This Jello playdough recipe is another great craft project you can do with your kids to make a toy you can produce time and time again. Jello ads scent and color to your homemade playdough making it one of the most fun and interesting ways to make your own. It is fairly complicated to make compared to some other playdough recipes and it is definitely not for kids to be doing on their own as their is come careful cooking involved. Although this is not a recipe for kids to make you can quite easily make it with them as a craft or toy project. It makes a pretty nice playdough if you can get the cooking just right, with a really nice texture and shape.
Jello Playdough Recipe
Ingredients for this Jello playdough recipe:
- white flour – 1 cup
- salt – 2 tbsp
- cream of tartar – 2 tbsp
- cooking oil – 2 tbsp
- warm water – 1 cup
- Jello – 1 3oz pack
Directions for this Jello playdough recipe:
- Add all the ingredients together in a big mixing bowl
- Mix all the ingredients together until consistent
- Pour into a pan and stir continuously
- Wait for it to thicken into a big ball and then place it on a piece of wax paper to cool
- Kneed it for a few minutes once cooled with some flour
- Add any food coloring or glitter to spice things up!
- Start playing!
This is one of the most fun you can make so make sure to give it a try once you’ve mastered some simpler recipes! Be careful because Jello Playdough burns easily, so make sure you cook it on low heat and keep stirring. If you store it in an air tight refrigerated container you can keep it for quite a few days.
I just made the playdoh using regular lime jello. I cooked it on low medium for about 5 minutes. You will know when it is ready because it turns into a big ball. Cannot wait for it cool down.
I tried this and it was a flop. Nowhere in the instructions does it say to cook anything. It just says to mix everything together in a bowl and stir continuously. Is it supposed to be cooked?
When cooking this–or any–playdough, use a medium to large frying pan with a non-stick surface. Stirring and clean-up are very, very easy. The larger cooking surface allows faster cooking and easier flipping of the dough. Electric fry pans work well…if they are non-stick. I have made playdough for years for Head Start children, and am always looking for the easiest and least messy approach. I also reduce the amount of salt in most of the recipes, too much salt=dry and crusty little fingers.
Hey, if it’s really a huge issue on whether to use cooking oil or baby oil, why not substitute another skin-healthy and edible oil? Olive oil is good for skin and so is coconut oil. It may be a little bit more expensive but it’s not like a lot of oil is used to make this. I actually use coconut oil as a lotion and it has cleared up a lot of my skin problems! Not to mention that it is 100% edible; some people even use it as a butter substitute.
This is a really great for sensory play, I am excited to try this. fI am going to see how it works with coconut oil. That would certainly be great for the skin and safe to be ingested. I just know what will work for me and I would only use food safe ingredients.
Can you make this with unflavored/colorless gelatin and add color later? That’s all I got on the shelf!
Re: UK Jello question – If it’s like Australia, you’d be looking for jelly (gelatin). Jello is a eponym, a name brand that has become the common usage name.
What is jello?
Sounds fun! People with the kids that have oral issues and gluten issues-really? You have to be on this sight and slam the messenger? Someone is just trying to share a fun recipe. If your kids can’t do it and not eat it-just don’t do it! Jeez- it is not rocket science
Just stopping by to let you know that I’ve featured your craft on Family Fun Crafts! You can see it here:
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Wouldn’t using kool-aid be an issue? There’s no gelatin in it. Perhaps you could use an equivalent amount of powdered gelatin and the unsweetened kool-aid for color and scent. It would probably taste nasty, too (bonus if they decide to eat it, even though it would be perfectly safe!)
Cool recipe. Looks fun
I really wanted to love this recipe because it’s low salt and I hate the dry feeling of salt on my hands when playing with playdough, but this recipe just didn’t work for me. I don’t know if it was weather conditions or what but I needed almost double the amount of flour! (I stirred constantly over low heat for 20 minutes without it thickening.) Anyone else have this issue?
Instead of baby oil, if you must substitute… use coconut oil – its fab for the skin and it is ingestible.
