp
- cooking oil – 2 tbsp
- Jello – 1 3oz pack
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan.
Even though it makes for a longer process and a lot more clean up, let the little ones do the measuring and mixing. They learn so much from helping in the kitchen, and it’s really fun for them. Keep mixing until most of the lumps are gone.
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.
Once it has finished cooking, place the dough onto a silpat mat or floured cutting board and wait for it to cool.
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). At this point, you can add in extra food coloring to make the colors more vibrant, or even add glitter. I like to keep things simple, so this is how it looks with just the Jello.
This recipe makes a lot of play dough. You could easily half the recipe, and there would still be plenty to play with.
Now let their little imaginations run wild. My little one will literally spend hours playing with her play dough. I love seeing what games she comes up with, and what tools she picks out to use with it. We don’t have special play dough tools, I let her rummage through the kitchen and use whatever plastic container or other child safe object she finds.
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.
Have fun, and come back and let us know how it turns out!
P.S. Looking to simplify in 2013?
Kaley
Blogs at Kaley Ann Lifestyle Photography
Kaley is a photographer who spends her days starting lots of projects and finishing few of them. She lives in San Francisco with her awesomely creative daughter and her amazingly understanding husband.
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{ 129 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Your photo’s are stunning!
Thanks Randalin!
These are wonderful photos, and the colors of the dough are so beautiful too! Just posted on Craft Gossip!! Happy Creating!!
http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/?p=6456
Thanks!
I’ve been meaning to make some playdough now that the kids are out of school. I think we’ll try yours. I love the way Jello smells.
Nice to “meet” another Kaley close to my age. Most of the time I hear/see my name and it’s in reference to someone much younger than me.
I love meeting other people with my name!
I’ve always wondered with homemade rcipes if it stains and washes out of clothing easily (if ground in)?
I haven’t had this ground into clothing, but I have had it all over my kitchen towels, and it actually rinsed out with plain water really easily. Hope that helps!
Love the playdough recipe thanks. Just a quick question, I am from the UK so don’t get this Jello, I’m sure our jelly must be similar but it comes in different forms – is it like granules or the jelly cubes that you can buy?
Jello is a flavored gelatin.
Jello from the US is granular. (We don’t have cubes that I know of.)
You can see the texture of the jello straight from the box in the first picture.
You can buy Jello on Ebay in the UK, but it’s £2.80 – £3.50 a box, so it makes the project a bit expensive.
Just finished cooking the dough and am waiting for it to cool off. I am a Kindergarten Assistant here in Malta and have been dying to try this out. We don’t get Jell-O here either so I just used regular jelly
Smells divine!! Thanks for the recipe!
Does this have to be refrigerated or can it be stored at room temperature?
Stored at room temperature it might get moldy after a day or too. Best bet is definitely refrigerated.
I didn’t read these comments before making mine and we stored ours at room temp. When we played with it the 2nd time it was VERY sticky again, I tried adding more flour but had no luck so we tossed it. Apparently I missed some and found it a few days later all moldy. Ick!
If you refrigerate this, how long does it typically last??
Thank you for sharing! Great photos! Can’t wait to try it!
California USA
Actually m totally new to this play dough i want to know does it also work like polymer clay or air dry clay? Like if i make sumthing with it does it dry hard or wut?? I seriously need information about this coz i have two nephews both under 4yrs
Hi Naeema – This is not doing to dry and harden like polymer clay or air dry clay. This is for the kids to play with over and over. Definitely try it out – your nephews will love playing with it!
I can’t wait to make this for my sunday school class this week. The craft calls for play dough and I was not wanting to dish out the dough for dough. LOL Thanks so much for sharing.
This is fabulous. Love that it uses Jello!
Does it have to be sugar free? if it isn’t sugar free, do ants love it? Dumb “mommy” question
I use the regular Jello and haven’t had any problems with ants. I do wipe the table with a wet cloth after playing with it, though.
