This is a fun and inexpensive “treat” activity for the big kids in your life. How To Kool Aid Dye Hair was a mega-hit with my big kids (and I must admit…it looks pretty darn cool). And it will just wash out so no worries about it being permanent. So for some streaks under your hair or to dip dye the ends (you could even ombre) here is my easy How To Kool Aid Dye Hair tutorial…
You will need:
- 1 package of Kool Aid (we used cherry)
- 1 heat proof cup (we used a Tim Hortons travel mug)
- 1 pot
- Water
- Stove
- Paper towel
- Chair (for sitting in while you wait for your hair to dye)
- Elastics (to tie hair)
- Old t-shirt (in case kool aid spills)
TIP: if you tie up your hair and just dye the bottom you will get the effect we did – which is handy because when hair is all down you can’t see the dye (for those fancy events when you don’t want red streaks) and looks funky when you tie it up (for those events where you want to show off your streaks).
STOP FOR SAFETY: have an adult help with boiling and pouring water
TIME: 20 minutes (plus hair drying time)
- Put on old t-shirt, tie up the hair you do not want to dye, put chair next to counter.
- Fill heat proof travel mug with water.
- Pour this water into pot
- Add Kool Aid into water in pot.
- Put pot on stove and bring it to a boil.
- Once Kool Aid is boiling take it off burner and allow it to cool for 2 minutes.
- Carefully, pour hot Kool Aid into heat proof cup (be really really careful – you can burn yourself! – which is why this is a big-kid activity)
- Next, put heat proof cup on counter
- Sit in chair.
- Have someone dip and submerge the hair you want to dye into the cup (this is a 2 person job because if you tried to do it yourself you could spill the cup).
- Allow hair to sit in Kool Aid for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, take paper towel and put it around your hair as it comes out of Kool Aid (paper towel will prevent Kool Aid from dripping everywhere).
- Air dry or use a hair dryer.
- Done!
If you would like to dip dye your hair you could just dip the ends of your hair directly into the pot with Kool Aid. Again, be careful because the liquid will be HOT.
Total cost: about $1.50 (but being the kid with the cool red streaks…priceless)
Ooh how fun! LOVE this temporary idea to color hair! I may even try this myself sometime. Loving that it’s only $1.50!
I always wondered how kids did this. I see little girls at the playground with streaks like this in their hair and it’s so cute. Now I know 🙂
Some neighbor girls did this last summer and it lasted halfway through the school year. They said they loved the smell most. LOL
We used to do this in high school! It’s so much fun!
I did this when I was younger! It’s really fun.
Awesome idea! My hair is way to dark to try this, but my sister has blonde hair, would love to do this with her hair!
I’ve always wondered how people did this! Thanks for sharing.
What a fun way to temporarily color your hair!
I’m not sure what’s better – the price or the fact that it’s temporary so it can come out quickly.
This is a neat idea. My girls love to streak their hair with temporary stuff…this would be right up their alley.
The possibilities for fun colors are practically endless with all the flavor options too.I love that it’s temporary!
this is such a great way to add some fun color in your hair, I would love to try the blue.
My sister did this last year. It was a huge hit.
So much fun my girls would love this!!!
ZOMG the 90s are totally coming back! We used to do this all the time with crazy colors.
That’s really cool! I especially love that no harsh chemicals are going into my hair. Just Koolaid.
Great idea, we need to try this! How long would you say the dye lasts in the hair?
This is so cool and good to know for my kids when we do Awanas they do fun theme night!
I did this when I was in school, it was pretty fun back in the day!
I remember this form years ago. It truly is an inexpensive way to have some fun with your hair.
Ha, ha, ha… wow, talk about memories… I remember doing this with friends years ago!
I used to do this when I was younger! I had no idea it was still a thing.
How cool… love that u used Kool-Aid instead of some chemicals… and the result is awesome..thanks for the step by step instructions… bet my daughter would love it
I remember when this was the hot thing in middle school, but I never had the chance to do it myself.
What a fun change!
Oh that looks so cute! I know a lot of teenaged girls that would love to dye their hair like this!
Oh gosh, this brings back some memories. I’ll have to do this with my nieces.
SO fun! I may have to get some blue kool aid to try this with my boys – they’ve been wanting to color their hair blue for summer!
I’ve seen my fair share of Kool-Aid hair dye in my 17 years as a teacher!
I bet this is a ton of fun for your daughter! Love that its not permanent.
This looks like so much fun. You could do so many different colors.
This is really great! I’ll have to remember this when my daughter asks me if she can dye her hair when she’s older!
We used to do this all the time when I was younger. So much fun!
ah, memories of high school. i think my daughters will enjoy when we do this to their hair one day.
So cool and easy! I know some teens who would love to try this.
So cool. I used to do this when I was younger, but my hair did not take it as well since it was brown then.
Love the Kool aid Dye for the hair, we did this as kids and my children and grandkids have dyed their hair with Kool aid. We’ve all had fun doing this.
This sure sounds like fun
Super fun – and lasts for weeks (if not months!)
My daughter wishes she had blonde hair! This doesn’t work for her, sadly – but all her friends look AWESOME. It’s such a great option!
I really like Kool Aid, it comes out really nice and bright colours. My oldest daughter wants her hair to look that way. Thank you for your post????