Playdough Kit

For J's 3rd birthday, I decided to get a little crafty and make playdough kits as party favors. I saw a video online about playdough kits and thought, "This is genius!" J is obsessed with playdough—we’ve been making our own scented batches, and they’ve lasted us for months!

Since she’s also hooked on the song "3 Cupcakes in a Baker’s Shop" (it’s been stuck in my head for days—haha!), I figured a cupcake-themed playdough kit would be perfect.

If you’re curious about playdough kits, there’s a great YouTube video by Alexa Torrijos that inspired me. But basically, these kits are all about having fun with tools for mark making, poking, cutting, and little creatures for decorating. Here’s what I put in ours:

Playdough

We made our DIY playdough using flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, water, food coloring, and essential oils, following a recipe from Alexa.

Mark Making

Anything that can print or stamp on the playdough works great. I added wooden blocks with glued-on wooden shapes, bottle lids (the sides make fantastic marks), and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-themed cookie cutters from Aunt's Garden.

Poking

Whatever can poke into the playdough is great. I included straws, colored toothpicks, pom-poms, food picks, birthday candles, pipe cleaners, and sprinkles—I used some of our play fillers like colored rice, lentils, chickpeas, and pasta.

Little creatures

For the little creatures, I wanted to keep it affordable, so I went with Mickey Mouse and Friends-themed Jibbitz. They were cheaper than buying figures, plus they’re dual-purpose—you can use them with Crocs too. Pretty clever, right?

Cupcake holder

This was a fun extra add-on. Since it’s a cupcake-themed playdough kit, I couldn’t leave out cupcake holders! The bottle lids can double as holders too. Plus, the silicone cupcake holders are reusable for lunchboxes or real cupcakes.

Instead of using a box, I packed everything in a zipper bag to make it portable. It's quick and easy to toss into a toddler bag, so you can bring it anywhere and keep them occupied while waiting, eating at a restaurant, and more.

Playdough Mat

I created some Mickey and party-themed playdough mats. They give kids a fun surface to shape, roll, and mold playdough to match the images or prompts on the mat.