Make Kool Aid Playdough

Kids and playdough go together like cookies and milk. However, store-bought playdough is filled with strange chemicals and can be smelly. Fortunately, homemade Kool-Aid playdough smells good and is non-toxic! All of the ingredients found in this dough are easily found in your average kitchen. Make sure to use unsweetened Kool-Aid to avoid a sticky mess!

Steps

Making the playdough

1. Gather your materials. You will need a clean workspace, a medium-sized saucepan, a large spoon or spatula, one cup of flour, half a cup of salt, one envelope of unsweetened Kool-Aid drink mix (any flavor), two teaspoons of cream of tartar, a cup of water, and a tablespoon of oil.
   • If you want more vivid colors, use two packets of Kool-Aid instead of one.
   • Avoid using plastic or wooden spoons. The Kool-Aid may permanently stain the material.
2. Mix the ingredients together. First, mix the flour, salt, Kool-Aid, and cream of tartar together with a whisk until they’re completely combined. Next, stir in the oil with a spoon. Once the oil is completely absorbed into the dough, carefully pour in the water. The dough should be wet enough to pull away from the sides of the pan when stirred but dry enough to hold its shape.
   • Add the water very slowly. You can always add more, but you can’t take water out!
   • Make sure to scrape the corners of the pot to completely saturate the dry mixture.
3. Cook the mixture. Place your saucepan on medium heat. Carefully stir the mixture as it cooks; if it sticks to the bottom of the pan, it may burn. Let the mixture cook for about five minutes. If it starts to look too dry, add a splash of water to the mixture. After about five minutes the mixture will start to roll into a large ball when you stir it. Transfer the ball of dough to a plate to cool.
   • If you want the mixture to cool quickly press it into a pancake shape with your spoon. This will allow the excess heat to escape the dough.
   • If you feel like your dough is too sticky, sprinkle some flour over the dough and mix it in.
4. Make more than one color. If you want to make multiple colors, cook the dough in batches. You can either make a full batch of each color or split one batch into multiple colors. For example, you could make two colors with the same batch of dough by halving the ingredients before cooking them. First, completely cook the first half-batch. While it’s cooling on a plate cook the second half-batch.
   • Wash the saucepan between batches to prevent color contamination.
5. Store the dough. If the dough is exposed to air it will dry out and harden. Airtight Tupperware containers are commonly used for storing playdough. You could also use sealable plastic bags. Just make sure you press all of the air out of the bag before you seal it. Store the dough in the refrigerator between uses. This dough will last for about two weeks.
   • If you want to store the playdough creatively press the dough into plastic Easter eggs.
   • Write the date on the bag or Tupperware container so that you know when to throw the dough out.

Cleaning Up

1. Clean the playdough. If your child gets playdough on a hard surface, simply wipe the dough away with a damp paper towel. If needed, spray the area with a household cleaner before wiping the dough away. If the dough gets on your carpet, allow the dough to completely dry. Next, vacuum the affected area until all of the crumbs disappear.
   • Playdough and Kool-Aid are difficult to remove from untreated wooden surfaces. If possible, cover the surface with newspapers or a plastic tarp.
2. Wash Kool-Aid stains from your child’s skin. Kool-Aid powder is notoriously hard to remove, especially from fingertips. First, wash their hands with warm, soapy water. Next, gently rub tarter-control whitening toothpaste over the affected area. Rinse the toothpaste off with water.
   • This method is also useful for lip stains. Skip the soap and simply rub the affected area with the toothpaste.
   • If the stain is hard to remove, wait a few hours before trying again. You can irritate your child’s skin if you wash it too much.
3. Remove Kool-Aid stains from clothing. First, spray the stain with ice cold water. Next, cover the stain with a thin layer of borax. Using an old toothbrush, gently work the borax into the fabric. Blot the area with a clean cloth. Repeat the process until the stain has disappeared. Wash the clothing in cold water and air dry the clothing.
   • Borax is a hazardous chemical and should be handled with care. Wear gloves when you use it and keep it out of the reach of children.
   • To avoid this problem altogether, wear old clothing when cooking or playing with Kool-Aid.

Getting Creative

1. Provide fun dough-cutting tools. Playdough is fun to mold into any shape, but children especially enjoy rolling the dough out and cutting fun shapes out of it. Plastic cookie cutters can be found at any grocery store. If you want really unusual shapes visit your local baking supply warehouse.
   • Plastic utensils such as spoons and forks can be used to make interesting patterns in the dough.
   • Cups and bowls can be pressed into a sheet of dough to make perfect circles.
2. Play a color guessing game. Kool-Aid powder is usually white until liquid is added. If you conceal the Kool-Aid package, you can have children guess what color the dough will be before you add the water. Give out prizes such as cookie cutters or stirring privileges to the winners.
   • Never leave the stove unattended around children. If you need to move to a different room while cooking, turn off the stove and take the children with you.
3. Make party favors. Kool-Aid playdough is a great party favor for children’s birthday parties. Mix up a few batches of colorful dough and split the dough into smaller amounts. Purchase small plastic ramekins with lids from a restaurant supply store. Next, fill the ramekins with the dough, close the lids tightly, and group the different colors together to create sets.
   • The presentation is important as well. Either wrap the sets in wrapping paper or tie a ribbon around them to keep them together.
   • Make sure to tell the parents that the dough is non-toxic and sugar free!

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup flour, sifted
• ½ cup salt
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 package Kool-Aid
• 1 cup of water
• 2 teaspoons cream-of-tartar
• medium saucepan
• spoon or spatula

Tips

• If you don’t want to use Kool-Aid, you can use sugar-free Jello instead.
• This dough is a non-toxic food product.

Warnings

• Never leave children unattended around a hot stove.
• This dough is not gluten-free.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Play Dough without Cream of Tartar
• Make Dough Vegetables
• Make Play Dough
• Make Playdough Without Cooking
• Make Playdough Soft Again
• Make Safe and Easy Play Dough
• Revive Dry Play Doh
• Make a Play Doh Ganesh

What links here

• Make Play Dough
• Make Kool Aid
• Make Playdough Soft Again
• Make Playdough Without Cooking
• Make Safe and Easy Play Dough
• Use Kool Aid Creatively