Homemade Playdough, risk assessment/policy

[mandy moo]

As the title says really, does anyone have one/feel the need for one??

Heres the link, hope Ive done it right.....

BBC News - Warning over home-made play dough

[AliceK]

I've used homemade playdough for years with no problems. It does taste really disgusting so I doubt any child would eat it but I always sit at the table with them when they are playing anyway. I don't think I'll be doing any kind of written RA for it, I treat it like anything else, mentally RA everything all the time anyway.

xxx

[loocyloo]

i minded a child who liked to eat homemade playdough ... but didn't eat bought playdough ( her mum used to laugh and say it was because there wasn't enough salt in shop bought playdough! ) so i had a few tubs of shop playdough, and thats what we used when she was with us!

but generally, one little taste and thats enough to stop anyone eating it!

[mrsb79]

I used to work in a dsp with children with autism and we used to make our own but one little boy would grab handfuls and eat it so we couldn't play with it unless he was doing another activity.

Sent from my iPhone using Childminding Forum

[Tealady]

I realise they are saying there is a risk and I understand that yes, homemade playdough could cause harm but surely we would have heard stories of children being ill or dying from eating it before now?

[AliceK]

I realise they are saying there is a risk and I understand that yes, homemade playdough could cause harm but surely we would have heard stories of children being ill or dying from eating it before now?

I agree. It's like virtually anything isn't it. There is a risk of some kind from everything. I think all we can do is be vigilant and know the children we are looking after. It would be easy to go overboard on RA everything but children need to learn and we can't eliminate all risk.

xxx

[mum67]

I remember as a child having a sneaky taste of plasticine at school, I certainly didn't try it again ugh bland and nasty, then moved on to clay even worse taste.
Don't judge people, I was an inquisitive child.
Funny enough didn't like the taste of lager when I sneaked a swig at a wedding but lluuurrrvvvv it now.

We could go on forever RA and we would still miss something.
If you feel better having one then do it, it's what suits you and your business.

[Tealady]

I remember as a child having a sneaky taste of plasticine at school, I certainly didn't try it again ugh bland and nasty, then moved on to clay even worse taste.
Don't judge people, I was an inquisitive child.
Funny enough didn't like the taste of lager when I sneaked a swig at a wedding but lluuurrrvvvv it now.

We could go on forever RA and we would still miss something.
If you feel better having one then do it, it's what suits you and your business.

Obviously a "sensory learner"!

My daughter is 8 and still has to touch and feel things, rather than taste. Very annoying when shopping. When we cook she has her hands in everything. She has always been like this since a baby.

[mum67]

Yes Tealady that's it - a sensory learner - sounds much better than the words the kids at school called me, lol

[bunyip]

I agree. It's like virtually anything isn't it. There is a risk of some kind from everything. I think all we can do is be vigilant and know the children we are looking after. It would be easy to go overboard on RA everything but children need to learn and we can't eliminate all risk.

xxx

I agree. You cannot seriously RA every single thing a lo could potentially try to eat. A quick look round my home suggests relatively easy access to things they should not consume, such as:-

• play doh
• plasticene
• air-dry clay
• undiluted squash
• vinegar
• cooking oil
• cut flowers
• water in flower vases
• water from the toilet bowl
• hand washing water
• washing up water
• cooling gel packs for bumps and bruises: one bite and they're in
• etc. etc. etc.

The list expands further if I consider everything that could conceivably choke as well as poison a child. Let's face it, is this not one of the reasons why we're meant to be with the child pretty much all the time, eh?

We're not going RA all this lot, are we? I suspect playdoh is simply the latest bee buzzing away in the otherwise empty bonnet of The National Poisons Service. I presume they have very little to do and, unless some crazy Bond-villain is out there manufacturing brand new lethal substances, the NPS has to publish something from tim to time in order to justify its existence and give Scottish journalists something more interesting to write about than the non-event of the latest Darling-versus-Salmond handbag-fight.

In the vast majority of cases, people (even the small variety) are sufficient well-evolved to spit out anything bad for them as it will taste bad, like very salty playdoh f'rinstance. My granddaughter once bit into a liquid dishwasher pouch, but the taste was enough for her to stop there and not imbibe the entire contents.