Edible Play-dough

My daughter, who is almost 8 months, puts everything in her mouth. While she has been doing sensory play with cooked spaghetti and playing in the sandbox without eating either the spaghetti or the sand, these seem to be the only two things that don't go in her mouth. I wanted her to be able to play with play-dough and not worry about it being toxic if she puts it in her mouth. Here's a super-simple recipe that I made this morning. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to three days.

• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup baby cereal - rice or oatmeal
• 1 baby food jar applesauce (4 oz)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• food coloring, if desired

Mix the cornstarch and baby cereal together and add the liquids. Kneed or blend with a kitchen-aid. I used my hands and it was easy to mix. If it is a bit too dry, wet your hands and continue kneading. A bit too wet or sticky? Sprinkle on some cornstarch. That's it! I'm excited to come home and watch her play with this. Be forewarned if you use your hands to mix in the food coloring. I'm going to work looking like this:

But don't worry, once it's mixed into the dough, it no longer comes off on baby's skin, or yours.

**Update- It's a good thing that it was edible! After playing with it for 10 minutes, we went to visit a neighbor. When I returned, there wasn't any play-dough on the try where I thought I left it. About to look in the refrigerator, I realized that my dog Trevi had eaten it. All of it.