'Sand' from Flour and Oil

Play sand is readily available. Because cheap play sand is made from quarried quartz, it is also full of crystalline silica - crushed rock and a known carcinogen - or sometimes even a form of asbestos. Yikes! You can find safe, non-toxic sand out there at such places as Safe Sand but it can be pricey.

So what's a mama to do? Make your own!  I found this 'recipe' through a Pinterest link to Tot Treasures.  Take 5lb flour - we bought the cheapest we could find.  After all, it's not for eating!  Then add 1 cup of baby oil and mix.  That's it.

I tried mixing with a spoon, but digging in with my hands gave a better result and let me squish out any clumps of oil.  I was surprised at the texture change.  Little Man had fun with this one. He just got new digging tools and this was the perfect opportunity for using them.

 
I dumped the sand on our trusty play tablecloth.  This made clean up pretty easy.  I dusted off the toys, then folded the tablecloth in half and slid the sand into a bowl - like dumping game pieces off a game board. Now I have a bowl-full to use again this week.  Not sure how long it will 'keep'.

You can see that the flour sand does mould, if well packed. LM loved destroying my moulds. Next time I might try more oil to make it even easier to mould. One note, my 16-mth-old will still occasionally put things in his mouth, but flour does not taste good and a small dose convinced him that digging was better than snacking. :)

Craft time: 5 min set-up
Play time: 20 min activity (can be used again!)
Cost: Less than $3
Age: 16 months - should be even more fun as he grows