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A few weeks ago, Henry came home with the best play dough we’ve ever had. It smelled SO good and it was perfect: soft and pliable without being dry. The color in the store-bought kind always leaves marks all over my counter, and it’s so “wet” it sticks to the inside of the cups. I don’t ever buy it because it’s just a mess clean up every time the kids want to use it. I asked his Sunday School teacher where she got the recipe and we made a batch of our own Kool-Aid Play Dough at home this week. The play dough-covered toys on my counter are proof that it’s a hit!
Kool-Aid Play Dough
You probably already have all the ingredients for this kool-aid play dough right in your pantry. This very simple recipe (just measure and dump) is perfect for “helping hands” in the kitchen.
I altered a recipe from The 36th Avenue just slightly and chose to use my stand mixer with dough hooks instead of mixing by hand. It only takes a few seconds to get the color evenly distributed this way. However, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can certainly still make this and mix it with your hands. That may be even more fun for the kids anyway. 🙂 Although my boys liked watching the mixer do its magic.
Kool-aid Play Dough
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 packet Kool-Aid (pick your color)
- 1/2-2/3 cup boiling water
- 1 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Boil 2/3 cup of water
- While water is coming to a boil, dump all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Pour in boiling water and oil, mix with dough hooks until the color is uniform and it feels like play dough.
- Add more flour if it's too wet and sticky. Add more water if it's too dry.
- Store in baggies or airtight containers.
Pull out a few cookie cutters and random kitchen gadgets and you MAY be able to sneak in a few moments to yourself while the little ones play happily!
Here’s another great idea for a few hours of fun and very little work or expense.
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Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says
Well that recipe would have come in handy when my kids were little! Especially since it’s edible, haha! I’m going to pin it to my kid’s board. I bet a lot of people would love this!
Nicole Burkholder says
Thank you! Yes, it’s been played with a LOT this week!
Carie Spence says
I should do this for the kids since I hate the smell of real play dough. I can imagine with the kool aid it smells pretty good!
Christina @ Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
Hi Nicole! I think this is such a fun idea! My youngest will go crazy over making his own play dough. This is such a creative way to introduce cooking skills. Your boys are so cute. I just love seeing pictures of them. Happy Mother’s Day my friend! I hope your family really spoils you on your special day.
Nicole Burkholder says
Thank you for the well wishes! I hope you had a fantastic weekend as well! We are playing hooky a and going to the beach today as a family because my husband had to work all day on Mother’s Day. Henry has been begging to make more play dough so I think we’ll do that too 🙂
Debbie @ Deliciously Inspired says
Thanks for the idea – I’ve made play dough using jello but never kool aid – I can’t wait to try this for my little grandson. I’m new follower from Juggling Real Food.
Nicole Burkholder says
Thanks for following and welcome! Jell-O is a great idea. I bet it works very similarly.
Leilani says
Love that it’s edible. The “just in case” will be a for sure reality when we play with this haha! Stopping by from the link up. Thanks for hosting. I’ll be pinning this!
Nicole Burkholder says
I can’t say that it’s going to taste good, but at least you don’t have to worry about any of the ingredients!
Wendy says
Do you know that cream of tartar comes from the scrapings inside wine barrels? Learned something new.