Kool Aid playdough is easy to make and looks and smells great! This easy homemade play dough recipe made with Kool Aid has vibrant colors and a heavenly smell with a tropical PUNCH! Kids of all ages will love to make Kool Aid play dough out of their favorite flavor of Kool-Aid. The flavors smell SO yummy.
Best Kool-Aid Playdough Recipe
We prefer not to have our kids drink stuff high in artificial dyes, but they can still enjoy the flavors of Kool Aid in a different way…Koolaid PLAY DOUGH! Since we originally published this article more than 5 years ago, Kool-Aid has come out with some unsweetened drink mix, naturally flavored and dye-free alternatives…yay!
Many thanks to 36th Avenue and Fun at Home with Kids. Desiree inspired us to add koolaid to our dough this week and Asia told us that we didn’t need to use the stove to make our dough – we can microwave it!
-Homemade Play dough advisors {Giggle}
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5 Minute Playdough Recipe with Koolaid
This Kool Aid playdough recipe only takes 5 minutes to make and I think the colors are way cooler than what you can make with food coloring or food dye.
One of the reasons I really like to make Kool Aid play dough is because it gives you a variety of colors associated with the flavor of Kool-aid you choose to use. Each type of Kool Aid has a flavor, Kool-aid colors and SMELL associated with it and that makes for an extra fun activity because it has a yummy smell.
Kool Aid Playdough Recipe
Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Koolaid Play Dough
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or olive oil
- 2 Kool-Aid packets
- 3/4 cup of water
How to Make Playdough with Koolaid
Watch My Short Video on How to Make this 5 Minute Kool Aid Playdough Recipe
Step 1 – Mix the Playdough Ingredients
Mix all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir them until they are all wet and mixed. The dry ingredients should be fully integrated.
Step 2 – Microwave the Homemade Play-doh Mixture
Put your bowl into the microwave for 50-60 seconds. Stir the edges of your bowl and then let it sit for a minute to set. With a spatula stir the dough and then scrape it out of the bowl.
This is in lieu of heating the playdough dough in a medium saucepan over medium heat…isn’t this much easier?
Step 3 – Knead Your Kool Aid Playdough Recipe
Add another tablespoon of flour to your table surface and dump the dough onto it. Work the play dough until it is elastic.
Total time = 5 Minutes! Marvelous!
How to Store Playdough with KoolAid
This homemade playdough recipe will last several days in an airtight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature. If you would like to extend its shelf life, then put that air-tight container or plastic bag into the fridge and it will keep for several weeks.
How to Fix Homemade Playdough Recipes
As we estimate our ingredients (see above video – my five year old is our play dough “cook”) here are solutions we have discovered if our batch does not come out as we had planned:
- If the dough is stiff, add a teaspoon of water.
- Crumbly dough? add another teaspoon of oil.
- If the dough is sticky, add another teaspoon of flour.
- If you prefer a “silky” dough, add a teaspoon of glycerin.
Kool Aid Play Dough FAQ
You can store your leftover Kool Aid playdough for several days in an airtight container. If you want to keep it fresh a little longer, try storing it in the fridge for up to a week.
Instead of using boiling water, we microwaved the playdough recipe in step 2 for 50-60 seconds and then stirred the bowl contents afterward which makes it much faster and easier to make Kool Aid playdough!
Kool Aid itself can stain your hands and depending on how vibrant your colors might be, the playdough can too. If this happens wash your hands with toothpaste instead of soap after playing or wipe hands thoroughly with a vinegar soaked rag or paper towel.
Cream of tartar when added to playdough can help stabilize the dough allowing it to be softer and fluffier similar to the way it works with egg whites.
Salt in playdough adds bulk and texture to the dough and keeps it fresh longer.
A common ingredient in homemade playdough that keeps it soft is cream of tartar.
In this recipe it is the combination of flour and oil when combined with the other ingredients gives this homemade playdough a little stretch.
I love the idea of freezing a batch of playdough ahead of time, but have never had it turn out well in the end so we don’t recommend freezing playdough.
Is Kool Aid Play Dough Edible?
While all the ingredients in this recipe are non-toxic, kids should not eat Kool Aid play dough.
Kids can easily get sodium toxicity from eating homemade dough. Please encourage your kids to keep this OUT of their mouths!
How to make Playdough with Koolaid
This super easy homemade playdough recipe uses Kool Aid as the coloring which makes it also smell amazing. Kids of all ages will love making this Kool Aid homemade play dough recipe for sensory play and just because it is cool.
Materials
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/4 cup of salt
- 1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 2 Kool-Aid drink mix packets
- 3/4 cup of water
Tools
- large bowl
- wooden spoon
- flat surface
Notes
- Mix all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir them until they are all wet and mixed.
- Microwave your Kool Aid playdough mixture for 50-60 seconds and then stir and let sit for a minute.
- With a spatula, scrape it out of the bowl onto a floured surface.
- Knead until it is an elastic consistency.
More Play Dough Recipes from Kids Activities Blog
- Try out our classic homemade playdough recipe!
- Check out these deliciously edible playdough recipes.
- Speaking of edible playdough, try our peanut butter playdough.
- This galaxy playdough is out of this world!
- This melted ice cream paydoh is so much fun to play with!
- Relax with this therapeutic play dough.
- This homemade chocolate playdough smells amazing!
- This is not your average playdough. It is shiny play doh!
- Why not inspire some creative play with this play doh sea recipe.
- Your kids will love this under the sea playdough!
- You can make this peeps playdough from your leftover candy. It’s my favorite recipe!
- Playing with playdough can be educational as well. Your children can learn how to mix playdough colors to make new colors!
- Cloud dough is actually a little different than playdough in texture.
- Have fun with playdough! You can be a play doh monster maker or make something else with this list of ideas.
- Looking for more educational activities? We have a list of awesome science activities for kids!
- We have the best homemade playdough right here!
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Leave a comment: Did the kids enjoy making this Kool Aid playdough recipe?
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