Play dough, play sand, teethers, the soft rubbery bits on everything. Toys are the category where children have the most direct, sustained, mouth-level contact with materials — and the one where labeling tells you the least.
Our picks
The winners from our cheat sheets, each chosen for one job.
Play dough that states what it is made of
Soft wheat-flour dough in 12 colors. The maker's page says natural wheat flour with no other additives; it does not list water, salt or colorants.
Ingredient panel checked · source
From The toys and art supplies cheat sheet
Crayons for toddlers
Pure beeswax and food-grade pigments with no paraffin wax, per the brand's own page.
Ingredient panel checked · source
From The toys and art supplies cheat sheet
Best for repeated play
Soft, long-lasting, and the one that held up best to repeated play in our testing window; the brand publishes its full ingredient list.
Ingredient panel checked · source
From The SafeMama non-toxic play dough showdown
Washable paint with a printed ingredient list
Corn starch, gum arabic, and earth and mineral pigments, per the maker's page. ACMI's certified-product search lists this kit with the AP seal (checked October 23, 2026). The heavy-metal line on the page is the maker's statement, with no report; its FAQ says ages 3+.
Ingredient panel checked · source
From The toys and art supplies cheat sheetToys are their own problem for two reasons: contact is sustained and oral, and disclosure is the worst of any category we cover — food has an ingredient panel by law, toys mostly do not. For soft parts the materials question answers most of it. Silicone and TPR are soft by nature; PVC is rigid on its own and has to be plasticized to become squeezable.
Two things make this category distinct.
Contact is sustained and oral. A teether is in a mouth for hours. Play dough is handled for an afternoon and, realistically, tasted at least once. That is a different exposure profile from a thing a child touches briefly.
Disclosure is worst here. Food has an ingredient panel by law. Toys mostly do not. The classic play dough recipe is proprietary — nobody outside the company knows what is in it — and that fact alone is why our play dough comparison exists: we only looked at brands willing to publish what they are made of.
The soft rubbery parts on teethers, bath toys and non-skid bases are almost always one of three things, and the differences matter:
Silicone and TPR are soft by nature, so they never needed BPA — a hardening agent would defeat the point. Both are generally safer picks, and our TPR explainer covers why a voluntary "PVC-free" claim on one is reasonably trustworthy.
PVC is the one to avoid. It is rigid on its own, so making it squeezable requires plasticizers — historically phthalates. Hollow, squeaky bath toys and harder-feeling plastic dolls are the classic applications.
The tell is physical: PVC is firmer and less springy than TPR or silicone. If a soft part matters to you and the packaging is silent, ask the manufacturer. In our experience they answer.
It is the one item here where the concern is a genuine mineral question rather than a plastics one, and where the answer depends on what the sand actually is — the full explainer is here.
For dough, make it. A cup of flour, half a cup of salt, water, oil and cream of tartar costs pennies and beats most of what you can buy, and the measuring and mixing is half the activity. The recipe is on the showdown page, along with which plant colors survive being cooked — relevant, because that recipe goes on a stove.
Homemade dough lasts weeks rather than months. That is the trade for knowing exactly what is in it.
We only consider products that publish what they are made of. Where we can, we test with an actual child over days rather than minutes, because durability and whether a thing gets played with at all are part of the assessment. Where a product we liked is discontinued, we say so instead of leaving a dead recommendation.
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The tell is physical. PVC is firmer and less springy than TPR or silicone. If a soft part matters to you and the packaging is silent, ask the manufacturer — in our experience they answer.
The science, briefly
The soft rubbery parts on teethers, bath toys and non-skid bases are almost always one of three things. Silicone and TPR are soft by nature, so they never needed BPA — a hardening agent would defeat the point. Both are generally safer picks.
PVC is the one to avoid. It is rigid on its own, so making it squeezable requires plasticizers, historically phthalates. Hollow, squeaky bath toys and harder-feeling plastic dolls are the classic applications.
Contact here is sustained and oral — a teether is in a mouth for hours, play dough is handled for an afternoon and realistically tasted at least once. That is a different exposure profile from something a child touches briefly, and it is why disclosure matters more in this category than almost any other.
Common mistakes
Food has an ingredient panel by law. Toys mostly do not. The classic play dough recipe is proprietary — nobody outside the company knows what is in it — which is why our comparison only looked at brands willing to publish.
Silicone and TPR are soft by nature. PVC is rigid until it is plasticized, historically with phthalates. The physical tell is springiness: PVC is firmer and less springy.
Ask the manufacturer. In our experience they answer, and a brand that will not is telling you something too.
Start here
What we'd buy
Ingredient panel checked · source
Go deeper
The CPSC this year issued 498 notices of violations for toys through June, as of the latest data available (Sept. 23, 2025).
— A U.S. PIRG Education Fund report authored by Teresa Murray found ...
Trouble in Toyland 2025: A.I. bots and toxics present hidden dangers — U.S. PIRG Education Fund (2025-11-13)
When you buy a toy or any other product online and it's shipped directly to you from another country, it generally doesn't get inspected before it gets to your mailbox.
— A U.S. PIRG Education Fund report authored by Teresa Murray found ...
Trouble in Toyland 2024: Unsafe toys that slip through the border — U.S. PIRG Education Fund (2024-11-19)
Selecting products labeled 'fragrance-free' rather than 'unscented' may help reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals because unscented products may contain multiple scents, still bound by phthalates, that are mixed to cancel each other out.
— According to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidance co-authored by Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, MPH, ...
Reducing Prenatal Exposure to Toxic Environmental Agents (Committee Opinion No. 832) — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
