Gingerbread Playdough
Looking for a rainy day project, or a way to bake with the kids minus a blazing hot oven? If you answered yes, then I think you’ll love my latest project.
For the past week, this house has been play-dough central. But, we’re not making just ANY old play-dough. We’re making GINGERBREAD PLAY-DOUGH!
I’ve had homemade play-dough on my to-do list for a very long time, but I was thinking more along the lines of a fruity scent. Then one day, while exploring Pinterest I ran across Pumpkin Spice Playdough.
That’s what inspired me to make a Christmas version.
After a bit of research, I realized play-dough maing isn’t really an exact science, so I used up my favorite play-dough recipe and doctored it up a bit.
The kids and I have been making it all week. Since we enjoyed it so much, we thought it would make a perfect gift for their little friends also.
If you’re curious about gingerbread play-dough, it is just like any other version. The only difference is it’s a beautiful brown color and has a rich enticing aroma, just like real gingerbread.
It looks almost like the real thing, minus one thing…taste. You won’t have to worry about your kids eating this dough. Although it smells good, it tastes every bit as yucky as every day play-dough.
My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s easy and inexpensive to make. You can even use last year’s spices. You know, the ones you should be throwing out and replacing with fresh ones by now…
If you don’t have the exact ratios I used, don’t worry, just use about two tablespoons of spice and it will smell great. Allspice and pumpkin pie spice are fine also, or even just cinnamon if that is all you have.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp orange extract {optional}
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan whisk together dry ingredients. Next mix in the water, oil, and orange extract and stir until a thick batter is formed. Cook the mixture over low/medium heat until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto parchment paper and knead until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dough.
It helps to pre-assemble your ingredients because the cooking process goes very quickly.
Begin by whisking together the dry ingredients {my kids love to help with this}, then add the oil, water, and extract. You can leave out the orange, but I like it in my real gingerbread recipe, so for the sake of aroma, I add a splash to the play-dough.
As the mixture cooks, it will slowly thicken. It may seem like it’s clumping, but don’t panic. This is completely normal. Just keep on stirrin’…
When it has reached the consistency of play-dough, take it out of the pan, drop onto parchment paper and knead until smooth.
Let cool and store in an airtight container. As long as it’s kept covered, it should last for quite a while.
My kids have spent many hours this week playing “Cookie Shop”. For some reason they make a lot of pies, but I let it slide.
It makes me so proud to see them do what I do every day. I guess they pay more attention than I think they do!
With luck, by the time they are teenagers, I’ll have a work crew!
See? I told you I had a pie guy! He’s even doing lattice tops!
And my Bellle-Belle knows how to turn on the ELBOW GREASE. Literally!
For another gift idea, you could also mix up just the dry ingredients with instructions to add the wet ingredients and cooking. I wrote them on the underside of the label.
I love it the thought that another family will share the fun we did while making our play-dough.
To keep the packaging inexpensive I recycled glass jars I’ve saved throughout the year. I decoupaged the lids and added pretty paper, ribbon, and colorful baker’s twine, available at The Twinery.
Kids can also help decorate jars. Have them glue on scraps of ribbon, paper, and buttons. You can even tie on repeat or inexpensive mini-cutters for a quick cute accent.
I hope you’ll make this with your kids and share it with others. Gingerbread play-dough is the perfect way to keep the kids entertained over the holiday season.
If you’re in the mood for REAL gingerbread, you can find my favorite recipe HERE.
I’m linking up with Thirty Handmade Days and Tidy Mom this week, and you should too!
I hope everyone has time for a bit of baking this weekend!
LOVE this!!! So much I have a party to got to in a couple days and think this would be perfect to bring the their children. You are the best Callye!!!
Hello.
Oh my gosh, if my kids were still young we would be making this, we LOVED anything gingerbread! Such a cute idea for a gift. Someday I’ll have grandkids and we can make this stuff, so cute!
Your children are adorable! This is a terrific idea, my kids will love this (and I’m sure they’ll still try to eat it!).
Too cute! I remember someone making edible, peanut butter playdough when I was a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing ever!
Your kids are SO adorable! This is a fabulous idea, too! I imagine they had worlds of fun. I just wish I had this play doh when i was a kid!
