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My greatest concern with wheat-flour based play clays is that little ones
may inadvertently carry the residue from their hands to their mouths. It
gets trapped in every crack and crevice and under fingernails. Scrupulous
handwashing may prevent this, but I've deferred experimentation until Ted
gets older by giving him the new polymer clays to experiment with instead.
These can be found in most craft stores. They do not harden unless baked in
your oven, and (except for the glow-in-the-dark clays) they have the lovely
firm texture of real clay that Playdough lacks. They are far more expensive
than playdough, but we get around this by making teeny tiny things whenever
possible. (Also, if you consider the rate at which Playdough dries out, the
polymer clay's "forever young"ness looks like a real advantage.)
 
Linda Blanchard
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Midland TX USA