Is There Such A Thing As Gluten Free Playdough?

[chlobo]

Just wondering if playing with playdough might affect her.

[Guhlia]

Colorations makes a gluten free playdough. Its sold through www.discountschoolsupply.com. Make sure you get the one that's labeled "wheat-free". Playing with regular playdough could absolutely affect her. Its almost impossible to get that stuff out from under your nails. Plus, it leaves a residue that's hard to clean up. Better safe than sorry.

[Ursa Major]

Just wondering if playing with playdough might affect her.

Actually, playing with playdough is VERY unsafe for a child with celiac disease. Because it is sticky, and absolutely will collect under fingernails and is very hard to scrub completely off fingers.

I don't know how old your daughter is. But young children will put their fingers into their mouths all the time, and they do forget to wash their hands before eating. And they certainly won't remember to scrub under their nails thoroughly with a nailbrush.

You can make your own playdough. But I am sure somebody with young children will tell you about safe alternatives shortly.

[chlobo]

what kind of flour would I use to make my own?

[ptkds]

Here's a recipe. Just make sure you check the food coloring. Some actually contain gluten.

Gluten-Free Play Dough

Ingredients:

[chlobo]

Thanks so much!

[Darn210]

Crayola's Model Magic is OK, too... However, it's pricier than play-doh and is more of a modelling clay that you then let harden up into whatever you are building. My kids are more into that kind of thing at the moment. You could probably store it for awhile - just don't know how long. The colors are nice/vivid.

[vanillazeis]

Just wondering if playing with playdough might affect her.

It's very controversial whether play-dough will hurt a kid with celiac. I guess the argument is that they don't actually eat it. I asked Bayleigh's GI dr and he said "Honestly we don't know, I wouldn't even let her touch it" So, we avoid play-doh and have sent colorations gluten free dough to Bayleigh's preschool. It doesnt work as well as regular play-doh. It's really crumbly, and in my opinion a complete waste of money. If you have the time i would experiment with making your own. Absolutely avoid Play-doh. It was explained to me when Bayleigh was first diagnosed to treat gluten like raw meat. Obviously wash anywhere that it touches, and wash your hands after touching it. I feel like letting her touch something that i know will harm her is very similar to letting her play with raw meat (actually worse)... and i definately wouldnt do that.

[gradhceart]

Everything made by Crayola is gluten Free except Crayola Dough. The Model Magic is AWESOME!!!

When my daughter was in pre-k we couldn't understand why she kept having symptoms as she has been on a gluten-free diet since 9/05....It was the Play Doh... Play -doh was taken out of the room and everything was back to normal. Her Kindergarten teacher (wonderful!) ordered Model Magic for all the kids in the class...they love it!! Teacher is very impressed as it does not get into the carpet, stick to the tables etc... It is pricier but what Gluten Free product isn't

~Mother of Gluten Free Girl age 5. Celiac 9/05 Lactose Intolerant 9/05

[NewGFMom]

If you make your own, put the food coloring in before you cook it. We usually do one batch after another.

And, we had them take the playdough out of his classroom entirely because we realized quickly it covered all the other toys that were out when there was a playdough table. They were supposed to buy the gluten free stuff, but it didn't end up happening, so they just don't use it.

[cruelshoes]

Here are 2 sources for gluten-free Play Dough:

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (They sell different types, so if you order, make sure you get the gluten-free one.)

Take it from me, you do not want to let your celiac child play with Play Dough made with wheat. I made an exception once and my son got very ill. We went on vacation with my in-laws a year or so ago. Unbeknownst to me, my MIL had bought some play-doh for the kids to play with. Initially, I told her that my son could not play with it because play-doh has wheat in it. She said it was OK (but she clearly had her feelings hurt), and that my daughter could play with it and she would get my son something else. It wasn't long before he was moping around and feeling sorry for himself and I was getting the feeling that everyone thought I was being unreasonable. So I caved in (I had a 6 week old baby and no energy to fight about things) and said he could play with it as long as he washed his hands afterward.

Well, he was in pain for 3 days. Big "D", gassy and stomach ache. He told me that I was right and he didn't want to play with it anymore. He even threw it in the trash all by himself. I was so angry with myself, and vowed from that day forward he would never touch the stuff again. You just cannot get enough out from under their fingernails. Especially for kids who always have their hands in their mouths.

[skipper30]

We use Colorations gluten-free/WF dough. Like others have added it does get under your fingernails and then the hands go inthe mouth for whatever reason and then they end up with a tummy ache or worse. It is pricy, but it is one of the few things that we "splurge" on for Cooper.

I also got a Lakeshore catalog today and saw that they also now carry a gluten-free/WF dough! Here is a link to that site-

www.lakeshorelearning.com

Good luck....Dallas