I had the same question. Probably another good reason to refrigerate the play dough. For years I’ve made play dough using unsweetened Koolaid. It does not need refrigeration and lasts about 2 weeks when used by lots of kindergartners.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve done play dough with Kool-Aid before but never Jello. Since today’s a rainy day, guess what we’ll be making?
Does it taste good?
I’m wondering how much cup wise approximately is one 3 oz jello make? You made 7 different colors and is that the size that fits in those coveered cups from each box? I’m just wondering for future reference when I have other kids come over and play….
1 box of jello makes a really big ball, definitely enough for 2 kids. The photo of the playdough in the plastic containers is how much it made – those containers are pretty large! I actually only let my daughter play with half of each color because there was so much. Hope that helps!
Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing!
Want to try. But what’s cream of tartar:)
Cream of tartar is a white powder (looks like baking powder) used in cooking – you can usually find it near the spices and baking supplies in the grocery store. I actually ordered mine online, maybe from amazon?
Brilliant recipe! thank you I smells so much better then the normal playdough i have made
Is there any other ingredients we could use besides gelatin jello? I don’t agree with how it is produced, could we possibly use jello pudding packets? haha I don’t know
Koolaid! Read a comment up more
Thanks.
By “cooking oil” do you mean just regular vegetable oil? Can’t wait to try this’
Hi Jessica – use any type of oil you would cook with. I have used vegetable oil, canola, olive oil, they all work great. Just don’t use baby oil or other inedible oils – it could be dangerous if your little one decides to try a bite!
Hi Kaley, Cant wait to make this for Dylan,Love all your pictures, see you soon:)
Thanks Donna! He will love it!
Thanks so much for posting this. My 4 year old and I made two colors yesterday and it was such a hit! And sooooo easy!! Even my 11 year old wanted to play with it and that never seems to happen anymore. The two of them played together for over an hour.
Yay! SO happy you loved it!
is it edible
Yes but tastes terrible!
SMELLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
one of the smelliest times of my LIFE!!!!!
I used lemon!!!!
IT IS A DEATH TRAP!!!!!!!!!!! (Lemon)
I haven’t tried any other favors but I’m sure that now my mom won’t let me.
I’m 9
Sorry lemon didn’t work out for you, I have made yellow many times (it is my daughter’s favorite color) and have never had that problem. I have always used pineapple flavor, though. Maybe try a different flavor?
Love it! Used aeroplane jelly (in Australia) and its smells soooooo good. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Glad you liked it!
thrilled! Thank you for the detailed and right-on directions! I swear more things i (try to) make would turn out if I were always presented this way. Did the blue color/flavor- can’t wait to try more! It’s really amazing how the consistancy changes- kiddos will have a blast playing with this tomorrow! it’s really a beautiful thing.
Thank you, so glad the tutorial helped!
Aww, I wanted to make this and found out that I must have already “de-cluttered” the expired Jell-O packs I had when I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets recently! It looks like a lot of the other cooked play dough recipes, which always seem to turn out nice and soft, and not crumble or dry out your hands like the uncooked recipes. Can’t wait to try it!
We made this tonight and the boys had a blast. I was very pleased with how easy it was to make and how “real” the play dough feels. I can’t wait to make more. Thanks!
Can you use unflavored gelatin in place of the Jello?
Definitely!
Is this Edible?
I ‘ve made it twice now- once with regular jello and once with unflavored gelatin (like Knox). Both times have made the best homemade play dough I’ve ever made (and I’ve tried quite a few). I’m guessing maybe it’s got better texture from the gelatin? It’s the closest thing to the “real” stuff I’ve ever tried! It even works in the little play dough machines. Love it! I’m recommending it to all my play dough making friends and relatives.
This totally molds! Please put an advisory on here. I made a few batches, was totally excited about it, shared it at church that day, they spent a bunch of money on the cream of tartar that it takes to make this, and it has all molded and been thrown out. I stored mine in airtight containers, the church stored theirs in sandwich baggies (one for each kid) and it ALL molded. I had such high hopes and the texture was awesome but I’m totally disappointed and feel a little misled.
