Sensory experiences are a wonderful way to teach toddlers about the world around them. It gives toddlers the opportunity to use their sense of touch to explore new materials, but if you have ever spent more than five minutes around a toddler you know that it’s only a matter of time before whatever they are playing with ends up in her mouth. Edible play dough is a great way to give toddlers the freedom to enjoy an educational and developmentally stimulating activity, without having to worry about what will happen if they eat the play dough.

Ingredients

1 cup of peanut butter – Be sure that you do not give this play dough to a toddler with any sort of nut allergy. (Some kids can have a reaction simply by touching something that contains peanut butter.)

1 cup of honey – Honey should never be given in any form to infants under 12 months old.

1 cup of powdered milk – Plus extra, if needed, to create the texture you want.

Preparation

Allow your toddler to get involved right from the beginning by letting him help you make this easy edible play dough recipe. Even young toddlers will enjoy being a part of the process and will learn some basic measuring skills.

Give your toddler a 1 cup measuring cup and let him use a spoon to fill the measuring cup with peanut butter. When the measuring cup is full, help your toddler scoop the peanut butter out of the measuring cup into an un-breakable bowl.

Using the same 1 cup measuring cup, help your toddler pour the honey into the measuring cup until it reaches the top. Use a spoon to empty the measuring cup into the bowl that contains the peanut butter.

Use a clean measuring cup to measure one cup of powdered milk. Empty it into the bowl containing the peanut butter and honey.

Have your toddler wash his hands with soap and water since he may be eating the play dough after he is done playing with it. Then let him mix the peanut butter, honey, and milk mixture with his hands. Show your toddler how to squish the mixture together until it forms a sticky dough.

You will most likely need to add another ¼ cup of powdered milk or more to the mixture to create workable dough.

Play

Allow your toddler to play with the edible play dough as he would with any other play dough. As your toddler plays with the dough, the peanut butter will melt a bit and create stickier dough. Fill the measuring cup with some extra powdered milk and give it to your toddler to add to the dough as necessary.

After your toddler has finished playing, show him how he can eat the play dough (if he hasn’t already discovered it for himself). The dough is actually quite tasty and provides a protein packed and nutritious snack.