3-Ingredient Taste Safe Play Dough Recipe for Kids

Taste Safe Play Dough Recipe

Oh, play dough! It is loved and hated by parents, teachers, and caregivers alike! We love it for the awesome benefits it provides for brain development (more on that later), and we HATE it for its tendency to show up in undesirable places, including our children’s mouths. This taste-safe play dough recipe helps us rest easy if a little piece were to make its way into our angels’ tummies. Check out our Ultimate Guide of the Best Play Dough Activities and Recipes for more inspiration on sensory exploration play dough ideas.

Benefits of Playing with Play Dough

Even adults have to admit, there’s something about squeezing, squishing, pulling, patting, and molding play dough with our hands that is nice. When toddlers and preschoolers play with play dough, it is activating areas of the brain to improve cognitive development and so much more.

Here are some benefits you can expect kids to reap just by playing with play dough:

• Fine motor development
• Emotional regulation (Check out this post to learn more about this topic!)
• Hand-eye coordination
• Focus
• Creativity
• Social skills
• Language/Vocabulary

While playing with play dough “freestyle” is totally adequate and encouraged, you can also tie this amazing sensory tool with content area learning, like reading and math! We made these adorable Food Theme Preschool Alphabet Tracing Mats, or check out these Number Ten Frame Mats to really bring learning to life for our youngest learners.

Try our other taste-safe options for sensory development:

• Easy, Homemade Edible Play Dough with 2 Ingredients
• How to Make Edible Slime with Honey
• Kids DIY Edible Paint for Cookies

Making Play Dough With Toddlers and Preschoolers

Another reason I love this homemade play dough recipe is that it really is two activities in one! If you want to, you can create the recipe with your students or children. Making play dough pulls in new vocabulary, following step-by-step directions, and the scientific concept of mixtures.

Ingredients and Supplies You Will Need for 3-Ingredient Taste-Safe Play Dough:

• Peeps candy – any flavors (10 ct)
• All-purpose flour
• Crisco
• Tablespoon measuring spoon
• Microwave safe bowl
• Spatula

Step-by-Step Instructions for 3-Ingredient Taste Safe Play Dough

Step One:

In a microwave-safe bowl, add a package of ten Peeps candy, 6 tablespoons of flour, and 2 tablespoons of
Crisco. Then microwave for 1 minute.

Step Two:

Carefully remove the mixture from the microwave and stir. Add 3 more tablespoons of flour and continue to mix.

Step Three:

Once the dough is cool (2-3 minutes), knead it with your hands. Add 1⁄4 tablespoon of Crisco if the play dough is too dry.

Step Four:

Repeat steps 2-4 with the remaining Peeps candy.

Teacher Tip: Play dough can be stored in an air-tight container, but it tends to get dried out. Microwaving it could bring it back to life.

Yay! You did it. What now?

There are lots of ways to use this dough once it’s made! Press shapes/letters/numbers into it for practice. Keep it in plastic sealable bags for preschool students to get out when they need an activity or time-filler. Or, send it home and move on to your next project!

Benefits of Making Play Dough with Kids

Guiding young kids to create this simple recipe is the beginning of teaching them how to cook! Our 3-ingredient taste-safe play dough recipe is simple, but it allows kids to gain valuable background information on:

• Measuring
• Pouring
• Mixing
• Melting

How do you make taste-safe play dough? It’s quick and easy! This play dough recipe comes together quickly and results in a really sweet dough your kids will love playing with.

And if someone “accidentally” gives it a little taste test? No problem!

How to Differentiate Play Dough Sensory Time

If you’re teaching a whole preschool class, chances are you have a variety of learners. Some will be ready to shape play dough into the letters of their name, while others will simply want to squeeze and smell it. Here are some considerations for differentiation:

• Use letter/number shaped cutters instead of forming dough into letters
• Offer pre-rolled balls of dough or pre-flattened sheets
• Provide tools for kids to explore by making cuts, shapes, lines, and designs on the dough
• Make the dough ahead of time

More Ways to Explore Taste Safe Play Dough

There are so many wonderful ways to explore with play dough. Maybe you want to try different recipes to compare and contrast!

Play Dough Recipes:

• Homemade Play Dough Recipe
• 2-Ingredient Edible Play Dough Recipe
• No-Cook Apple Cinnamon Play Dough
• Green Apple Play Dough Recipe

Or perhaps you’re ready to use the dough to explore some curricular concepts. Try these adorable Life Cycle of a Bee play dough mats!

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions about taste safe play dough? We’ve got you!

3-Ingredient Taste Safe Play Dough Recipe for Kids

Now that you’ve been inspired to make this simple 3-ingredient recipe, have some fun! Let us know below how it went and what your littles did with the dough once it was mixed!

More Sensory Activities:

• Caterpillar Sensory Bag
• Dinosaur Pasta Sensory Bin
• DIY Sensory Balloons

More Play Dough Activites:

More Recipes to Try:

• Lemon Cloud Dough
• Glow-in-the-Dark Slime
• Rainbow Snack on a Stick