You shouldn’t feel misled! She says at the end that you need to store in an airtight container in the fridge. There’s an entire paragraph about it! It sucks that it molded, but anytime you cook something with edible ingredients, logic dictates that you cannot just leave it out indefinitely.
If you don’t want to store it in the refrigerator you can use a recipe that uses more salt. The recipe I normally follow has 1/2 cup of salt for each cup of flour. I can keep it in tupperware in the pantry for 4-6 months. Not sure how that will effect the color if you use jello. I’ve always used food coloring.
i don’t have cream of tartar, can i use something else cause i guess i’ll not find it here in our markets?
I love this recipe! I know some people will be intimidated by this, but it’s really easy and it doesn’t take long to cook it up. I’ll remember to keep it in the fridge, as I could see it molding if it isn’t.
This is the best site, i am from India and was looking for some Kids stuff which i can make at home instead of going for expensive toys from shops. and your site has enough information to keep us busy for next couple of months.
Hi!! So pretty! Made my first batch of berry blue yesterday and it came out great. But today it’s very sticky. I tried kneading more flour into it but I is still sticky
. What did I do wrong? Could it be because I didn’t realize I needed to refrigerate it? Thanks!!
hi, thanks for sharing this! can’t wait to try, just a quick question, the jello is the cream of tartar or what’s the purpose for the jello ?
Hi I don’t know why mine is very sticky and I have added lots of flower what going on
Maybe use flour instead? lol
Let it cool completely then add flour. It takes quite a bit.
I love this recipe it is much more malleable than the marketed play dough! I also added Vanilla and Almond extracts to make it smell even more delicious! It took a ton of flour added in after cooking for Lucy’s information. Just keep adding flour and you will get it how you want it!
This stuff is amazing – easy, cheap, fun, smells good, and is fun to play with when its still warm on a nice cool fall day!
Thanks for sharing!!
Hi There
Me and my Little girl made some this weekend!! Wow what nice dough this is, as soon as her eyes open she wants to play with it!!
Regards
Marlene
I just tried this recipe and the play dough turned out awesome! Thank you
Just made this for my girls and it turned out great! Super easy and tons of fun. Followed the instructions exactly (we did grape) and its perfect. Isa (2 1/2) saids “mell it mommy. Mells good!” lol. Thanks!
- awesome recipe – easy to follow directions. I used the cheapest flour & off-brand gelatin.
What flavor Jello did you use to make red? I’m throwing an Olivia themed birthday party and red would make a great party favor!
I used Strawberry Banana for the red.
What flavor Jello did you use to make red? I’m throwing an Olivia themed birthday party and red would make a great party favor!
Probably Cherry Or Strawberry
Hey there! When I originally made this I forgot to store it in the fridge, that was weeks ago and ours isn’t moldy yet!
I used jelly from the uk? Unfortunate we only have 3 flavours.
I’m hoping to make some for my daughters school fair, could you please tell me where you bought the little tubs from? Thanks!
Hi Louise,
I actually bought them at a store in Honduras, although I am sure you can find them elsewhere.
Hi! I’ m from Argentina And Will try this with my son!
I only have one question… 13oz of jello or 1,3oz???
Here we have 70gr (2,47 oz) packs of gelatina…
Thanks for your help !
Flor
it’s actually one 3oz package… so slightly more than your package it sounds like
Thanks Flor, for the question & Monica, for the answer. I also read the ingredients list as 13 oz. I’m from SA & the biggest size box we have is 80g or 3.2 oz. Relieved it’s not 13 oz as that would be a lot of boxes & a bit expensive too.
Trying this out tomorrow with my 3 yr old lg
Going to make this for Christmas stocking gifts ! My kids want play dough so badly and this is a gift I can make thanks to you!! Thanks for the post and the blue smells like heaven!
Kaley your photos are fabulous!
Thanks, Riya!
I made this recipe and another one to compare. This was sticky, used more than twice the amount of cream or tartar and just didn’t work for me. The other was done in 5 minutes and ready to use. I don’t recommend this one.
