DIY JELL-O Playdough

My kids adore playdough, and although most of it ends up ground into the fibers of my area rugs, I still continue to buy it. Today I took the insanity a step further and by made our very own homemade playdough.  I found a lot of recipes online and after I had settled on my favorite, I starting reading the (mixed) reviews.  Comments that the dough was too sticky and others that said the dough ended up covered in mold after a few days (although apparently refrigeration will keep the dough mold-free for two weeks) were enough to turn me away.  I began to question if the reason for the sticky and moldy results could possibly be due to the high content of sugar in the Jell-O mix. So, I decided to carry on with my playdough journey using sugar free Jell-O and crossing my fingers that I don't open a jar full of sticky moldy playdough.  I have not confirmed this theory by the way, but will update when I have.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of white flour
• 1 cup of water 
• 1/4 cup of salt 
• 2 TBS of cooking oil 
• 1 pack of sugar free JELL-O

NOTE: Many recipes called for 1-2 TBS of Cream of Tartar.  I made the play-dough with and without and noticed no difference. Do yourself a favor and save the money.  I wish I had! 

NOTE: What I found to make the biggest difference in consistency was the cook time.  Overcooking the play-dough definitely made it dry and not as pliable.  

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all of your ingredients in a pan and heat on low for about 5 minutes. Don't overcook or it will by dry and yucky.  

Here you can see that the play-dough is starting to cook.  Once it is almost entirely cooked, remove it from the pan. 

Knead your play-dough until it is smooth.  If it seems to still be a little sticky,  add a little flour coating and continue to knead. 

The finished product.  It smells good, and yes....YES I DID LICK IT!! and NO NO NO it does NOT taste good! Just think salt block.  HAHA!! 

These are 8oz Ball canning jars.  The amount of dough you see in these is about 1/3 of how much the batch made.  

As you can see, my sweet boy kept himself busy while mommy and sissy were cooking.  

So far it's a big hit....2 hours later :)

UPDATE!

Three days later and the playdough is still in great shape, soft, and not moldy.  It is currently being pushed to the limits by eight little hands and after a LONG and crazy day, it seems to be taking a very therapeutic effect on the subjects!

UPDATE:
10/01/2013
The final bit of playdough has been thrown out and I am happy to report that it was not because of mold like many users of the other recipes were reporting.  Colors had gotten jumbled together beyond recognition and it was just time to go.