How to Make Gingerbread Playdough as Frugal Gift for Kids

We are going to make some cheap Christmas gifts for kids, and I'm going to show you how to make gingerbread playdough. I try to have a wonderful Christmas by making homemade Christmas gifts, so we don't overspend. Without any further ado, let's get started on these fabulous and fun homemade Christmas gifts.

How to make gingerbread playdough

Ingredients:

  • 1 Cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ Cup of salt
  • 2 Teaspoons of cream of tartar
  • 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 Cup water
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ¼ Teaspoon vanilla extract
Homemade gingerbread playdough recipe

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cream of tartar together to get the lumps out.  


Next, you will whisk in the ground ginger and the cinnamon, removing clumps.


Set this aside for just a moment. 


Add the water, vegetable oil, and vanilla in a separate pan. Turn the burner on low and stir.

DIY playdough

Fold the dry mixture into the liquid mixture a little at a time, stirring to remove lumps.


Slowly cook this until it gets to the consistency of playdough. Keep it on low. 

How to make gingerbread playdough

Let it cook. Flip it, turn it, and you'll see how it slowly starts to get the consistency of playdoh. 

Gingerbread playdough

Once you have the right consistency, turn off the burner and remove the playdough from the pan.


It is just like store-bought playdough and smells just like gingerbread cookies. It's festive and fun, and the ingredients for this are things you have in your house. 

Dividing the playdough

Dollar Tree has little containers ($1.25 for two) and cookie cutters. I will divide the batch between the two containers and make it cute by adding cookie cutters so they can make the playdough into shapes.  

Gingerbread playdough kits

There we have homemade gingerbread playdough. This is a cute little gift for any kid in your life. The only things I had to buy for this were the containers and the cookie cutters because the ingredients were all pantry items I always had. So two gifts for $1.25 each.


Build your own monster kit

The next fun homemade gift for kids is a build-your-own monster kit. I used little condiment cups from Dollar Tree that come with lids. They also had cute little Christmas-themed sandwich bags and assorted craft fuzzies and googly eyes.

Dividing the playdough into cups

We will make another batch of that gingerbread playdough using the recipe above. Then we will divide it and pack it in the little cups. A whole batch of that playdough would make ten of these little cups.


Gather your bags, the playdough in cups, and the craft items. We are now going to make our build-your-own playdough monster kit.  

Placing the playdough into a bag

Place a little cup of the playdough into the bag. Add some of the craft items so they can decorate the playdough. I added eyeballs and little pom poms; you could also add pipe cleaners.


There are so many options. You can make white playdough by leaving out the spices to make build-your-own snowman kits. You can make green by adding green food coloring to the playdough for make-your-own Christmas tree kits. There are so many possibilities. 

DIY Build Your Own Monster Kit

If you have a printer, you can print this out. I'm just doing this because this is the budget-friendly way. I made a sign to attach to the bag that says Build Your Own Monster Kit.


How cute is that? These are great for a stocking stuffer or little gifts if your kids have friends in school.


Homemade gingerbread playdough recipe

This homemade gingerbread playdough used items I had in my pantry. It is very budget-friendly. Do you give homemade Christmas gifts? Share what you make to give in the comments below. 

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