This means either it didn’t cool completely or you didn’t cook it long enough.
Try cooking it longer and kneading in more flour. More cream of tartar won’t hep out with the stickiness at all. This recipe takes a few minutes longer than some others but it is so worth it!
This looks good enough to eat! I featured it on my stocking stuffer round up! http://www.lovebugliving.com/2012/11/handmaking-holidays-stocking-stuffer.html
Can this be dried out? I want to do hand print ornaments for my son’s first Christmas, but don’y want to use actual play dough or clay.
Thanks for this recipe, I am a pre-k teacher and I have tried so many different play dough recipes and this is the best one I have made yet!
Does it harden
I love this idea! I’ve heard about making your own play dough using peanut butter (and a few other things that I can’t remember). But, with an almost 17 month old, we’re nervous about giving him anything with nuts.. Anyways, I seen that a few people had asked if it was edible, but got no reply. (I know you’re probably busy :p) Might be a “dumb” question, seeing as it’s made of Jell-O.. LOL Because I’d LOVE to try this out. But, knowing my husband, he’d be concerned about our sin eating it. TIA :]
All the ingredients are edible so the play dough will be too, surely?
It would be edible but as you said this I licked what I just made in my hand. Its amazingly gross tasting.
I guess technically it is edible, because all of the ingredients are edible. But I wouldn’t recommend allowing your little on to eat it. Especially after grimy little hands have been playing with it.
Can’t wait to make this recipe it sounds so good! @Sharon, have you seen the recipe for salt dough ornaments? http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/2011/12/diy-salt-dough-ornaments-possibly-most.html
Hello! Thanks a lot for this recipe! I’ll try it soon!
I still have few questions as alternatives:
* for the jello: can we use food coloring?
* for the cream of tartar: using baking powder?
I’m from Madagascar and a bit confused of finding those 2 ingredients in our local markets.
Thanks again
The cream of tartar is what makes it stretchy so it is kind of a must, and the Jello is the base. Try making play-doh with a different recipe if you can’t find jello. there are many others. You should be able to find cream of tartar easily, it’s in the spice section.
I tried this recipe while on babysitting duty for my little brother (3), I worked well and smells A-M-A-Z-I-N-G I see why you said “Wait until cool until you add the flour” I tried to do it while warm and it made no difference but once it cooled it was fine. It’s so silky smooth and it doesn’t have that strange grainy feel nor leave crusty residue like most homemade dough do. FABULOUS!
I don’t have any cream of tartar and can’t get to the store to buy any for a few days, as I am home with sick kids
But I read on another website that you can use vinegar or lemon juice as a substitute for cream of tartar. Cream of tartar is powdered tartaric acid and the vinegar or lemon juice does the same thing. Measure out the same amount of vinegar as is called for cream of tartar, but put that in the measuring cup that you’re using for the water. Then just fill up the rest of the way with water so as to not throw off the amount of moisture. I haven’t done this with the jello, but I’m going to try it.
There are many play dough recipes, but I’ve never seen one that looked quite so elegant!
May i have permission to print the recipe and the photo of the little girl in our April issue of parent pages newsletter? Our newsletter service is used by school districts, head starts, abd universities throughout the U.S.
i put my playdough in an air tight container but now its sticky
I think you just need to add a little more flour to it when it gets sticky.
Found this recipe on Pinterest, I didn’t have any Cream of Tarter (usually used for its acidity) so I substituted with one tbsp of lemon juice. The texture and colour turned out great! Still smells like ordinary homemade Play Doh though, not like the Lemon-lime Jell-O I was hoping for!!
I just made this with my 3 year old. I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! I thought it was amazingly easy and the end result just ROCKS! So much better than store-bought Play Doh in every aspect: better texture, better smell. I love how long it stays soft. We are really excited to make more colors and never buy regular Play Doh again.
I’m sharing this recipe with everyone!!
Thank you!!
I just wanted to say a big Thank You! This has been by far, the very best recipe I have ever made. This kids love the texture and it was fun to make with them.
