# Mango Playdough > Add a mango-flavored powdered drink mix to your favorite homemade playdough recipe for a soft, sweet-smelling dough. Then roll, print, slice and build pretend mango pizzas, cakes and sandwiches. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/mango-playdough-recipe/ - Ages: 2–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: low - Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class - Skills: fine-motor, sensory-exploration, pretend-play, smell - Cautions: wheat-gluten, food-dye, ingestion-risk ## Materials (one batch) - Ingredients for your favorite homemade playdough recipe (flour and the rest) - 1 envelope Mango-flavored powdered drink mix - Yellow food coloring (optional) - 1 piece Rolling pin (household) - 1 piece Plastic knives and forks (household) - Plates, cups and cupcake liners (optional) (household) - Playdough stamps or textured toys for printing (optional) - Leaves and other natural objects (optional) (household) - Tic Tacs (decorations) (optional) ## Substitutions - Instead of mango drink mix: Peach-mango flavored drink mix (One of the options the author researched. Not tested in the post.) - Instead of mango drink mix: Mango drink concentrate (The author didn't try a concentrate but doesn't see why it wouldn't work. Liquid may change how much water the recipe needs.) - Instead of yellow food coloring: Skip it (If orange dough that smells like mango doesn't bother you, skip the food color step.) ## Safety - Smells good enough to eat, but it's playdough, not food. The author didn't let the kids eat it, so supervise and don't let kids eat it. - Tic Tacs and other small loose parts are a choking hazard for toddlers. Supervise closely or skip them with kids who still mouth things. - If your base playdough recipe is cooked, an adult does the cooking and checks that the dough has cooled before kids handle it. - Drink mix and food coloring can stain hands and surfaces. - Use clean leaves and natural objects you know are safe to handle. ## Before you start - Choose a homemade playdough recipe and gather its ingredients. - Make the mango playdough: add 1 envelope (5 g) of mango drink mix per cup of flour while mixing. - Collect leaves, natural objects, plates and play knives for the play table. ## Steps 1. Mix up your favorite playdough recipe, adding 1 envelope (5 g) of mango drink mix for every 1 cup of flour. 2. If you want mango-yellow dough, knead in yellow food coloring a little at a time. 3. Roll the playdough out and pair it with leaves and other natural objects. 4. Press toys or objects into the dough to make prints, and take big whiffs of the scent. 5. Slice and dice the dough with plastic knives. 6. Make a slice of pretend mango pizza. 7. Decorate cakes and desserts with Tic Tacs and cupcake liners. 8. Serve up a mango sandwich and a mango milkshake, then cut yourself a slice. ## Tips - Add 1 envelope (5 g) of the powder mix for each 1 cup of flour, whatever recipe you use, to get a good fragrance. - Our drink mix said 'Mango' but turned the playdough ORANGE, so I added more yellow food coloring to get that perfect mango color. - The smell alone is amazing! The children couldn't stop smelling it. - Bring out lots of tools. Cutting, scooping, pinching, rolling, lifting, sorting and creating is a real fine motor workout. ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2014) Make sweet smelling, soft homemade playdough packed with mango flavor. Summer is not complete with the king of fruits (atleast in India) With the heat in full swing here we might as well embrace the change of seasons. While getting ready for our [**summer activities**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/summer-season/) we are visiting our favorite playdough play activities with a new homemade play dough recipe { our old favorites are [**fresh flowers playdough**](https://www.funlittles.com/fresh-flowers-play-dough-play/) and [**chilled playdough**](https://www.funlittles.com/playdough-recipes-for-play/)) This time we present you with something straight from the tropics-- sweet smelling mango playdough. The smell alone is amazing! The children couldn't stop smelling it and it reminded us of last fall where we made yet another fruity playdough ( [**apple playdough**](https://www.funlittles.com/fall-activities-apple-dough-recipe/) with real apples) that they couldn't stop smelling. { Stop by our [**fruits sensory bin**](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-fruits-exploration-and-whole-fruit-vs-sliced-fruit/) post} Roll the playdough out and pair it with leaves and other natural objects. We made prints while taking big whiffs of the scent. The kids sliced and diced the delicious mango playdough I even got a slice of mango pizza! Yes the works! When we bring out the playdough play times turns elaborate with so much cutting, scooping, pinching, rolling, lifting, sorting and creating that there is so much fine motor skills workout right there. This time they paired the delicious mango playdough with tic tacs to create intricate cakes and other desserts. I was even given a plate of mango sandwich and mango milk shake. Ready to eat a slice of her own mango sandwich Yes you got a take a whiff and better yet make some. ### Homemade playdough recipe : Mango Playdough You can use any of our favorite playdough recipe for this. I used the one we used to make our [**spring playdough here**.](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-play-dough-recipe-spring-and-easter-theme/) While making the recipe I added a mango energy drink mix I found at the grocery store. { Kroger Brand} They come in a box of envelopes and each envelope is 5 grams. The only issue I had was the drink mix I used while labelled "Mango" gave the playdough ORANGE color. It had an amazing mango fragrance and flavor ( I suppose, we didn't consume it} though. So I added more yellow food coloring to get that perfect mango color. If you don't care and smelling mango while looking at an orange color doesn't trip you off you can totally skip the food color step. You need any mango flavored drink mix in powder form. Here are some options I researched for you. ### **Products that may work** - Kinda hard to find in stores but available online **[mango flavored Kool-Aid](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IZLUNC/?tag=blmemo-20)** - **[Another flavored drink mix but combined with peach](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007LTRR0O/?tag=blmemo-20)** - You can also get the **[concentrate](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZMQED0/?tag=blmemo-20).** Although I didn't try the recipe with a concentrate. But I don't see why it won't work. This book can be your "all things playdough" reference book. It has simple play dough recipes, gluten-free recipe, cooked playdough, uncooked playdough recipe, play dough play ideas with loose parts.. I mean the author Cathy James of NurtureStore has thought of every possible combination. Try it! Thanks for reading More [**playdough recipes**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/play-doh/) on our category page