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How to make Kool-Aid Play-Doh

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Homemade Play Doh

There are two types of Moms…those that love Play-Doh and those that hate it. I was a Mom that loved it! Yes, I know, it makes a mess and get it in the carpet or on a chair and it’s not too fun. But I still really loved when my boys were little and played with Play-Doh. Our favorite was the Fun Factory, the boys still remember playing with it. Had I known years ago how to make Kool-Aid Play-Doh, I would have been mixing up big batches for us to play with.

Homemade Play-Doh - made with ingredients you have in your kitchen! The kids will have a blast with this soft and smelly dough! Pin to your DIY Board!

This recipe for Play-Doh has Kool-Aid in it, giving it the color and a little scent. It’s super soft and went together in minutes. The options are endless for colors and shapes, this time we made red and cut out hearts for Valentine’s Day. And in case you are snowed, this Homemade Play-Doh makes a great Snow Day survival activity.

Although my boys are sadly too old to play with the Play-Doh, I thought it would be fun to share these easy Valentine’s Day Classroom Gifts with you. Let’s get started…

The recipe has very basic ingredients, flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, oil and a package of Kool-Aid, any flavor works but of course, I used Cherry for Valentine’s Day.  After mixing on the stove and cooling, roll out the Play-Doh and cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Valentine's Day Classroom Party Gifts - skip the candy and make Homemade Play-Doh - made with ingredients you have in your kitchen! Pin to your Valentine's Day Board!

The Play-Doh is great to play with at home, but also fun to make for a Valentine’s Day Classroom Gift. Here is what you will need…

Valentine’s Day Classroom Gifts: Kool-Aid Play-Doh

  • Kool-Aid Play-Doh {recipe below}
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter- A triple batch will give you 18-20 hearts, depending on the size, I used a 3 inch cutter
  • Cellophane Bags – available near the cake decorating supplies or seasonal aisle at Walmart
  • String to tie the bags
  • Scrapbook paper – they have some fun Valentine’s Day packs at Walmart for only $.97 cents
  • Hearts or Valentine’s – I used die cuts but you could also use a cookie cutter and trace around it
  • Scissors

Place hearts in the bag, tie with string and add the paper heart. Be sure when you are writing on the Valentine that you include something about the Play-Doh is for playing not eating. All the ingredients are consumable, so if a child were to eat some it won’t hurt them, but I’m sure it won’t taste very good.

 

How to make Kool-Aid Play-Doh

How to make Kool-Aid Play-Doh

Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Why buy Play-Doh when you can make it at home? It's super soft and has a light scent from the Kool-Aid. Recipe from HoosierHomemade.com

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup salt
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 package Kool-Aid or flavored drink mix
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon oil

Instructions

  1. In a heavy saucepan, add the flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid, whisk slightly
  2. Pour in the water and oil
  3. Heat and stir until the Play-Doh is combined - about 2-3 minutes - mixture will be clumping
  4. Remove from pan onto a piece of wax paper and let cool until easy to handle
  5. For the Hearts, roll out Play-Doh on wax paper about 1/2 inch thick and cut with heart shaped cookie cutter
  6. Store in airtight container {we used our Food Saver system and it worked great}

Notes

For the Classroom Gifts, I made a triple batch and got 18-20 hearts cut with a 3 inch cookie cutter

 

 

 

This recipe is a combination of two that I found, one from MomAdvice and the other from Meet The Dubiens.

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10 Comments

  1. darn, don’t have the cream of tartar! any idea how this works without it??

    1. Hi Susan, I don’t think it will. Cream of Tartar has an acting agent in it. Sorry.

  2. Hi! Trying this with my kids right now… unfortunately it is way too liquidy and in no way resembles dough. Any chance you doubled the water amount in your recipe by accident? It could be I’m just not being patient enough or letting it cook long enough. Thoughts? Thanks!

    1. Hi Allison, the water amount is correct. Did you cook it for about 3 minutes? It should be clumping and drawing away from the pan. It should also thicken up when it cools.

  3. This is such a great idea! I’ve been looking for sugar alternatives and this is perfect for my pre-schoolers class.

    1. Thanks for much Katrina! They are fun to make and play with…wishing my kids were younger 🙂
      Also, thanks for always leaving such great comments, I really appreciate it!

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