25 Edible Playdough Recipes for Babies & Toddlers

Play dough is one of my favorite baby-and-toddler playthings, because it allows them to express creativity. And to mash things, and squeeze and destroy. (Destruction is one of Baby J’s favorite activities right now. He can’t wait for me to stack all the rings on his rainbow toy, just so he can knock them all off again. Pure delight!) Right now, though, at 9 months old, J’s tongue is his 11th finger. At the baby stage when everything has to be checked out with the tongue, edible playdough is a must. This collection of edible playdough recipes, while not recommended for a sit-down meal for your baby, makes it safe for Baby’s tongue to have a taste of his playdough.

By the way, since many edible playdough recipes use cornstarch as the thickening agent, they’re often gluten-free. I’ve added an asterisk to the gluten-free recipes.

Edible Playdough Recipes

1. Fun-and-Crumbly Edible Playdough for Babies

I stirred this invented edible playdough earlier this week for Baby J when he was teething and oh-so-grumpy. Not even a splash in the kiddie pool would improve his mood. He loved playing with this dough, though, and only tried a few exploratory licks for the first 15 minutes, which made me happy. When he would crumble it all up, I’d just run over and reshape it into a ball for him again. Over 20 minutes of peace and quiet for the first time all day!

Recipe:

-1/4 cup baby oat cereal
-2 heaping TB natural creamy peanut butter
-1/8 to 1/4 c. flour (stir in until you like the consistency)
-1/2 tsp. olive oil (you can add a few extra drops if you aren’t happy with how much flour you added)

Squeeze into a ball and let your baby squeeze and crumble to his heart’s content! Refrigerate between playtimes–lasts for a few days. The consistency of this “playdough” is much like that of cookie dough. When Baby J got bored with this, he became more interested in eating it, so I took it away and brought him the green bean mixture I’d just cooked for him. I was already reasonably sure he wasn’t allergic to peanut butter, because I’ve given him tastes of it before now. But I preferred my garden-grown green beans to fill up his little tummy. 🙂

2. Multi-Colored Edible Playdough

(This one is thickened with flour; it’s salty so it’s longer lasting than some edible playdough recipes; still needs to be stored in the refrigerator.)

3. Strawberry-Scented Playdough for Older Toddlers

(Thickened with flour and too salty to eat, but not dangerous for toddlers.)

4. * Rice Cereal-Applesauce Baby Playdough

(The link takes you to a YouTube video that shows you how to make this super baby-friendly edible playdough)

5. Peanut Butter Playdough

(For babies at least 1 year old–the recipe contains honey. Also, make sure your little one isn’t allergic to peanuts before making this one or my recipe!)

6. Kool-Aid Edible Playdough

Photo from the 36th Avenue website, where you can also find the recipe. (Link in photo and article.)

(I won’t be making this for J until he’s a little bigger, just because the likelihood is so high that he’ll want to eat all the playdough and I’m trying to keep him off sugar while he’s tiny. Here’s another version of this ubiquitous recipe.)

7. * Yogurt Silly Putty

(A good play-with-baby recipe for gluten-free, edible playdough. Baby J wouldn’t have as much fun without a playmate.)

8. Baby-Safe Oatmeal Edible Playdough

(I love this recipe! It’s thickened with flour, not cornstarch.)

9. * Peppermint Patty Playdough for Young Children

(Not a recipe I want to try until Baby J is at least a year older. So much sugar in the marshmallow mixture! It sounds tasty, though! I might skip the fake flavoring in the peppermint batch and just make the dark chocolate recipe.)

10. * Allergy-Free Frosting Playdough for Kids

(Not for babies–but an option if you’re worried about your lactose-intolerant child tasting the yogurt silly putty! I added frosting to the name because that’s basically what this stuff is!)

11. * Non-Sticky Foam Dough (2 Ingredients)

(Made from whipped cream and cornstarch.)

12. No-Cook Edible Playdough

(Salty; done in 5 minutes.)

13. Ice Cream Playdough

(Made mostly from pre-made frosting; looks exactly like ice cream. Just drizzle on some olive oil when it starts to dry out!)

14. Edible Playdough with Natural Dyes

(Ok for the occasional baby lick if you’re using blueberries to dye it!)

15. * Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Edible Playdough

(Doesn’t dry out quickly–and yay for no sugar in this recipe! By the way, last week we compiled a month’s worth of sugar-free snacks for you, so this fits right in!)

16.* Toddler-Safe Silly Putty

(No borax, no worries! Gets soft in your child’s hands like oobleck.)

17. * Another Baby-Safe Rice Cereal Edible Playdough

(You don’t have to watch a video to get the recipe for this one.)

18. Food-Based Play Dough Recipe

(Safe but not tasty, so your baby should go back to smashing and squishing it after a quick lick of exploration.)

19. Cupcake Edible Playdough

(This one’s not recommended for a meal, again, but safe for a one-year-old’s birthday party, according to B-Inspired Mama, and fun to knead)

20. Pumpkin Spice Marshmallow Dough

(Made with marshmallow creme; takes some persistence to make it playdough-like.)

21. Cloud Dough

(Replace the baby oil with an edible oil.)

22. Mashed Potato Edible Playdough

(This recipe is a great idea for using that random extra bit of mashed potatoes left over from supper!)

23. * Powdered Sugar Playdough

(Just keep the kids from eating it all!)

24. Jello Playdough

(Hot water recipe.)

25.* Pumpkin Pie Play Clay

(Lasts a few days in the refrigerator–and it’s gluten-free. I wouldn’t make this one unless I had extra canned pumpkin from Thanksgiving that I needed to use, though, just because of the extra cost.)

For a clean play surface, have kiddoes roll out playdough inside a silicone pad or cookie sheet like this one.

My favorite edible playdough recipes for a young baby like my 9-month-old:

#1 (my invented recipe for an emergency playtime!)

#4 (use the cheap Parent’s Choice rice cereal from Walmart!)

#8 (super-easy and made with pantry staples I always have on hand)

How about you?

What’s your favorite edible playdough/slime/sand for babies and toddlers? What else do you use to help entertain your baby when he/she is having the teething blues or is just bored? I’d love to have more ideas, so let me know in the comments!\

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