Playdo

[Nathan's mom]

Okay, I got up the nerve to ask it! I know the dangers of playdo under the fingernails, etc. I'm just wondering if anyone lets their older child play with playdo? I'm trying to teach my son to remember it has gluten, to not put it in his mouth, and to wash his hands well. I want him to learn to navigate in a gluten-filled world!

Does anyone out there do this?

What do you do with your child's classroom? I know Model Magic is gluten free. How did the school respond to your request?

Just wondering and wanting feedback.

Please don't slam me for asking the question or for not insisting the school accomodate him in a special way. I don't want anyone giving him food I haven't approved of or provided for him, but I do have a bit of a problem with the insistence that special things be purchased for him if I feel like he will be okay using these products. He does not have DH obviously. Okay, I've said it. Fire away:)

Thanks!

[Ursa Major]

Unless your son is able to, and will actually not only wash his hands with soap and water after using playdough in school, but thoroughly scrub under his fingernails as well, before he touches his mouth or eats anything, he WILL get glutened.

If you look at this this way, there is absolutely no way that it would be safe for him to use it.

That is just my opinion as a mother and grandmother. My grandchildren use playdough their mother makes herself, and they love it (they are homeschooled). There are many recipes for making playdough, can't you make some and send it to school with your son?

Or you could send Model Magic to school, just for him. You can't really expect the school to provide it, but you certainly can.

Obviously it would be much safer if ALL the kids would use the safe stuff, because otherwise the risk of cc is high. No matter what, it isn't easy. But your son's health depends on a workable solution.

You can't expect a young boy to be able to manage on his own in a gluten filled world yet. He will learn as he gets older. But then, when he gets older, he likely won't use things like playdough any more, either. That stuff would even be dangerous for me to use, as it is so sticky and gets everywhere.

[celiac-mommy]

You're probably going to get a lot of "NO WAY's" but I have to say that, on occasion, I allow it. She is not allowed to be in the room while they are making it, but I intentially keep her fingernails super short for hygene/bacteria issues in general and she is to wash immediately after. We've never had a glutening issue from it. She's also almost 7 and keeps her hands out of her mouth. My 3y/o (on Friday) is NOT allowed to play with it at all. They make it gluten-free in his classroom so he can participate.

[Nathan's mom]

Ursa,

Can you give me a good recipe? I've tried a couple and they are lousy!! They get sticky and aren't stiff enough.

Thanks,

Debbie

[Ursa Major]

I just called my oldest daughter and asked for her recipe. She actually hasn't made any playdough since they went gluten-free, so it hasn't been tried with gluten-free flours. I will make some today, to see if it works with buckwheat flour mixed with rice flour (I may add some xanthan gum). I'll let you know how it turns out.

My second-oldest daughter is visiting her sister in Ottawa right now, and her two kids are gluten intolerant, too. They are coming here tomorrow, stay overnight and then move on to home (we are about half way, those girls live an 8 to 10 hour drive away from each other).

I talked to her, too, and I am really upset with her, as she told me that she sees no problem with letting Zoey, her older girl (who is 26 months old) play with regular playdough! She totally couldn't care less about cc, and told me so. She told me to mind my own business, because as far as she is concerned, a little cc won't hurt Zoey.

Of course, that is also her mother-in-law's attitude, who has celiac disease, diagnosed with both positive bloods and positive biopsy (so, Zoey comes by it from two sides). This daughter is 27 years old and I feel like slapping her like a kid (well, she sure acts like an immature kid when it comes to Zoey's gluten intolerance, which is actually severe).

Okay, that was my rant for the day. Here is the recipe:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 tbs. cream of tartar

2 cups water

2 tbs. oil

Mix dry and liquid ingredients separately, then stir together into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Put into bowl and let cool. Separate into several batches (if you want more than one colour) and add different food colourings to those batches, knead until well blended. Store each batch in a Ziploc bag (they dry out otherwise).

If you just want one colour, you can add the food colouring before cooking the mixture.

[dandelionmom]

The school was fine with me supplying an alternative and they use it for the whole class. I think it was from discount school supply or something like that. It was a really big bucket.

[Amyleigh0007]

If my 8 year old son wants to play with dough I give him a gluten free clay such as Crayola, Klean Klay, or Model Magic. I gave my son's classroom teacher and art teacher a list of safe art materials and said if they have those it's great, if not, I will supply it. But, I work for our school district and I know that they will happily purchase the gluten free products if I asked. Luckily, they use the safe brands already.