I made this just today. I didnt like it. I dont think it holds together for very long. I personaly think it could use more salt but thats just me.if you want playdough for a day then this is for you.
Great recipe! In case you are like me and struggle to understand recipes (can’t explain why, I am pretty smart!)… pour into pan and cook on stove top for almost 10 min at medium heat stirring constantly. When the mixture could stand in the middle of the pot without dispersing to the sides I then put it onto wax paper to cool. For me it didn’t make a ball, just thickened and became cohesive. When kneading I added food coloring to brighten up since flour dulled the color a little.
Thanks for all the comments.
I love this jello! I linked to you here: http://koskersidlewild.blogspot.com/2012/03/leprechaun-playdough.html
could i use rice flour instead of wheat flour???
as much as i enjoyed making this , the cooking at a low temp. should be in the instructions that way i could have found out before hand when i read the instructions that it would burn so quickly at medium heat.
Has anyone tried this with rice flour so that it’s gluten free?
You don’t actually have to cook this. Spin all the dry ingredients in the food processor. Mix the liquid ingredients. Then heat the liquid until just beginning to boil. Pour the hot liquid slowly through the feed tube of the food processor. When it rolls itself into a big ball, take it out, let it cool. That’s it. Good luck.
Just made this and I LOVE it! I did end up adding almost a cup extra flour to reduce the stickiness once it was cooled. So much smoother than the regular super-salty stuff. And after playing with my girls for about a half an hour, my hands still feel soft and not crusty and dry. This recipe is a winner!
Just wanted you to know, this worked great for me as is. Thank you for sharing!
Love this recipe! I would like to try it out with my little sister and I will def be reblogging this! thanks!
You can store it in the fridge to make it last longer. Smells Devine too!
This dough turned out great! We loved the texture, smell, and slow drying time. We will make this one again.
Need to add “cook on low heat” to recipe after pour in pan and stir continuously.
Fun recipe! Thanks!
Made this playdough for my dtr’s birthday party last weekend, it was wonderful! My kids have been playing with it since Sunday and it is still a nice consistency. Also, smells way better trhan the stuff you buy. Since my 2-yr-old likes to eat things, this is great for just-in-case she eats some. I followed the recipe and used lime, orange, and rasberry Jell-O for three different batches. Easy and turned out perfect! My 4-yr-old was even able to help with some prep and kneading after it cooled.
I think the ingredients list should say PRE made jello. If I hadnt read through all the comments I would probably have used the dry packages. I knew 2 tbs of oil couldnt possibly be enough liquid to moisten all those dry ingredients. It also doesnt say to put the pan on a stove, Good recipe but instructions seemed to be incomplete to me.
you should probably mention that you should get plain flavor jell-o. That way, you can make one batch and color different amounts with different colors of food coloring. Otherwise if you do like I did: I bought several different flavors of jell-o. So in order to have several different colors for my daughter to play with I have to make several different batches
I wasn’t thinking and I was also just presuming that directions would be a little bit clearer on here.
I have a question – will the jello color stain hands or clothing when made into the play-dough?
My Mum Made this for me as girl I wanted actual play-dough you also make just direction say just use Knox Jelly(gelatin) i used make fake food from uncoloured dough and my mum would bake it hard and she’d colour it with food colouring so look like real food. also made ashtray for my granddad it does have many uses and it’s cheap also can colour it with Kool-aid for scented.
I dont have cream of tartar but can I use something else?
Can you eat this?
Wait..just saw the post regarding the jello..please confirm. The Ready to eat Jello right?, not the box of powder?
I just made this and it came out GREAT!!! I used the powder and mixed all ingredients it said then transferred it to a pot on the stove on low and constantly stirring until it formed a ball. After all was done I put it on wax paper to cool down and kneaded it with flower until it wasn’t sticky anymore!! We used cookie cutters and made all sorts of stuff. I’m going to try and bake the alphabets we made so my son could use them for recognition!!