I’m so glad you guys had fun.
Your blog is simply gorgeous and I love this idea! Thanks!
Thank you so much (blush) – all the credit here goes to our incredible contributor Kaley!
I tried this recipe. Mostly because I wanted a deep red color. It worked, I used the strawberry banana. I did add two little tubes of red food coloring gel, but I dont think I had to. It seems the color deepens as the dough cooks and cools. I think, had I been patient it would have still been very red. I could have always added more color later and kneaded it in. The playdough does have a much better feel than the traditional recipe that I have used before. This new recipe uses much less salt. My kids always hated all the salt put in my old recipes, it would get in hangnails and papercuts and hurt their hands and dry them out. It doesn’t have much scent to it though. I think I may knead in some peppermint flavoring to see if that gives it a minty smell. I did put in lots of glitter the kids love that. Also I was making it for an entire class so I made five batches at once, and had no problem. I always refrigerated my dough even when I didn’t have to so that is not an issue. Thanks for the bright red dough, no more vomit pink.
Love this recipe, I have made it and its very easy. It taste gook to the kids. So watch out they may eat as much as the play with.
I’ve been teaching Kdg for over 30 years and I’ve used this recipe for years….however, I always use food colouring to dye the play dough. It has never become moldy…perhaps it’s the jello. If I want to add a scent I add vanilla extract. However, I find kids want to eat it if it smells too good.
O thanks so much, i had been looking for a good tested recipe it d i tried ur recipe, i didnt get cream of tartar so i substituted it with lemon juice. and i didnt have jello so i used regular food colorings. i needed more dough so i doubled the recipe…and it turned out amazing, my first try at playdough…my first experience with playing with it with my son n he loved it so much….wanted to ask, can i use self raising flour or pizza flour too?if yes what kind of texture is expected.? thanks once again.:)
Where do you buy those fabulous plastic storage containers?
Hi Dior,
I actually fount them at a store in Honduras, but they are like the plastic takeout containers that you would get soup in. Maybe you could find them at a warehouse type store?
Just made a few batches for my kinder class next week! They are going to love it! We are going to use it to build our sight words and spelling words!
It was so easy to make…and cheap!
Thanks so much!
Love this! Thank you so much! I shared this on my own blog.
it smells amazing!!!!!!
Kids are playing with it now and my 3 year says she prefers it to the regular stuff. I think because she loves the smell of strawberry jelly. I found it was less sticky once its been in the fridge over night. Brilliant thank you!
Has anyone tried freezing it? I’ve got my daughters birthday in a few weeks and wanted to make a heap for the kids to play with on the day but wanted to get ahead start on it all. Thanks!!
Hi Tiffany,
I have never tried freezing it, but please let us know if you do and how it works!
Im doing homemade play dough for my daughters birthday party, about how much does a portion make? I love the idea of it smelling good:)
Hi Tosha,
One portion makes a lot! You can see in this post where I made it for my daughter’s preschool class: http://www.kaleyann.com/2012/06/play-dough-favors/
This is one portion of each color.
Just made this. Not for sure if something went wrong, but it’s beyond sticky and I’ve added and added flour, until I’m not willing to waste anymore. In the future, I’ll probably do a no cook method, because this is nothing more than biscuit dough
Hi Kristie,
Sorry it didn’t work out for you! It sounds like maybe it needed to be cooked a little while longer. It is definitely a bit more complicated than the no cook play dough but so worth it.
Hi! This sounds awesome; I just had one question: does the Jello stain things? (Hands, wood surfaces, clothing, etc.)
I’ve made 2 batches of this play dough recipe and LOVE it! So does my preschooler. It was easy to whip up and smelled great…and the feel of it is way better than regular play dough. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Tried this Yday with my 4.5yr old daughter, she loved it. It came out perfect, smelled gr8 too. Thanks for sharing!
Dear kaley
thank you very much for Best Play Dough Ever…
Im from Iran and i made it… it smells perfect…
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