Taste Safe Sensory Play – 26 Fun Ideas For Babies And Toddlers

Sensory play is so much fun for kids, especially babies, and toddlers. But most parents are concerned about it being taste safe for their small kids and mouthing babies.

I put together a list of the best taste safe sensory play ideas for you. Some can be set up in 2 minutes and require only 2 ingredients while some might need some preparation like a day ahead or so.

From holiday to dinosaur themes, I got everything you need to satisfy your little one’s interest at home!

You might even enjoy it too!

The Benefits Of Taste Safe Sensory Play 

Taste safe sensory play is amazing. Besides being fun and keeping your kids busy, they benefit your child’s development.

• Fine motor skills: it’s the best way for your child to develop all the small muscles in his hands. It’s a basic step to later learn writing, lacing shoes, putting on clothes, and more …

• Gross motor skills: will depend on how you present the sensory play. It can help to develop their muscles during tummy time for example.

• Language skills: when kids engage in play they develop their language. They’ll learn how to describe their feelings, senses, and new descriptive vocabulary.

• Develop 5 senses: your child will discover his 5 senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight.

• Cognitive growth: your child is engaged in an experiment that requires asking questions, solving a problem, discovering new things, and developing new reasoning.

• Develop comfort in trying out new things.

The Essentials For Taste Safe Sensory Play

Here are the few things you need to set up a sensory play activity:

• A bin, tray, recipient
• Sensory ingredients (most basic are flour, water, and rice)
• Sensory tools such as scoops, spoons, tweezers, …
• Small objects and toys such as figurines, little construction engines, dinosaurs, …

Safety Tips

Before starting know that they are a few safety requirements (as always with kids) when proposing sensory play to young children. Taste safe doesn’t mean that there is no harm at all. Watch out for choking hazards.

• Bake flour for 5 mins at 350 if you want to ensure no bacteria.
• Sensory Play should always be supervised by an adult.
• Always give the right materials to your mouthing babies.
• Watch out for food allergies.
• Keep in mind that if these recipes are taste-safe it doesn’t mean edible and could always upset your kids’ stomachs.

Famous Taste Safe Sensory Play

I got for you the most famous recipes that can be whipped up in a minute with a few ingredients and are perfect for babies and older kids.

1. Oobleck Sensory Play

This one is a super easy 2-ingredient sensory play. 

You only need cornstarch and water, and some food coloring if you want. Add water to the cornstarch until you reach the right consistency you’re looking for.

It’s a really fun recipe, the texture will change from solid to liquid according to the pressure you put on it.

Here is a nice Oobleck sensory play recipe.

2. Taste Safe Playdough

The easiest recipe is the salted dough: 

• 2 cups of flour for 
• one cup of salt and 
• one cup of water.

You can add food coloring if you want and even bake it or let it dry under the sun and expose your kid’s art.

You can also mix:

• 1 cup of salt
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tbsp of cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp of olive oil (or any taste-safe oil)
• 1 cup of water
• Few drops of food coloring (optional)

Here is a fun recipe for edible playdough. A nice way for kids to decorate a cake for example.

3. Taste Safe Slime

Store-bought slime is definitely not taste-safe but here are fun recipes you can do with your kids.

A very easy one is the Chia seeds slime:

• ¼ cup of chia seeds
• 1 ⅓ cup of water
• Food coloring
• 3 cups of cornstarch (or more if needed)

Start by mixing the water with the food coloring, add the chia seeds, cover and store everything overnight in the fridge. 

The next day, add the cornstarch little by little until you find the right texture, slimy but shouldn’t stick too much. You can store it in the fridge for up to 1 week.

You can also replace chia seeds with psyllium husk (1 tbsp). 

Here are 12 super cool and edible slime recipes.

4. Taste Safe Moon Sand/ Kinetic Sand

Kinetic sand is so much fun, it’s between slime and super thin sand but without being sticky. The one you find in stores is not taste-safe at all! So here is a perfect recipe you can do with younger kids.

For Moon Sand, you’ll need:

• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 2 cups of corn flour (or corn starch)
• 10 tbsp of vegetable oil (coconut oil, olive oil, you name it)

Mix the dry ingredients together then add the oil. You can add food coloring if you want to.

For Kinetic Sand, you’ll need:

• 1 cup of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of corn starch
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup of water
• Food Colouring (optional)

Mix and combine dry ingredients together first. 

If you’re using food coloring add it to the water first. 

Then add the water little by little. Something like 1 tsp at a time and mix well in between. This is to ensure you get the right consistency.

I would say that the difference between these two sands is the sticky part, with moon sand being a bit more sticky than the kinetic one.

Water Taste Safe Sensory Play

5. Ice Sensory Play

Freeze some ice cubes, use funny-shape trays and add food coloring, or edible flowers to sparkle your kid’s interest! 

You can even put small objects and once it’s frozen have your kid pour hot (not too hot of course) water on it and see the magic happen.

6. Colored Water Sensory Play

This one might be the easiest one. You just need to mix water with some coloring, it can be food coloring or you could also blend some colorful (and safe) food like mint or beetroot, just get creative with whatever you have at home.

Then just throw in some figurines or toys, like cars, animals, or characters.

7. Ocean Sensory Play

Mix water with blue food coloring and add some fish and marine figurines. You can add a boat and a diver and let your kid explore the ocean.

Perfect for naming animals and new verbs.

8. Search and Find Sensory Play

Mix water with dark food coloring in a transparent tray. Put a piece of paper under it with drawings on it and then use a transparent cup or glass to search and find the different drawings under the water.

