Gender Reveal Playdough
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It has been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. I found out about a month ago that I have a subchorionic hematoma and with the exception of a few days, I have pretty much been on bed rest ever since. I go back to the doctor late next week, so I’m hoping I’ll have a little more freedom after that. Thankfully, we have been so blessed by friends and family with meals and offers to shuttle and watch our boys!
We had a sonogram this past Friday (at 16 weeks) to check the status of the hematoma and were able to find out the gender of the baby as well, which was a welcome surprise to our tumultuous few weeks. I wanted to do something fun for the boys to find out whether they were going to have a baby brother or sister, so when I saw this idea for gender reveal playdough on Etsy (via Pinterest), I knew I wanted to try it out by making our own version.
I normally would have used our tried-and-true playdough recipe, but since I am not allowed to stand longer than it takes to walk to the bathroom, I knew it was out of the question. I decided to use Learn Play Imagine’s recipe for playdough made in a Kitchen Aid Mixer and was very pleased with the results. Plus, I could literally dump all the ingredients into my Kitchen Aid on my way to the bathroom and let it do all the work. Perfect!
The other thing that makes the playdough AWESOME is that you add the coloring after you make it. This way you can make it before you find out what you’re having, add a few drops of liquid watercolors, and you are ready to surprise your older child(ren)! I Â referred to Teach Preschool’s tutorial for color surprise playdough for this tip.
Here’s what you’ll need: Â plain white playdough (use this recipe or this one, omit the dye but add scent if you’d like), a storage container, and liquid watercolors (you could also use food coloring, I just didn’t want it to leave coloring on the boys’ skin).
1. If using your Kitchen Aid to make the playdough, follow the directions over at Learn Play Imagine. Add the dry ingredients…
…and then the wet ingredients. Mix for about 4-5 minutes.
 Ours was still a little sticky, so I added a couple tablespoons of flour and mixed again.
 2. I put the warm playdough in a gallon-size baggie but kept the top opened.
3. When you know which color you’ll color your playdough, grab the liquid watercolors.
4. Roll your playdough into a ball (or more, depending on how many kiddos you’re making it for). Poke a hole into the center of the playdough. Please no comments on how the play dough actually looks like a part of female anatomy…I didn’t realize that when I took the photo. :)
 5. Add several drops (around 5-10) of your liquid watercolor and then close the hole, being careful to keep the drops safely tucked inside the playdough.
6. Package up your playdough balls. I used a clear plastic cup, some transparent gift wrap, and a mailing label (that I wrote boy or girl on).
 7. Give the playdough to your child(ren) and encourage him/her to start playing with it.
 As the playdough is massaged, the color will be revealed. Big Brother instantly knew what those little specks of color meant…his prediction came true!
 It’s pink!
 Yep, we’re having a girl!
The boys are thrilled to have a baby sister soon!
Love the idea but don’t want to go to the trouble of making your own playdough? Melissa from LoveBubs said she will offer my readers 15% off using the coupon code “icanteachmychild”! Go here to check it out.
What do you think? How did you tell your older child the gender of a younger sibling (or did you)???
Congratulations! It’s a little funny reading your blog sometimes…I have two boys (the same age as yours) and just found out Monday that we will be having a girl in January! :)
Congratulations! :) Excited for your family!
Woohoo!!! So excited for you! Love that last picture especially of the boys with the big pink balloon. How adorable!
so excited for you and your family! Sending many prayers that you will be back on your feet soon and the rest of your pregnancy will be healthy and uneventful!!
Congratulations! I hope your pregnancy gets a bit easier soon!
Congratulations! I waited to find out the gender with each of my babies. I also have two boys (6 and 4) and baby girl that was born in January. I love watching my boys with their baby sister :-) Hope you get more good news at your doctor’s appointment and have very uneventful pregnancy going forward.
Yay, you all must be SO excited!! What a gorgeous way to share the news… LOVE it.
oh, I love this idea! totally stealing this in 6 weeks! ;) Congratulations! it is really great to have boys and girls!
Yay!! Congratulations!!
Congratulations on your little girl! Anyone who wants to skip making the dough and wants to order from my shop can use icanteachmychild as a coupon code and receive 15% off of any order, including the gender dough.
Awesome! I just added your coupon code to the post. Thanks so much for your generosity and such a wonderful idea!
What a great idea!! Pinning it! :)
What a cute idea! And congrats. :)
Congrats!! awesome reveal idea too :D
Yay; how fun! Our boys are going with us to our appointment on Thursday to find out the gender! Congrats! :)
I was just thinking of you today!! Congratulations! Love the idea and play dough reveal.
Fun idea! I had a subchorionic hematoma from week 10 until the end of the pregnancy and just had my healthy beautiful baby girl 3 weeks ago. Her gender was a surprise though. ;)Congrats and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy! :)
You don’t know how comforting that is to hear! So glad your sweet little one arrived safely!
What a sweet little blessing! Congrats to you and your family :) And what a fun way to share the news!
I was diagnosed with a large sch at 16 weeks, and I am now 32+ weeks. SCH is still there (although a bit smaller), and baby is doing great. Try to take it easy, and I will be praying for you.
Thank you! So glad to hear you and the baby are doing well! Were you/are you on bed rest?
I was never put on bedrest — just told to take it easy, walking only, no heavy lifting, etc. — and lots of ultrasounds to monitor. I have been pretty tired throughout the pregnancy, though, and have spent a lot of time on the couch :)
Yeah, congrats!!! Super cute idea for the gender reveal.
What a fun idea! And congrats on the girl!! So exciting…sorry you have been on bed rest. That is SO hard. Please keep us updated, and you will be in my prayers also.
YAY! So excited for a little girl for you!!! Just beautiful :) Two of my favorite bloggers – you & Malia (Playdough to Plato) both are now two boys & a girl!! Love it! Girls are totally a different ball of wax – the love from a little girl …well, you’ll see soon enough! xx Congrats!
Cute idea! Congrats!
I saw this via Pinterest and wanted to read since it is such an awesome idea. I was so delighted to see that you made your playdough in the Kitchen Aid!!! It put a huge smile on my face to see that. :) Congratulations on your third blessing. I pray you can be off bed rest soon.
eeek! I ahven’t done a lot of blog reading lately and totally missed this! Congrats!!! We have 2 boys and then our girl, it’s an awesome bunch!
Congratulations! That is fantastic news for you. I hope that things aren’t so stressful anymore and you’re not on bedrest still. Thinking about you.
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