A quest to brew a wheat-free beer led to a new toy that will bring happiness to thousands of kids whose gluten allergies prevent them from playing with Play-Doh.

The Hasbro toy contains an ingredient -- and the company won't say what it is -- that aggravates wheat allergies. But now, thanks to a Purdue University junior, kids can get their hands dirty with Soy Doh.

Prompted by a professor who mentioned that he couldn't drink beer because of his wheat sensitivity, student Sawyer Sparks and two others in the agricultural economics program tried to make a gluten-free beer. They mixed soy flour, gluten-free yeast and water, cooking it up on Sparks' stove.

The result was most decidedly not beer, but instead the trio wound up with a substance that had a texture very similar to Play-Doh. Sparks, who already started his own alternative-fuel company, saw a great opportunity to market the stuff to parents of kids with allergies.

Soy Doh comes in a dozen colors and smells like fruit or foods, such as root beer. The non-toxic, non-allergenic toy markets for about $2 a can, and Sparks has already sold "hundreds" of containers of it to schools. Because of the economy, Sparks has added some rice flour to his formula, but the toy remains safe for any kids who might have a wheat allergy.

Now that's what I call ingenuity.