Food Taste Safe Sensory Play

9. Tapioca Sensory play

Homemade tapioca pearls are the perfect taste-safe alternative to water beads for kids.

Here is a super simple recipe for beginners.

You’ll need:

• Store-bought tapioca pearls
• Water
• Food coloring (optional)

Cook the tapioca pearls following the packaging instructions. Once cooled down rinse them in a sieve. You can either find already-colored tapioca pearls or just plain ones. If you got plain ones and want to color them just add food coloring in separate bowls.

10. Oats Sensory play

Oats are perfect for transferring and pouring with spoons and scoops. Also can be used as sand in different sensory bin themes by blending it or using it as it is.

11. Yogurt Paint

You just need to mix plain yogurt with food coloring and you got taste safe paint!

12. Rice Sensory Play

I’m sure you’ve seen it somewhere already, right?

Rice is perfect to use it to transfer, pour, scoop, and more … Plus you can easily color it with food coloring. But I wouldn’t give it to babies younger than 10 months old though.

You’ll need one cup of rice, one teaspoon of white vinegar, and a few drops of food coloring. Then shake the rice to evenly color it, spread it on a tray, and let it dry.

Add some scoops, and figurines like dinosaurs or animals. My son loves to play with his tractors and diggers in every sensory bin.

Check out these super cool rice sensory play ideas.

The benefits of rice sensory play are developing fine motor skills, calming effect, and imaginative play.

13. Pasta Sensory Play

Dried or cooked you can use any shaped pasta for sensory play. You can even color them with food coloring. Same as rice.

14. Spaghetti Sensory Play

This one is quite famous and pretty simple. It’s perfect to create a themed sensory play. You just need to cook some spaghetti (a bit undercooked is better) add some food coloring and voilà! You got a fun activity. My son always ends up eating the pasta…!

15. Biscuits For Taste Safe Sensory Play

Biscuits and cereals can be blended and then used as a sandy texture. Perfect to recreate beach or construction site themes.

16. Jelly Sensory Play

As I said previously you can use gelatin to create amazing sensory bins and trays. It’s perfect to cut shapes, dig, and hide and seek small objects.

17. Chickpea Foam Sensory Play

Taste safe foam also known as aquafaba, this sensory play is a really cool one.

You just need the liquid from a chickpea can, food coloring, and cream of tartar (¼ teaspoon). 

Pour chickpea liquid and cream of tartar into a large bowl, and whip it on high speed until it stiffens. Add food coloring, and whip it again for a few seconds. And voilà!

18. Popcorn For Taste Safe Sensory Play

You can play hide and seek, hiding small objects and toys in the popcorn. Using This sensory bin is more suitable for toddlers. Be always around, popcorn could be a choking hazard.

4 Seasons Taste Safe Sensory Play

19. Beach Sensory Bin

To recreate a beach you can fill one side of the sensory bin or tray with sand (from whichever recipe you prefer) and the other with “water” made out of either jelly with food coloring or maybe some chia slime. You name it!

Add some sea animals and toys like a rake and bucket.

20. Snow Sensory Play

You can either use shaved coconut by itself or mix white flour with a bit of vegetable oil.

21. Taste Safe Sand

They are many ways to make fake sand. 

You can blend biscuits and that’s it! Or you could mix flour with sugar and a bit of vegetable oil.

You can also use the two sand recipes (kinetic and moon sand) I gave you below.

22. Taste Safe Mud

You just need water, cocoa, and flour. Add more or less water according to the consistency you’re looking for. You can then either use it in the mud kitchen or create a farm sensory bin with animals and all.

23. Taste Safe Garden

Blend cocoa and flour or biscuit together and spread it on a tray or bin. Add some veggie toys and gardening tools (toys or safe for little ones) and here you go, you have a taste safe pretend garden in your living room.

Taste Safe Sensory Play For Tummy Time

How can you use sensory play during tummy time? Here are a few ideas to get started.

24. A Tray For Taste Safe Sensory Play

You can present any of the sensory play in a low tray on the floor. It’s better if your child already knows how to rest on his forearms but it’s also the perfect motivation for him to learn how to do it!

25. Sensory Bags

But there are not only sensory trays and bins. A sensory bag is the perfect mess-free play for young babies.

You’ll need:

• Sensory ingredients/materials
• Zip-lock bag
• Tape (strong one)

The plus with sensory bags is that it’s ok if it’s not taste-safe since it’ll be inside a zip-lock bag.

Here are 20 fun sensory bag ideas for babies and toddlers.

26. Sensory Bottles

A sensory bottle is another alternative and quite similar to the sensory bag instead (like its name says it so well) it’s in a bottle!

You can either buy or DIY them.

Sensory play is not only about sensory bins, trays, and dedicated activities. It can also be during bath time with scoops and toys. It could also be fruit testing. 

FAQ

What food is best for sensory play?

There are plenty of possibilities. The best one might be the one you easily find in your pantry such as pasta, rice, oats, flour, biscuits, … And water!

How do you make taste safe foam?

The best recipe is the aquafaba one made out of can chickpea liquid, cream of tartar, and food coloring (optional).

How Do You Make Edible Sensory Play? And How Do You Make Edible Messy Play?

There’s a fine line between edible and taste-safe. As I warned you before taste-safe doesn’t mean edible. 

Here are a few edible sensory play ideas that won’t upset your kid’s stomach and are suitable for babies and toddlers:

• apple sauce, 
• custard, 
• yogurt, 
• and pasta.

Voilà!

Now you got everything you need to keep your little one busy with a lot of fun. Plus it’s good for their development!

Let me know which one is your favorite. I would love to see what sensory play you’ve done with your kid.