[Nathan's mom]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I could start this as a new topic but it does tie in to this whole subject of "what do you do to insure your child does not get glutened". I've had my son attend a daycare about three days a week for a few hours a day before K to give him some more playtime experience. In two months he has been glutened 3 times. Two times I know about and the third were just symptoms but it had to be something from there. Yesterday was his last scheduled day and even if it was not it would have been his last day. The place is caring, wonderful, etc. etc., but they are SORELY lacking when it comes to understanding food issues.

I feel like because I didn't tell them he would have anaphylactic shock that the whole gluten thing was not taken seriously. When I picked him up yesterday they were having afternoon snack. I had a snack labeled for him in his bag but he had a cracker in his hand, and said, "Mommy, they gave me an animal cracker". It had a bite taken out of it. Thank God he didn't eat the whole tray set out before him. His teacher came up behind me and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot he couldn't have that". What???? I was just speechless. I was so frustrated and will make a point to have a meeting with the director. I just don't know why they can't remember!

Well, anyway my son is going into K this coming Fall. I am now asking that gluten-free supplies be furnished in the classroom. If they won't provide gluten-free dough, then I will purchase it (although I'm not telling then that until I find out if they will get it for the class). My son can't have a successful year in K if he gets glutened. For the next two days I can't take him anywhere because I never know when he will have a sploogie in his underwear because of the animal cracker. I don't want that to happen to him in K. My husband is on the same page as me also with this now.

You know, all things happen for a reason. The daycare experience taught me what I should have done and will do before he goes to K:

- I need to have a meeting with his teacher (not just hand a piece of paper and say a few words). Quality time in the beginning makes for clearer understanding. I have requested a meeting before the start of the year. I was teaching before he was born and know how busy this time is, but it doesn't get any less busy once class is in session.

- I need to stress that his whole body is affected when he is glutened and that he will be missing days from school (which means $$$ to any administrator) everytime he is glutened.

- I need to stress repeatedly that he is not to be given anything that I haven't approved of or provided.

In short, I feel like I am a better advocate for my son now. I hope the experience and response from the school is better. Believe it or not, the little country school he will be attending has only 90 students and supposedly there are two celiacs there already!!

Debbie

[jayhawkmom]

We have gluten free aroma dough (you can find it through google) for all of my kids. I supply it to my daughter's classroom as well. The other kids play with regular playdough, however... my daughter uses a special mat at her desk, and is able to chose a couple friends to play with her "special" dough with her at her desk.

This worked for us last year, in kindergarten. I have no idea how 1st grade is going to go.

But no... my non-gluten-free kids don't play with regular playdough. We simply don't have it around. However, if they have it in their classroom at school, that's a different matter entirely.

[buffettbride]

My daughter is 11. She was diagnosed a year ago.

I let her play with play-doh with her little brother.

If she was younger and more prone to putting her hands in her mouth, I wouldn't let her play with it.

If it was a school thing, I would politely request (which is nice words for demand) that an alternative be made available to the class. Too much cc risk I think.

[missy'smom]

I was an assistant teacher in a pre-school and I made playdough for the class using the recipe that Ursa posted. I used to make a double or triple batch and put in in a plastic iceream bucket. I made a new color, according to the season, every month or so. We tossed the previous month's batch, 'cause of germs. You know pre-schoolers and colds The first time I made it it was too sticky too, as another poster pointed out. I reduced the liquid by maybe 1/4 cup to start with and it came out great. If it's still too moist you can leave it out uncovered a bit and it will dry out a little. That first batch I made got better after a few days use . Having had that experience, I will say that both homemade and regular playdoh leave behind an oily/moist/ sometimes dry residue. The thought that it was made with wheat flour and that we did our best to spray down and wipe the tables after ward and that the kids ate their lunches on the same tables, and that on a few days we were extemely busy and didn't quite get all of it kind of makes me cringe now. I don't want to add to anyone's stress, and I don't know how the regular playdoh is made, but I can't see how one child with their own gluten-free doh can not end up sharing with the other children at the table or vise versa. I haven't made the dough gluten-free but if it works gluten-free, I would be making and supplying it to the whole class every month. It doesn't take very long. It actually was better to work with and lasted longer than the regular playdoh. The first time you may think it's messy and trying but I promise the next will be a breeze.