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.
make sure it’s sugar free in the summer at least or you get ants
we make this one a lot!
Doesn’t it turn their hands all colors and how do you keep them from eating it if it smells so good… ?
After 1 taste they will realize it doesnt taste as good at it smells!
Will any Gluten Free baking mix work as a flour substitute?
*Just a little note for GF parents: This recipe is not safe for Gluten Free kids.
Just made this, easy and smelled great! I added 1 T of Alum to see if it keeps longer. Can’t wait to play!
Does sugar free jello work or does it need to be regular?
Make sure to keep in a dry cool area so you don’t get mold.
Instead of cooking oil, I use baby oil. It does give it a little different smell, but it’s softer on the skin.
Is it more like a clay and smoother?
just a note on the comment above. I would never recommend substituting the cooking oil for baby oil. Baby oil can be fatal if ingested by a child. You can find all sort of info online about the dangers of ingesting it, but here is an article that will sum it up…..
^^^ So make sure your kid doesn’t eat it.. OMG – I should be a rocket scientist!
For Gluten Free – you should be able to substitute the flour for a gf mix. I know from experience that rice flour mixed with potato starch makes a good substitute as long as you get the proportions right!
You can also leave out the jello and mix a package of Kool-aid in the water. It smells yummy too but again if your child tastes it he/she will realize it smells better than it tastes.
Hey, Rocket Scientist Rachel, do you have kids? Are you able to control absolutely everything that goes into their mouths? Better safe than sorry.
Instead of Jello (you don’t actually need the sugar, I’m pretty certain), try using the unsweetend packets of Kool-Aid drink mix. The smell will be divine and the color vibrant. Younger kids might enjoy guessing what scent it is. This would eliminate your ant issue, too.
It doesn’t mention cooking it. Do you cook it like other playdoh or not? It says to put it in a pan, then wait to thicken, then put on waxed paper to cool, but doesn’t talk about what temp how long, etc.
Yup, I have 3 kids. And I WATCH them. Pretty easy to say – hey, don’t eat that..
I don’t have kids but I teach special education and sometimes it doesn’t matter what you tell kids, they are curious by nature. I’d stick with edible ingredients just on the OFF chance that on the split second it takes you to answer the phone, get them a kleenex, a glass of water or just maybe, blink a few times- they might try and eat it.
This is a great recipe!
I grew up with this recipe for playdoh, except with the baby oil instead. My mother ran an in home daycare and we ALL ate the playdoh at one time or another… And survived.
I have three kids – one of whom is autistic, he will try it no matter what he is told to do! Then likely as not little brother copies him too. Edible ingredients every time for me otherwise I can’t turn my back for a second and it is not the relaxing playtime it should be.
Thanks, Stephanie, some kids have oral compulsions and put EVERYTHING in their gob and as a result of my kids problems, he doesn’t follow instructions too often. So everyhing has to be non toxic, he has sensory issues and thinks he must mouth and chew on nonfood objects. Yeah, it sucks.
how long does this last. I’m thinking of making it as christmas gift this year for some little ones
this is a great recipe! thanks.
It is always safer to use child friendly products for children which is why the commercial brand ‘Playdoh’ make sure their product is NON-TOXIC. The biggest risk with Baby Oil is suffocation by breathing it in whilst ingesting it but I know I personally wouldn’t risk it. Here is an article I just copied for anyone who is interested in learning more
Gab xx
Baby oil, along with other common household oils for massage, hair, and bath, essential oils, eucalyptus and camphor oils, are responsible for at least 3000 reported ingestion accidents to young children every year in Australia.
Toxicologist Dr Naren Gunja from NSW Poisons Information Centre at Westmead Hospital says most parents don’t realise the danger.
“Once the child has ingested it depending on how much they ingest then it could be too late. Over a period of time, the child can die,” says Dr Gunja.
“It is a gradual process that can take several days, two weeks to die.”
Mums Gabby and Soraya say the drama started when their kids, Natalia, 4, and Gabriel, 3, were playing together. They discovered the two splashing baby oil over them and they’d drunk some.
Soon, both kids were having difficulty breathing. Natalia was also vomiting, Daniel had a rash. An ambulance rushed them to hospital – the doctors’ warnings were grim.
“He listened to his lungs for quite a while and he said ‘he looks ok’ and – this was just horrible – he said ‘look, there’s nothing we can do, this is something that if your child has done this, and it’s in his lungs there is nothing that we can do’,” says Soraya.
When Gabby and Soraya checked the internet for accidents and side-effects they discovered the horrors – in the US, 20 kids a year die from breathing in household oils, 5 deaths are from baby oil. In total, around 80,000 household oil ingestion accidents are reported to the US Poisons Centre yearly.
“The death the child goes through is absolutely horrific, the latest boy to die in America was Jayden Bryson, 18 months old, it took him 28 days to die, he suffocated to death,” explains Soraya.
