Several months ago, I wrote about a snow day and asked for suggestions for indoor activities. One of my lovely readers suggested making play dough. I kept that comment in my inbox and finally gave the craft a try a few weeks ago!

We had a blast making the play dough and playing with it. After using our (Christmas) cookie cutters for quite a while and asking me to roll the greasy dough into flowers and people and trees, Annalyn decided to scoop it into a bowl. Then she served it to her dad. (It was an ice cream sundae, of course!)

It didn’t take long to make, and Annalyn loved having fresh play dough (her last few cans of the “real” stuff had long since dried out). Here’s the recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
3 tablespoons oil
1 pkg. unsweetened Kool-Aid mix
1 cup boiling water

Mix dry ingredients together. Add oil and mix. Pour in 1 cup boiling water.

I actually used a packet of Crystal Light, and it worked just fine. (Well, except that I used a packet of the flavor I didn’t like, not thinking about how that would mean the play dough would then smell exactly like the lemonade I didn’t like. Annalyn didn’t mind, though.)

The recipe makes a lot of dough. Next time I might halve the recipe and use two different colors. But for now, we’re loving our red, lemonade-y play dough!

(One note of caution, though. You might consider putting down wax paper or a placemat if using this on a light-colored wooden table. Unless you like pale pink splotches on your table. Then just slap that dough on the table like I did!)

What craft projects have you worked on this summer?