Taste-Safe Kinetic Sand for Kids

Does your child have a tendency to put everything in his or her mouth? This taste-safe kinetic sand made using edible ingredients is perfect for babies and toddlers who can’t be trusted to play with regular kinetic sand! It is moldable like wet sand, but feels fluffy and slightly crumbly. Such a fun taste-safe sensory activity for kids!

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Do your kids love kinetic sand?

We are big fans of sensory play around here, and kinetic sand is one of our go-to activities. Our kids always find a cone of scented kinetic sand in their stocking on Christmas morning.

But if you have a baby or toddler at home who has a tendency to put everything in their mouth, you may be wondering, “Is kinetic sand safe if eaten?”

If you are afraid that your child will try to eat kinetic sand, you may want to try making your own at home… and this taste-safe recipe will show you how to make kinetic sand WITHOUT sand or glue!

This edible kinetic sand recipe feels a little bit like Homemade Moon Sand in that it is crumbly like sand, but also moldable. Yet unlike moon sand, which is very soft and powdery, this sensory sand has a rougher, “sandier” texture caused by the addition of granulated sugar.

And because this sensory play sand is made with no sand and contains only edible ingredients, your child won’t be harmed if they decide to sneak a taste. (But as it doesn’t taste good, they won’t feel too encouraged to eat it, either.)

If you love setting up taste-safe sensory play activities for your child, this one is a must-try!

(P.S. If you’re looking for more taste-safe sensory activities to try with your child, check out this list of 25 Taste-Safe Sensory Play Ideas for kids!)

Is This Kinetic Sand Recipe Taste-Safe?

As this recipe is made without sand and only requires edible ingredients, it is non-toxic if consumed in small quantities. And despite the additional of sugar, my six-year-old informs me that it doesn’t taste good, so your child shouldn’t actively want to eat it.

That being said, some kids don’t need much encouragement to eat sensory materials, even if they don’t taste good. And this recipe does contain a significant amount of baking soda, which can be toxic if consumed in too large a quantity.

For this reason, babies and toddlers should always be supervised while playing with this fake sand. And if you notice that they are actively trying to eat it, you should probably hold off on doing this activity until they are a little older.

Required Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need in order to make your own edible kinetic sand at home:

• 1 cup baking soda
• ½ cup cornstarch (you may know it as “corn flour” if you live in the U.K. or Australia)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cream of tartar (because we make lots of homemade play dough, we like to buy ours in bulk—it lasts forever and we always have it on hand when we need it!)
• 3-4 tbsp water, divided
• Liquid food coloring

How to Make Taste-Safe Kinetic Sand (Step-by-Step)

1. Combine Dry Ingredients

Start by pouring 1 cup of baking soda, ½ cup of cornstarch, ½ cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of cream of tartar into a medium mixing bowl and stirring them with a spoon until well combined.

(Note: You should be able to make this taste-safe kinetic sand without cream of tartar if ever you don’t have any on hand.)

2. Add Food Coloring to Water

Pour 3 tablespoons of water into a small bowl or container, setting aside the remaining tablespoon, and add some liquid food coloring.

I found that using 10 drops of food coloring produced a nice, vibrant hue in the finished play sand, but feel free to use as little or as much as you like.

3. Add Water to Dry Ingredients

While this edible sand recipe calls for 3-4 tablespoons of water, the water shouldn’t be added all at once.

Start by adding 2 tablespoons of colored water to the dry ingredients and stirring it in using a fork or whisk. At this point, your fake sand should have a consistency similar to DIY Moon Sand.

After the first tablespoon of water has been added, add the remaining tablespoon of colored water and stir it in as well. You may need to continue mixing with your hands in order to get the ingredients to combine more evenly.

4. Adjust Kinetic Sand Consistency

Once you have added all 3 tablespoons of colored water, it’s time to add the remaining water.

When testing this recipe, I found that even a small amount of water could make a huge difference in texture at this point in the process. So I recommend only adding a tiny bit at a time (no more than one teaspoon).

A lot of recipes for taste-safe kinetic sand call for a total of 4 tablespoons of water, but personally, I found that the sand ended up too wet and slightly doughy if all 4 tablespoons were added. I liked the texture better with about 3 ½ tablespoons, which produced a dryer, more crumbly sand.

That being said, you may prefer the wetter texture, so feel free to experiment with different amounts of water to see what you like best!

The easiest way to do this is to only add a tiny bit of water at a time after you have added the initial 3 tablespoons, and to stop adding water as soon as you are satisfied with the texture of the kinetic sand.

Once you are satisfied with its consistency, your DIY kinetic sand is ready to play with! Gather it up into a ball or leave it crumbly and throw it into a sensory bin or sensory table so your kids can play with it.

My two- and three-year-old had a blast playing with it, and our older kids joined in too once they got home from school. They loved that it was moldable!

How to Store DIY Kinetic Sand

If your homemade kinetic sand is still in good condition after your child is done playing with it, you can store it in an airtight container until the next time they’re ready to play with it.

If ever the sand dries out during play, feel free to add a very small amount of water in order to restore its consistency—but be careful not to overdo it, as a little goes a long way in this recipe!

Related Taste-Safe Sensory Activities

Looking for more edible sensory play ideas that are appropriate for babies and toddlers? Check out these articles:

• How to Make Edible Cheerio Sand for Babies
• Taste-Safe Sensory Foam
• 4 Ways to Make Taste-Safe Mud
• Baby Cereal & Applesauce Play Dough
• Edible Yogurt Silly Putty
• 30 Taste-Safe & Edible Paint Recipes for Kids
• Taste-Safe Chia Seed Sensory Play
• Easy Edible Gelatin Cubes
• How to Make Edible Water Beads

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