Why so toxic? Look at the ingredients and you see baby oil, sunscreen oil, bath, body and massage oils, make-up removers, nail enamel dryers, eucalyptus, camphor and clove oils – are all made from mineral oil, a petroleum ingredient from crude oil.
Mineral oils contain hydrocarbons, a real danger to the stomach and especially the lungs – which can stop working.
“A mouthful of baby oil ingested by a child is enough to cause it to vomit and if they breathe that into their lungs that is enough to cause lung inflammation … if enough of that happens it could lead to death,” says Dr Gunja.
Why do you transfer it from the bowl to a pan? Are you heating it I assume? Temp?
Does anyone know what ‘jello’ is in the uk???
To the comment asking whether or not to cook it. I would recommend cooking it over a low-medium heat until it thickens. The amount of ingredients suggests a medium sauce pan. I would stick with that.
so, instead of baby oil, if you want soft skin, could you use olive oil?
love this!!!!! can’t wait to try it at school.
p.s. “arguing” over play-dough!?!? really?
This works great with Kool Aid (no sugar) packs, too.
I made this tonight with coolaid (because that is what I had) and it turned out great. my daughter is playing with it now and having lots of fun (she hasn’t really ever played with it before. Thanks for the tips. she doesn’t seem to be even trying to eat it, so maybe next time I will try it with baby oil. Or I what about olive oil, also good for the skin.
The danger of baby oil is actually breathing the oil, as a liquid, as it gets into the lungs and causes respiratory failure, which can lead to death. Not that the oil itself is poisonous if ingested in small amounts. Using a little bit of baby oil in play doh would not be fatal. Not that a kid should eat it, but as far as I know, it is not extremely harmful.
Same here! I have the same questions as Lacey. Trying to think outside the box this year for Christmas!
I have kids and I would sub in the baby oil if I felt like it. Ingesting enough toothpaste will cause trouble for your children, but we ask them to put that in their mouth 2X a day.
I have a hard time believing your child would get super sick if they ate a little bit of the playdough. Come on, people.
The colors are awesome! Much better than the typical homemade play dough recipes that just use food coloring. I bet kool-aid would work great, too. As a childcare provider, I would never make anything for the kids to be creative with that they couldn’t consume. Of course I discourage them from eating it, but kids will be kids, and one of the first ways to explore a new item/material is to put it in their mouth. I feel much better about them using homemade products like this than buying it off a shelf and not knowing what exactly went into it.
@Gillian, “Jello” is a name brand for flavoured gelatin, which is sold in small packets of dry mix (http://www.kraftbrands.com/Jello/products/gelatin/desserts/ ) American “Jello” -if I remember correctly- is the same as English “jelly”. Hope that helps.
Some commenters asked about cooking this. Based on the fact that it goes in a pan and that it then tells you to let the stuff cool, I think the writer just forgot to say “put it in a pan over low-medium heat.”
Right?
(Although I have seen a variation on the cream-of-tartar playdough recipe that uses boiling water and therefore doesn’t need cooking.)
If you keep reading after the step by step instructions, you will see where they say it burns easily so make sure to COOK over LOW heat! Hope this helps!
@Jennifer: There is a Gluten Free option!! I live with Celiacs and I have to make sure all things are GF!
If you prefer homemade here is a recipe here is a great one-
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 cup water
1 tsp cooking oil
Food coloring, if desired
Mix ingredients. Cook and stir on low heat for 3 minutes or until mixture forms a ball. Cool completely before storing in a sealable plastic bag.
If you need to buy or prefer a store bought Gluten Free Playdough there is a great product from Aroma Dough ( http://www.aroma-dough.com) 100% Gluten Free. Another place to buy would be from discount school supply (http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?Product=7566&rec=PDHbot).
Hope this helps! Good luck with Gluten Free!
will one packet of Kool-aid work or do you need more than that?
So does it turn the hands colors with the kool-aid or jello added into it?
Gillian, I think you all call it jelly
Great Recipe. Found I needed more flour though.
It actual just says put it in a pan and it doesn’t say to heat it, but I am assuming it should be!
Got to agree with Gab,
As a mother of 4 grown kids and one grandchild, not to mention a former home daycare provider… It takes one second and instructions not to do something and some kid will do what you’ve told them not to do. Better safe than sorry is always the best policy….
I have 3 kids ages 4 and under, and in my home we try to error on the safe side. We learn as we go as parents and I appreciate the information provided about certain oils and the related dangers. It’s good to be informed so we can provide a safe environment for our kids to thrive. Thanks again for the info.
I haven’t tried this yet… but am thinking coconut oil may give it a very interesting smell. it also has anti-viral properties (I think) so that may be a cool addition as well.
I assume you heat it on the stove? It just says pour into a pan and stir then cool on waxed paper.
Gillian – Jello in the UK is Jelly. (the wiggly gelatin mix that comes in fruit flavors!).
Just made your recipe thank you, we are also adding homemade glitter, cant wait for end result. Thank you for your blog and sharing, so considerate!