Watermelon is one of my favorite summer scents, so I couldn’t pass up making watermelon playdough.
We made a pink “fruit” and a green “rind,” and added black beans for seeds. It was easy and packed with learning.
How to Make Watermelon Playdough
Food Building Block Mats
Get the printable1 cup flour, plus about 1 cup more
½ cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup boiling water
1 packet unsweetened watermelon Kool-Aid
Green and red food coloring
Black beans for seeds (optional)
Mix the dry ingredients
Stir the flour, salt and cream of tartar together.
Add hot water and oil
An adult adds the boiling water and oil. Stir until combined.
Adjust
If it’s sticky, add flour ⅓ cup at a time. Let it cool 5 to 10 minutes.
Divide it
Split the dough into about ¼ for the rind and ¾ for the fruit.
Color it
Knead green coloring into the small piece and the Kool-Aid into the big piece. A zip-top bag keeps hands clean.
Play
Shape slices and press in “seeds.”
Safety note
An adult should handle the boiling water. Dried beans are a choking hazard, so skip them for little ones. This dough isn’t food.
Things to Make with Playdough
- Watermelon slices: Wrap pink in green and cut wedges.
- Fractions: Cut a “watermelon” into halves and quarters with a plastic knife.
- Counting seeds: Add, subtract and count beans.
- Letter W: Roll snakes to build a W.
- Pretend food: Pizza, cupcakes, cookies and fruit salad.
More playdough recipes
See all →
Practice every letter with our alphabet play dough mats.
The food mats include
- Building brick mats with food pictures
- Instant PDF download, nothing is shipped
Perfect for
- Summer play
- Preschool and kindergarten
- Fine motor practice
Watermelon Playdough FAQ
Make a no cook dough with boiling water, then knead watermelon Kool-Aid into most of it and green coloring into the rest.
Fruit, pizza, cookies, snakes, letters, animals and pretend food.
It can. Mix it in a zip-top bag or wear gloves.
A few weeks in an airtight container.
More Playdough Recipes
See all →
From families like yours
Did you try it? Tell us how it went!
We love seeing these activities out in the wild: the lumpy letters, the snack breaks, the proud “I made a B!” moments. Leave a star rating, tell other parents what worked (and what totally didn’t), and add a photo of your setup if you’d like.
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