Babies and toddlers love sensory play, but they also eat EVERYTHING. This taste safe sensory play activity for babies and toddlers offers a low stress sensory play option for parents. Find more baby play ideas.

My inspiration for this craft came from a very popular indoor sand play table at the Children’s Discovery Museum in Acton. The table has a light underneath and is roughly the size of three serving trays. I wanted a way for my kids to have a similar experience at home, and I thought using food would be a good idea since my 10-month-old still puts everything in his mouth.
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Taste Safe Sensory Play Activity for Babies and Toddlers
What You'll Find on This Page
Materials:
- Serving tray.
- Coarsely ground flour. Rice flour works well because it absorbs moisture more slowly, but I combined the rice flour with corn meal to give it more color. A really coarse grain like Scottish/Irish oatmeal works well too. NOTE: raw flours can carry salmonella. Microwave it for up to one minute (which will hopefully bring it to a temperature of 160F, but you can use a candy thermometer to check) to destroy any possible salmonella contamination.
- Child-safe silverware for making patterns (I got place settings for six for $1.99, again at Ikea)
Edible Sensory Play Setup
Step 1: Find a tray with a short lip, but not such a high edge that it is hard for children to reach inside.

Step 2: Add some coarsely ground flour. Coarsely ground flour is safer for kids, because it’s less likely to fly in their faces or to get coughed into their lungs. Colored rice (or plain rice) is another option.

Step 3: Play!
NOTE: You can add dry beans for older children to use to make patterns. I don’t use dry beans with young children because they aren’t really safe to eat uncooked.
Beans are fun on their own for making mosaic art.
What are your favorite taste safe sensory play activities?
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I am trying this one this afternoon…I’ll give my two year old some water in a container after a wee play with the dry flour first. Thanks
Great idea to extend the play with some water!
Thats a good idea. I notice you don’t really mention the CLEANUP :)
What a great idea! Two of my kids are preschoolers and we could use some fresh ideas. I look forward to hearing all your great ideas. Keep them coming.