Homemade Jello Play Dough

Update 7/30/16: I just wanted to do a quick rewrite and add more pictures to show the different colors of play dough I've made over the past week. And some of the adventures we got into while doing it!

I think one of the most reoccurring projects I see on Pinterest is homemade play dough. And I've always thought it was a nice idea, but... its going to make a mess; I don't have time to make it; there's no way that it could possibly work. You name it I probably thought it (and probably still think it when I look at some of those recipes)

The more I looked at the home made play dough, the more I wanted to try one. (I wanted to know if they actually could work). And Blue is getting that age where I can trust him with play dough, so I knew I had to find one I like. And I was going to test them all out and let you know which one works the best, but I really don't have time for that. So I decided to just stick with one recipe that claims to be good and gets its color from jello. (I mean what's better using jello to experiment with?)

The Project

Making home made play dough

(recipe from Modern Parents Messy Kids)

Experiment and Results

Apparently when I decided to make play dough, I didn't realize it would become a family affair. So with my little helpers by my side, we attempted to make play dough.

I'm not going to lie, things started a little rough. I read over the step to premix and the put it onto the heat. So I spilled a little over the side while trying to mix it and get the lumps out (and ended up burning it onto my stove top).

 The first time through, I got a little impatient waiting for the play dough to cook enough. I ended up taking it off a little bit prematurely and ended up with sticky play dough that needed a lot of flour to remedy that. After that I learned to keep stirring until there was a slight burning smell in the air (and you really couldn't stir it any longer). 

Also I was prepared with a cutting board covered with flour (and proceeded to cover the dough with flour as it cooled).

I'm not sure the exact amount I used, but I learned the more flour the better and less sticky the play dough will become. And it didn't effect the color at all.

I think the best part is that when it finally cools and you put enough flour on, it feels like real play dough (and the cherry jello gives it an authentic smell too!)

Conclusion

I couldn't be happier with my results. As I was mixing flour into the cooling dough, Blue came over to investigate and helped out. Before I knew it he was making balls with it, sampling it (it doesn't taste good) and eventually he started playing with his cars in. He just took to it like a fish in water. It's really exciting to see his imagination come alive playing with the play dough. My favorite part is that now when Lion is sleeping, I can pull out the play dough for Blue to play with and I can finally work on some projects.

And as I made more colors Blue had more and more fun with it. Before I knew it he was mixing the colors together

This frustrated me at first, because I was trying to keep it organized, but as soon as I let it go and let him play, the more I realized he's a kid and that's why I made it for him.

And I can't really be mad at him when he makes a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday cake

So I guess I learned that play dough is a great play thing to have around the house. And that if you have the time (and patience) its a fun thing to make.