Wow, this is very good idea! And your kids know mommy ‘s work! Thank you so much share good idea!
Such a great idea and this will be so perfect to keep the little ones busy during a holiday party!
Cutest thing ever. And I LOVE how SERIOUS your kids are playing with this. Fantastic!
Such a cute idea….and darling pictures!
I used to make homemade playdough for my kids, but never with any fragrance or spice. What a great idea, and I bet it just smells so good – even if the kids take a bite, it’s not all bad since it’s completely edible (just a bit salty ;)).
that is so fun, it would be great this time of year for sure.
1) your kids are beautiful!! I love that they were getting so into it! 2) lmao @ the spices comment!! My allspice is so old, it’s rockin the old McCormick’s label (which has thoroughly yellowed)
3) this is a great idea & I can’t wait to try it.
This post is so sweet and your kids are adorable your photos should be in a magazine.
This is so perfect for my nieces!! Love this. I’m also posting a link on Edible Crafts :). And what genius future bakers up there!
I love seeing kids in the kitchen and this recipe is ideal to play, be entertained without any danger and be taking his love of pastries. Thank you very much for sharing your day to day. regards
I made the pumpkin spice playdough for a play date I had when the kids were out of school last week. This gingerbread playdough is great..now I have something to do when the kids are out of school this month!!!
WOW!! Have I told you lately you are BRILLIANT!! I have some old spiced I was going to throw away but now I can use them! 🙂
You kids are so CUTE!!!
fabulous idea!! just plastered it everywhere and featured it on my Facebook page
Thank you SO much for sharing your creative ideas! I can’t wait to share this with my children 🙂
This is fantastic! I love your packaging (and your snowflake banner in the background). Your kids are adorable and such hard little workers.
This is absolutely adorable. You are amazing! I love how you incorporate the kids into your love of cookie decorating. I tend to shoosh them out of the kitchen when i’m working. 🙁
This is such a cute idea!! Gonna have to try it.
Did you just make those jar lids, or did you buy them? If you made them, how did you do it?
This is so awesome! I hate the smell of real playdoh. This would be really hard to resist eating but at least if my kids were to eat it, I’d know it was safe! 🙂 Fun gift for kids in the family too. Thanks for sharing.
Such a great idea! My niece is 2 /12 and just starting to get into playdough! This would be so much fun as a lil homemade gift from Auntie 🙂
This is great – thanks! We just made a batch and now I have 4 happily occupied kiddos! And the house smells delicious!
Looks like fun! I might get in trouble though because I make peanut butter playdough for my kids and it is edible so they might try and eat this. Luckily there isn’t anything in it that would hurt them and after they taste it they probably wouldn’t eat it again! Thank you for the great idea.
Lol, they’ll only taste it once …I promise 🙂
Does the playdoh dry hard or can you bake it to make decorations? A few of us have asked this already, I just can’t find a reply. TIA 🙂
This is so awesome! Such a great idea!
I am definitely going to try this out! Thank you!
I love this idea! I want to make small jars and give them to my daughter’s preschool class for Christmas!
Thanks for sharing!
This is a wonderful idea! I’ve now added it to my son’s to do list this weekend! 🙂
Callye, what a wonderful idea. I love what you did with the lids. I am thinking I need to learn to decoupage.
p.s. Your kids are so stinkin cute! 🙂 I love the photo of your daughter squishing the dough with her elbow!
LOVE!!! The kids and I whipped up a batch right after school today and played away!! Mmmmm….it smelled so “Christmasy!” Thank you for sharing…and love the way you put it in the jars with the darling lids! What a great gift idea!!!!
What an amazing idea and a new holiday tradition I think I will need to start at our house:) I love the photos of your littles…they are so cute getting down and dirty in baking mode!
Aw, this is so cool! I really wanna make this for my niece for Christmas!
THANK GOODNESS FOR SWEET SUGARBELLE! I was just about to search for play dough recipe and you post this! You’re truly a life saver! Love seeing your kids get into this activity!
You are so creative! Ingenious idea for the Christmas season…and so prettily packaged!
Thank you! What a great idea for my nieces and nephews!
AWESOME~!~~ Just made it and the house smells great, it’s fake baking 🙂
This is an awesome idea!!! I know just what mu daughter’s classmates will be getting for Christmas this year!!!!! Great post!!!
