Playdough - Do you use salt?

[Lucy P]

I have received an email from a parent containing the latest newsletter from TOXBASE, hopefully i have attached it below.

It is raising concerns regarding the levels of salt added to homemade playdough and quotes the recipe we currently use. I have always been under the impression that the added salt was purely to deter the children from eating it, so assume if i removed it the consistency wouldnt change.

Could you all let me know your thoughts and the recipes you are using so i can change what we are doing.

Thanks in advance

TUU Aug 14.pdf

 

[diesel10]

I think I have read it not eating it but we have always stopped the children doing this. There is probably more danger with the large packet of ready salted they eat at lunch time! Although at the end of last term someone must have taken the newly made play dough in the garden. When we all come in for singing I saw a fox in the garden with the play dough in his mouth! He ran off with it. Actually I haven't seem him since. Now I worried, hope he's ok.

[Cait]

Yes, the texture would be totally different. You could make normal pastry dough which is edible. I'll have a look at the newsletter though, and see what it says.

[finleysmaid]

I think it is unlikely that a child would consume enough to cause harm ...however if you would like a different recipe i find this no cook one great and it makes a large quantity...

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 tablespoons oil

4 tablespoons cream of tartar (i never put this much in!)

3 cups of BOILING water (you may need to adjust according to gluten content)

put all the dry ingredients in then p0ur in the BOILING water and mix. Knead well when cool enough. The heat of the water is enough to thicken the gluten in the flour to create the dough effect.

[Guest]

Yeah we use salt in our playdough and I'll be honest, no child swallows it. They put it in their mouth once, spit it straight out and never try to eat it again.

[SueJ]

We put salt in ours - it is worth noting that salted or unsalted unless it is cooked raw flour is not good for anyone either !!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2072266/Scientists-warn-eating-raw-cookie-dough-FLOUR-riddled-bacteria.html

Having said that I have (as my hips will tell you) enjoyed "licking the spoon" when cake making - raw flour, raw eggs, salt, baking powder - where will it all end - on my hips

[finleysmaid]

the heat of the water should kill most bacteria as it is added at boiling point

[Susan]

Salt is also a preservative remember, you may need to make your dough more often if you decrease the quantity used.

[Guest]

We found the children licked their fingers etc more when we used salt - so we have strange children don't use it now and make dough daily

(I'm wondering if our healthy diet had led to salt cravings only to be satisfied by mauling the dough :blink:

 

lol at the packet of crisps at lunch time - and apparently bread has a high content too

[zigzag]

This post made me remember when I used to take my son to mother and toddler group. He always used to be found eating the play dough!! Quite disgusting but the little that he actually ate, did him no harm at all. We will continue to use salt in ours.

[NickyR]

We use salt.....and a packet of jelly, it make amazing play dough!! As the others have said, our children may take a lick, but don't consume vast amounts.

[Cait]

Please will you share the recipe?

[NickyR]

Yeah sure......

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup of plain flour

1 tbsp. oil

1 cup of warm water (we use kettle boiled water)

1/2 cup of salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 packet of jelly (we just use the normal jelly cubes)

 

How to make it

 

1. Pour all dry ingredients, flour, salt and cream of tartar together in a saucepan.

2. Add the jelly to the warm water and stir until dissolved.

3. Add jelly water and oil to the dry ingredients.

4. Use a whisk before heating to remove the lumps and blend the ingredients well.

5. Cook over a medium heat constantly stirring until it becomes a thick blob.

6. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead into a smooth ball. Be careful the play dough will be very hot! Use a little bit of flour if the play dough is stick. However, knead well before you use anymore flour because we find it starts off sticky, but the more you knead it the less sticky it becomes.

7. Store in a tight container.

 

We find this recipe lasts longer than normal play dough and it smalls lovely too!!! ::1a

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Edited to say......for something else a little different, try adding coconut essence and desiccated coconut. Smells lovely and has a great texture.

Edited September 16, 2014 by NickyR

[sunnyday]

Thank you NickyR :1b

[Guest]

We use salt but also use the non cooked method, we make our dough smell by using fruit tea bags to infuse the water it makes the dough smell beautiful x

[Fredbear]

Ooh thank you NickyR for sharing .

[Foreveryoung]

ABC does has lots of ways to make dough to expand on the 'dough gym' an extensive list in fact, we use salt method & also just warm water as children make it themselves every other day, they have a variety of herbs etc to choose from which they select to fragrance the dough. We use to have an Autistic child who had a thing for licking the dough as part of his 'must routine'! We ended up managing to direct him away from this by flavouring the dough with tastes he didn't care much for such as curry powder, garlic and chilli so it can really help children to not eat the dough as well as discovering smells x