Need some engaging Christmas activities for kids? Have some holiday fun making and playing with this easy gingerbread scented playdough recipe!

Kids love playing with playdough and it’s a great way for preschoolers to work on fine motor skills and strengthening their hands.

I love being able to customize homemade playdough recipes with colors and scents. The smell of gingerbread always reminds me of Christmas.

So, I thought the kids would enjoy playing with dough that looks and smells like gingerbread cookies!

Brown playdough balls stacked up with gingerbread men cut out of playdough leaning against them.

Don’t forget to grab our printable gingerbread playdough mats to play on!

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Table of Contents

Homemade Gingerbread Playdough

This no cook playdough recipe is simple to make and it’s affordable because it does not use cream of tartar.

When my daughter’s preschool asked me to make playdough for her class, I just about fell over when I shopped for the ingredients in the recipe they sent me!

What I love about making this playdough recipe, is it uses things I usually have in my kitchen cabinets all the time. Which makes it quick and easy to whip up a batch during winter break when none of us feel like leaving the house.

The kids will have a blast rolling it out and using plastic gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters to make pretend gingerbread cookies.

Or maybe they’ll use the gingerbread house playdough mat to make a house.

Light brown playdough rolled out with rolling pin and kid hand pressing green plastic gingerbread men shaped cookie cutters into it.

I love the creativity and pretend play possibilities of playdough!

When you are done playing, you can store it in a zip top bag or in these plastic containers perfect for storing playdough and slime.

The playdough should stay good for a few months if stored properly. I’d check it periodically to ensure it isn’t moldy before playtime.

At least it can easily be replaced with a fresh batch if needed. Even the kids can help mix everything up!

We also have a fun bouncing playdough recipe you may like to try.

No Cook Gingerbread Playdough Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup table salt
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

How to Make Gingerbread Scented Playdough

Start by mixing all of the dry ingredients together, then add the oil.

Add the warm water and mix and knead all of the ingredients well until you get the consistency you want.

If the playdough is too sticky, knead in a little more flour at a time. If it’s too crumbly, add a little more water at a time.

More Christmas Kids Activities:

Gingerbread Scented Playdough

Yield: 1 batch

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $10 or less

Make this easy gingerbread scented playdough (made without cream of tartar) for holiday fun with the kids!

Materials

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup table salt
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

Instructions

Start by mixing all of the dry ingredients together, then add the oil.
Add the warm water and mix and knead all of the ingredients well until you get the consistency you want.
If the playdough is too sticky, knead in a little more flour at a time. If it's too crumbly, add a little more water at a time.

Light brown gingerbread playdough rolled out flat. Rolling pin laying across top of playdough with gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters on top of dough.

Darcy Zalewski

Darcy is the founder of “Life With Darcy and Brian,” where she combines her love for education, board games, and crafting to create engaging learning experiences for kids. Her creative projects and writing have been featured in outlets like The Toy Insider, CafeMom, Mom.com, Parents.com, Country Living, and The Pioneer Woman.

Melissa

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

Hello!! How long is this recipe good for?

Hi Melissa! If the playdough is stored in a zip top bag or airtight container, it can last for a few months. This can vary though, especially depending on how clean hands and surfaces are when playing with it. Just make sure to look it over before play and if it starts to look yucky or get fuzzy it's time for a new batch!

Rochelle

Friday 8th of September 2023

Hi, I tried to print the recipe card and for some reason the ingredients portion didn't show up. So I ended up cutting and pasting the other directions onto a separate document to print.

Saturday 9th of September 2023

I'm so sorry about that, Rochelle! I'm not sure what happened, but I fixed it and everything should be in the printable recipe card again.

Lauren

Monday 5th of September 2022

Hi. Have you ever let the play dough air dry ? If so does it dry hard ? I make gingerbread girls and boys as ornaments with my preschool class.

Wednesday 25th of January 2023

I haven't left it out on purpose to test how it dries out. If you try it for your ornaments, let me know how it works!

Tiffany Walker

Wednesday 8th of December 2021

How much will this make?

Wednesday 15th of December 2021

Hi Tiffany, I don't remember exactly how much but it was a pretty decent batch for a couple kids to play with. I think it was close to about 3-4 standard containers of store bought.

Rebecca konstantinidis

Friday 3rd of December 2021

Hi, how much play doh does this make? I want to use it for my pre _k class of 17 and I want to make sure there is enough for all of them!

Hi Rebecca, I apologize - I don't remember exactly how much it made. I think it was close to about 3-4 standard containers of store bought. You'd definitely want to make a few batches to have enough for everyone in your classroom.