Thanks so much for sharing! I run a group daycare home with many preschool and toddler age children. We’ve made kool-aid play dough, but this recipe is perfect for this time of year. My daycare kids will be thrilled!
This is the cutest idea ever!
I’ve made homemade play-doh many times over the years, but never gingerbread! What a great idea! LOVE the packaging too. P.S. Your apprentice bakers are just darling:)
I had this on my list to make this year. I’m putting it in my 3yr olds stocking this year. With a cutter. Along with all baking things 🙂
Have you seen this cookie set by Melissa & Doug?
http://www.target.com/p/Melissa-Doug-Slice-and-Bake-Cookie-Set/-/A-11032339
and this one by step 2
http://www.target.com/p/Step2-Pastry-Chef-Set/-/A-11212626
Thought you may be interested. I purchased those two for my daughter. They have brownie sets and a dessert stand full of desserts too. They are adorable for a little girl.
You’re going to laugh when u see my giveaway today 🙂
Oh… I can’t wait.
Thank you for this! Now THIS is one of your creations even I can accomplish! Just made it and can’t wait for the kids to see it–they’ll be stoked to play with this with their cousin this afternoon! Will work great with a set of gingerbread cutters I picked up at World Market this week even though I knew the odds of me making actual cookies were slim. Glad I got them anyway, now I know why I “needed” them!
Just made a double batch for my son’s preschool. Thanks!
what a great idea!! love it.
I HAVE to tell you that we JUST made this and are currently playing with the gingerbread playdough!!! This it now being filed away in holiday traditions that this family will be doing yearly (or more)!
I can’t wait until Caleb is old enough to make this with me!
Made these with my nephews this afternoon; they loved it! Everything turned out perfectly, and it smelled great!
ok girl, just found your AMAZING site.
i am so impressed.
just posted the “santa” decorating post you did for a friend to my FB wall–had to share.
you are amazing in decorating those, perfection indeed.
I have read your blog for a while now and I just love how you decorate cookies. You give out
So much inspiration and this was a great idea with the play do. My children
Loves play do so I will make this with them. I’m from Sweden by the way and
Love your blog 🙂
What a wonderful idea!!!!! you’re incredibly creative. Thank you for sharing your art and passion. I will definitely make this dough with my kids and make some more to offer as christmas gifts.
Oh my goodness. This is precious. I found your site via Pinterest. Your pictures in this post are precious. I’m saving this recipe. Might even make it tonight. I teach kindergarten and we read Gingerbread Man books all week last week and my kids would love me forever I think if I put gingerbread play dough in a center. So sweet.
I made this with my son on Saturday! I live in Korea and Christmas is just not the same here. I spent more time playing with it than my son! Though today he wanted to take it to daycare with him. So now I think I have the perfect present for the other 9 kids at his day care! Thank you sooooo much for the inspiration^^
Callye, your children are ADORABLE!! and I love your Gingerbread Playdough idea! That is just perfect! Thanks for sharing and I’m definitely going to try this with my boys over the holiday break!
I am digging this idea! And those pictures of your kids making their Playdoh pies and other creations are so precious.
This is on our to-do list this week!!! SQUEEE!!! I can just tell you, this is one to-do item that is going to be so much fun.. well… to-do. 🙂
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Does this dough dry hard? Thinking of using it to make decorations for my kitchen tree.
I have been thinking about making play doh for a long time too! Thanks for your post. And I too was wondering if the dough dries hard…
Your children are beautiful and such hard workers. Love the picture where your daughter is using her elbow to knead the dough. Too cute! I’m sure she’s seen you do that. It looks like they had a wonderful time and what precious memories you have made.
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I don’t have kids but I’d gladly still play with the Gingerbread play-doh myself! It looks like such a treat.
I made this for my son’s preschool class today and it was such a winner! Thanks so much for sharing.
What an adorable adorable adorable idea!!!
What a great idea! My kids would LOVE to do this and who doesn’t love the smell of gingerbread?! Thank you for sharing such a great idea. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Found this post through pinterest and will be making this play-dough! Wondering where you got the little pie tins? Thanks for the great idea!!
