Alternative to Sand?

A neighbor used oatmeal. She bought a big (15 quart I think) tote and bought a whole bunch of oatmeal containers from Aldi and filled it half way for her 1 and 2 yr old to play with. When they got older, less chance of putting it in their mouths, she filled it with sand instead. She closed it with the lid and stored inside so the neighborhood cats would not get into it.

I assume you mean for indoor use. Daycares often use uncooked rice or oatmeal for the sand table. If you did mean for outside just go with sand, kids are supposed to be messy outside. Or you could use pea gravel.

You could do a sensory table or a big Rubbermaid type tub and fill it with things like lentils or cheerios, which will allow her to do all the digging, filling, pouring, and hiding things in there, but it easier to clean up and is totally non-toxic.

I would just go with the play sand.

My kids just play in the dirt in a garden plot I put in that did not take, but they usually don't eat it.

Our preschool used to alternate things in the sensory table: rice, beans, lentils or split peas, cornmeal, popcorn kernels, different shapes of pasta.
For home I got a under the bed rubbermaid box and a sack of playsand. I think sand really isn't that messy as long as you keep it outside and don't add water to it. She was older through, more like 2+.
If you are looking for something for inside the house just get a small rubbermaid box with a lid and fill with some fun foods like above.

What you can use is, shredded paper. Like if you have a paper shredder at home, just use that.
ie: make a huge mound of it, or put it in a box, and she can dig through it.
When my kids were a Toddler, they went to a kids event in the neighborhood, and in 1 corner of the room, was a huge mound of shredded paper. And in it, they had child safe sized "toys" that the kids could find. For fun, of course.
And the kids, loved it.

Or, just let her dig in dirt.
You can, as an alternative, buy potting soil in a bag, from the garden store. It is free of bugs and sanitized etc. And you can just dump it in a box or in your yard in a mound, and just let her dig through it.
Or as Jen C. said below, just let her dig in a plot in the garden.
My son is 6, and loves to dig, and I let him have a place in the garden, a "plot" of his own, to dig around in. He loves it. And he has his own gardening tools.

Sand boxes are fine. Sure, it can be messy, but that is part of the fun for a kid. Just put a big plastic tarp under it, and then whatever falls onto it, you just sweep it up or gather up the tarp and then dump it back into the box.
I did that with my kids. Or they had "Moon Sand." Which I let them play with and have a go at it, and I simply put down a huge plastic mat under it all, and it was fine.

Or, pet stores have various types of litter. We have a rabbit. And, there are, pellet litter that is made of recycled paper. You could buy a bag of that, put it in a box or container, and let her dig through that.
It is clean. And pellets are easy to just sweep up.

I would not use any type of "food" alternatives as a digging toy. Because, it will attract bugs and mold.

And, whenever your daughter is digging around in dirt or sand, just put on some "home clothes" so that she doesn't get any "nice" clothes dirty. ie: home clothes, which is what I taught my kids, are clothes that are perfectly good still albeit a bit stained. And these clothes, are used ONLY at home when playing especially when having fun playing and getting dirty. Then that way, no "nice" clothes is ruined.

Pebbles, like in a fish tank, but again...a bit young for something like that, because the chances of her putting it all in her mouth are about 100%. I wouldn't want her swallowing anything, including rice, lentils, etc.

I would go for the rubber maid containers. They are so much easier to store and clean than a sandbox and no matter what you put in there it's going to be messy.

We love to put in various things for the kids to dump and pour and dig in.... rice, birdseed are good ones. You can also mix cornmeal with sand to make it moldable, shaving cream and corn starch is a fun one too. We also just have a dirt area for the kids to play construction in.

Never tried it but i have heard of people using rice

Rice

ETA: I don't know if I would want them putting a bunch of rice in their mouth , either but only other option , I could think of.

A local playspace has recycled rubber tires. Not sure that is great to put in the mouth, but I know my kids had worse things in their mouths on occasion.

Be warned rice molds if you put it outside in a sandbox. If it is outside, it has to be completely sealed against the elements. We never could find an alternative to sand which was less mess, acceptable for being put in their mouths (ears, nose, etc.), allowed for digging, etc. Good luck and may your search be more successful than ours.

Another vote for taking the plunge with sand. There's nothing that compares to it. We got my now 4year old daughter one of those turtle sand boxes with a lid at about the same age as yours. It is one of the few things that she continues to use even now. We managed the mess by either taking her clothes off before she came back in the house or by using a broom to clean her off. A word of warning on the desert play sand that they sell at home depot. Its very fine and powdery when its dry. We switch to regular paver type sand which is much easier to clean and you don't have to worry about them inhaling it. If you get a sandbox make sure you keep it covered when its not in use otherwise the neighborhood cats will start using it.

Hi, CW:
It's okay for a child to put sand its mouth.

Are you going to be watching your child?
Just teach her no.
Good luck.
D.

I have a part of my garden where the kids can dig in the dirt. It's much cleaner than sand. I got rid of all the sand, it ended up everywhere!

The kids also love to dig in our rubber mulch.