How to make rainbow rice (2 ways)
with liquid watercolor- Put 2 cups of rice each in the desired number of ziploc gallon bags (I used 6).
- Squirt some liquid watercolor into bags. I use Colorations Liquid Watercolor Paint. I bought this over a year ago, and it's still going strong. We use it all the time. The more watercolor, the brighter the color.
- Seal and shake the bag. If you have a toddler present when creating this, have them shake the bag. Jude was a big help with this step.
- Put down paper towels (1 for each color) and dump the rice on it.
- Let dry for 30 minutes.
- Time to play!
with vinegar and food coloring
- Put 2 cups of rice each in the desired number of ziploc gallon bags (I used 6).
- Coat the rice in vinegar. This helps the food coloring stick. There's probably an extra measurement, but when I have done this in the past, I eye-balled it and it worked great.
- Put a few drops of food coloring the the bag. The more food coloring, the brighter the color.
- Seal and shake the bag. If you have a toddler present when creating this, have them shake the bag. Jude was a big help with this step.
- Put down paper towels (1 for each color) and dump the rice on it.
- Let dry for 30 minutes.
- Time to play!
How to create the bin
- Carefully put the rice in a bin or any container color by color. If you don't care if it's mixed, because it will get mixed, just throw it all in there.
- Find a few tools for your little to work with. Bowls and cups are great for this. I have these small scoops. They are perfectly Jude sized.
- Throw in some objects that can be hid or buried. Different textures would be great (like the pipe cleaners I used), but honestly anything you have on hand is perfect. Or throw nothing in and it's still fun. I always add Jude's name in big magnets because I like to integrate name letter recognition as often as possible.
- Set the bin out in a place that you are comfortable with getting messy. I didn't want to do this outside because we are a popular dining joint for the neighborhood birds, and I didn't want them to eat the rice. I chose the table because almost all of the spill happened on the table, and it was easy to just sweep back into the bin for later use.
Possible activities to encourage play and learning
- Bury the letters or objects and have your child dig them out. Jude decided to play this game on his own. He would bury the letters and say 'where go, mommy?', dig it out, and exclaim 'HERE GO!' This provided a decent amount of entertainment as we played it over and over.
- Scoop into cups and bowls and pretend to eat it. Be careful if your toddler or baby likes to put everything in their mouth. You don't want to confuse them!
- Drive trucks in the rice. Jude had little construction trucks, so I brought those out and he used them like extra scoops.
- Try to match objects to the colors (before it gets too mixed)
Clean-up tips
- If your little starts tossing around the rice, I suggest saying, "keep it in the tray, or it goes away". You say it in a sing-song voice. I learned it from Playful Little Learners, and I use it every time we doing a sensory bin. Make sure you only say it if you're prepared to take it away!
- Have your little sweep and clear the area with you. We do it so often that Jude grabs his little broom now to help. Doing this really helps give the kids a sense of ownership when they are making the mess. Even if they are too young to walk with a broom, ask them to help take handfuls from out of the bin and put them in the bin.
- If possible, do this in a container that shuts. Jude went back to the bin twice today, and I'm sure he will go for it tomorrow too. If it seals, it's easier to keep it all together!
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