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OMG I just made this and it is to die for! So easy and way better then store bought….there isn’t a diy I won’t try and I can’t believe I have never made play-dough before. But a BIG sincere thank you! The holiday’s are tough, our youngest (3) has T1 diabetes so eating cookies isn’t always an option or she loves to make them but doesn’t get to eat them and with these she get’s to enjoy a holiday classic over and over and could care less about eating them 😀 Thanks for sharing! -Rachel also I didn’t have ginger like I thought so I did a little substituting with pumpkin pie spice and it worked just as good I think 😉
This is wonderful!
Hi There,
I am a kindergarten teacher and I am preparing for our class Christmas Party. I want to use the playdough recipe and provide it as party favors for my students. I have hree questions:
1. How much playdough does this recipe make?
2. Do you think I can put this is in mini plastic containers with a snap on plastic lid (i.e. like the kind you find in restaraunts for ketchup or butter)?
3. Do you have to keep the playdough refrigerated? ( I saw on another website that the playdough have to keep it refrigerated to stop it from drying out.)
Thank you so much for your ideas 🙂
This is SO amazing. As a mum & an educator, I try and look for new ideas to promote play. I loved this recipe & accompanying photos. You have inspired me to create this with my little ones. Thankyou- I can’t wait to see what you create next!!
I just love play dough especially one that spells just like Christmas. I made another version of Gingerbread Play Dough last year that starts with a gingerbread cookie/cake mix. So easy and so fun! Love your packaging!
http://www.heidisrecipes.com/2010/12/gingerbread-play-dough-recipe.html
This is so nice. I have making it on my list to do! Love how your children are little mini bakers. Love the packaging.
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I LOVE THIS! I saw this on pintrest and had to come over to your blog to see. I was planning on making play dough with the kids tomorrow and now I’m so excited that I just may go to the store this afternoon to buy cream of tartar so we can do this tonight!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!
This play-dough is so much fun! I also love how you covered the lids on your jars. Would you please share your process?
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bravo for you! i just made the gingerbread play dough for my 2 year old and she looooves it. i wish i was a cookie deserving friend of yours:) keep up the fabulous work!! thx for this post.
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This is amazing. I need to make this the family I carpool with. I know the mom loves gingerbread, and the kids love play dough. Thanks so much for the idea!
Hey Callye!
I already knew you were a genius and this playdough just confirms that fact!
We made some this week and all had so much fun with it, that we decided to copy you completely and make some more for gift jars. They’ll be going to my daughter’s little pre-school friends who are all HUGE playdough fans! Thanks so much for sharing your genius with the rest of us!
Kylie xx
PS. I also love how Christmassy my house smells when we’re making/playing with this 🙂
I love this! I wanted to let you know that I featured this in my “What I Bookmarked This Week” post – stop by and see.
Will you please add me to your emails? Thank you so much!!
Here ya go, I can’t do it for you, but I wrote it down because it’s hard to do https://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2011/06/how-to-subscribe-to-posts-via-email/
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This is wonderful! I have been looking for some other easy, homemade Christmas crafts (and presents) to make and this is perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe! Your children are precious and look like they are having so much fun! Merry Christmas!
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We just made this today and it is wonderful! It smells so good, we really want to eat it! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
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This was my first time making homemade play-doh. It turned out great. I didn’t have ground cloves on hand, so I used some pumpkin spice and a little more cinnamon. Turned out great. Thanks! I will be passing this recipe along to my mommy friends, as well as making a larger batch as gifts for my kids friends this Christmas.
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Just discovered your blog via pinterest and love it! I’m going to make play dough jars for all of our children friends thisChristmas, thank’s for the awesome idea! My son will love the gingerbread scent, Here is a link to our Peppermint Snow Dough http://learningbetweenthelakes.blogspot.com/2011/12/snow-dough.html
This turned out wonderfully – my teenagers made it for the kids that they babysit each week for a Christmas gift! thanks for sharing!
I made this with my 2.5 year old son today and we both loved it! It was simple to make, turned out well, my son played with it for over an hour (a new record for ANY toy by at least 45 min) and my house smells delish! WIN WIN! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it for our Christmas playdate and it was such a hit with the kids. They loved baking cookies all afternoon! Merry Christmas!