I just tried this recipe with my 5 and 2 year old boys, and it works. To clarify, because the recipe could be confusing, apparently, to some people, this is how I did it:
Mixed the four, salt, cream of tartar, and 3 oz package of powdered Jell-o mix (I used lime) in a bowl.
Then I added the cooking (vegetable) oil and water (1 cup). Then I put it on LOW heat in a nonstick frying pan with high sides to prevent spills (thanks for the tip Jeanne) and cooked it. It takes a long time to cook, like 15 minutes at least. It eventually becomes thicker and thicker – and you can tell when it is getting done because it starts to lose it’s “shiny” look, and dulls to a more satin look…and my batch did ball up nicely in the pan as I kept gathering it up with the spoon, and stirring it. then it was on to the waxed paper to cool, added around another 3/4 cup flour as I kneaded it once it cooled – and some green food coloring. Then I gave it to the boys and let them have at it. It made a good amount for 2 boys I was worried I wouldn’t have enough, but it worked.
I like this recipe.
So, to summarize to you folks who worry obsessively over recipe details: No, don’t use ready-to-eat Jell-o. Yes, cook it. On low heat.
Hope that helps.
I’ve featured this activity in my latest Craftulate blog post on Larder Crafts for Toddlers. You’re welcome to see it here http://craftulate.blogspot.com/2013/02/30-larder-crafts-for-toddlers.html – please grab a Featured Button if you’d like to. Thanks for the inspiration!
I thought, “What a great idea!” And then I tried to make it…there are instructions missing, like the temperature of the heat and what kind of pan to use. Mine cooked for over 20 minutes and it is still not done. I don’t see how this is a simpler recipe than plain old homemade playdough. I still love the idea of this recipe, but I think some of the comments should be incorporated into the recipe. We should have to scroll down and read comments on how to make it turn out right.
What worked for me was moving my mixture to a nonstick skillet and cooking it on medium low. I only needed to added 2 teaspoons of flour to make it not so sticky. I will be making some more colors today because i really like the consistency. Thank you for posting this.
@Jessica,
I agree! I will update the recipe and have you give it your blessing.
This recipe is awesome! I’ve made it several times, and just finished 4 batches in different colours for a play date and it turns out perfect every time! Not sure how people manage to mis-read the instructions, it says very clearly to cook until stiff. If you do so properly, it becomes a perfect consistency to mould and play! Thanks for posting!
This recipe is great! The playdough is perfect! I did mix about 1 cup of flour after it was cooled a little though, so it would be not too sticky.
Just made this and followed Andrea’s instructions. Came out perfectly. My only change was that I had to add a little extra flour when kneading (started with 3/4 cup and added an extra 1/8 cup.) I used flavored jello (blue rasp.) and didn’t add any extra food coloring. The color isn’t terribly bright but it’s definitely blue. Smells great too! Makes a lot – probably the equivalent of at least 2, maybe 3, pots of Play-Doh. Be patient while cooking. It took probably 25 minutes on low heat. I stirred occasionally until I noticed it really starting to thicken. Then I stirred constantly until it balled up and became more satiny.
I just did this and it was AH-MAZING…… I followed the directions as written by commenter Andrea. It took almost an hour to finshing cookin but im thinking thats cos i put it on the lowest heat. i had to increase it a tad bit towards the end(tho it was still low)……as the lil ones were getting impatient, and honestly so was i. I used strawberry jello so it came out a pretty pink colour and it smelt divine( had to hold myself back from tasting it) and i had to watch my 2yr old closely cos im sure he does not have as much will power as i do:) turned out great!!!!!!!!!!thanks for posting
Saw this on pinterest, made it tonight with my hubby and 1.5 y/o… one 6 oz packet of grape jello made 4 tupperwares full of blue, purple, green and pink! So awesome! We were at a loss of what to do with it after it was made, I remember playing with it for hours as a kid! Our daughter was afraid to touch it! But it turned out as promised and will be gotten out and molded until it dries out or whatever it does…
Are you using sugar free boxed jello or the regular sugared jello? If it is the sugared variety does the play dough come out sticky?