# Taste-Safe Sand Dough
> Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, oil, cream of tartar and Kool-Aid with boiling water to make a gritty, scented sand dough for little hands. Make one small ball per color, then press, cut and stack it into rainbow sand cakes.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-kids-edible-sand-dough-recipe/
- Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 20 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 1 kids
- Skills: sensory-exploration, fine-motor, colors, pretend-play, language
- Cautions: wheat-gluten, corn, food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 0.25 cup Cornmeal
- 1 tbsp Salt (household)
- 1 tbsp Oil (household)
- 1 tbsp Cream of tartar
- 2 tsp Kool-Aid unsweetened drink mix (one flavor per color)
- 0.25 cup Boiling water (household)
- 1 piece Mixing bowl (household)
- 1 piece Spoon for stirring (household)
- Tiny plastic cups
- Edible sand (from our earlier edible sand recipe) (optional)
- 1 piece Rolling pin (optional) (household)

## Safety
- Adult handles the boiling water and does the mixing. Let the dough cool and check it isn't hot before handing it to kids.
- Taste-safe, not a snack: the ingredients come from the kitchen, so an accidental taste is no cause for panic, but don't let kids eat it. It is salty and contains uncooked flour.
- Contains wheat flour and cornmeal. Check for wheat/gluten and corn allergies before play.
- Kool-Aid can stain hands, clothes and surfaces.
- Supervise sensory play at all times, especially with toddlers who still mouth things.

## Before you start
- Make the edible sand from our earlier post if you want sprinkles.
- Decide on colors: plan one batch per Kool-Aid flavor/color.

## Steps
1. Put 2 tbsp flour, 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp cream of tartar in a bowl.
2. Add 1 tbsp oil and the Kool-Aid: a whole envelope for intense color, half for a subtle one.
3. Adult: pour in up to 1/4 cup boiling water and stir. Use less water for a grittier dough.
4. Let it cool, check it isn't hot, then knead it into a ball.
5. Repeat with a new Kool-Aid flavor for each color.
6. Press the balls flat into sand dough cakes and take big whiffs of the scent.
7. Cut out circles with tiny plastic cups.
8. Stack the circles up to make cakes and structures.
9. Sprinkle edible sand on top like sprinkles.
10. Mix the colors together to make rainbow cakes.

## Tips
- By varying the water you get 2 different textures. A little less than 1/4 cup makes it grittier; slightly more makes it less gritty. The kids loved both.
- Use the entire Kool-Aid envelope (2 tsp) for an intense color, half an envelope for a more subtle color and scent.
- Making sand dough cakes was a wonderful sensory activity: the kids talked about the dough and took big whiffs of the scent. Watermelon was their favorite.
- I loved that the kids enjoyed mixing the edible play sand and the sand dough. They used the sand as sprinkles.
- The gritty texture is a welcome change from the usual smooth and soft play dough.
- Each batch makes one small ball. For a group, plan several batches per color.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2014)

*Make this gritty taste safe sand dough perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. This play recipe is made using edible ingredients.* Well, what do you know! The 4th just passed and we are into full blown summer. { All our [**summer activities for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/season/summer-season/) here} Continuing with our earlier sand theme, where we made [**edible sand**](https://www.funlittles.com/edible-sand-recipe/) we improvised and created a wonderfully gritty "edible" sand dough with a gorgeous texture for little hands. Bonus-- it is scented and made from your kitchen ingredients. You see the gorgeous rainbow edible sand? Don't forget to check out the sand recipe in our earlier post and stop by all our [**play recipes.**](https://www.funlittles.com/tag/play-recipe/)



The texture of this dough is gritty and is a welcome change from the usual [**smooth and soft play dough.**](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-play-dough-recipe-spring-and-easter-theme/) We do love our usual play dough and we have even made a chilled version { [**chilled playdough recipe**](https://www.funlittles.com/playdough-recipes-for-play/)} But we really wanted to experiment with creating a sandy, gritty dough to welcome summer!



By varying the water quantity you can get 2 different textures. The one below has slightly more water which results in less gritty sand dough. The one on top has a grittier texture.



Making sand dough "cakes" was a wonderful sensory activity for the kids since they talked about the dough and taking big whiffs of the scent. The watermelon scent (using our trusted **[Watermelon Kool-Aid](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B1VXRVQ/?tag=blmemo-20)}** was their favorite.



I loved that the kids enjoyed mixing the edible play sand and the sand dough. They used the sand as sprinkles.



The colors were of course mixed to create rainbow cakes.

 

The tiny plastic cups (island theme) were used to cut out simple circles. The children then stacked them up to make multiple cakes and structures.



To make similar sized balls of sand dough, use the following measurements.

### Edible Sand Dough Recipe

- 2 TBSP **[All Purpose Flour](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XP3W9TL/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- 1/4 cup **[Corn Meal](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029K5CUM/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- 1 TBSP salt
- 1TBSP oil
- 1 TBSP **[Cream of Tartar](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001M119G/?tag=blmemo-20)**

Water: I added 1/4 cup of boiling water to some colors and less than 1/4 cup of boiling water to other colors. The kids loved both but the lesser water makes the dough grittier.

Kool-Aid: Again the entire envelope ( 2 tsp) for an intense color and half the envelope for a more subtle color and scent. Popular play recipes here. **Taste safe water beads for sensory play** and **taste safe slime with just one key ingredient**

### **[](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-for-kids-1-ingredient-edible-slime-recipe/)**

### **Try our summery [mango play dough recipe](https://www.funlittles.com/mango-playdough-recipe/) and [tropical play dough recipes.](https://www.funlittles.com/summer-fruits-playdough-recipe/)**