Everybody needs a play dough recipe!

If you have kids, if you work with kids, if someday you think might want kids, if you are a kid at heart, then you really should have a play dough recipe on hand because it is such a great thing to play with.  There are HUNDREDS of recipes, and I have tried several of them.  I once made a salt dough for my Kinders that completely reeked a couple days later!  Yikes!  But this one, smells delicious, and should last for at least a week in the fridge, possibly longer if you add Alum.  And the best part?  You probably already have the ingredients in your pantry!

For this play dough recipe you will need:

1 cup flour, plus a bit more for kneading later
2 TB salt
2 TB Cream of Tarter
2 TB Cooking oil
1 cup warm water
1 3oz package of Jell-o, any flavor

Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl.

Then mix it all up until it is smooth, I used a whisk to make sure to get all of the bumps out.  If you have kids, this is all stuff they can do, so please include them!  When it is mixed it should look like this:

Then pour it into a pot and cook on low heat.  Don't stop stirring until it forms a ball in the pan, because Jell-o will burn pretty easily if you let it sit.  This part takes a while, about 15 to 20 minutes of stirring.

Once it is thick, place the dough on a piece of wax paper to cool.

After the dough cools, you will need to knead some flour into the dough because it is super sticky.  Start by sprinkling the top with flour and then mushing all the dough together.  Keep adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky.  Then place it in a sealed container, and keep it in the fridge.  It will only keep for about a week, but it smells delicious and is completely safe!  But the best part is that the kids will have a great time making it, and you will be the super hero for knowing how!  Have fun!