Have you seen colored rice floating around Pinterest land?
Every time I see it I think, that looks fun… but it’s probably hard to make. Well, I finally broke down and tried it and guess what!? Super easy!
My kids practically did it all by themselves…. It required them to have very good listening skills, though.
We actually made two colors (for Christmas). Lanae and Owen helped each other and did one color at a time. It was the cutest thing ever to watch them. I asked Lanae to hold the bag first since I knew that she has a little better understanding of being patient and waiting her turn. She was so patient while Owen filled her bag with rice.
Then Lanae filled Owen’s bag up with rice. We did about 4 cups in each bag. Then I gave Lanae her food coloring. She chose red. I explained before that it stains and not to be crazy and get it everywhere. She did such a great job pouring a few drops in and Owen just watched mesmerized.
After watching Lanae put some drops in, I trusted that Owen could do it by himself too. And he totally did!
I put a little vinegar in their bags and they shook them up like crazy. It was so funny to hear them exclaim that it was changing colors! Its a slow visual transformation, which makes it a really fun project!
It was funny watching their different methods of shaking. Owen ended up needing a lot more help with that part… And Lanae actually ripped a hole in hers cause she was so excited. I saw little grains of rice flying out and was like “STOP!” Ha ha. We managed to contain most of the rice and transfer to a new bag very easily.
- 4 cups rice
- 3-4 tsp vinegar
- food coloring
- essential oils (optional)
- Combine all the ingredients. You need about 1 tsp vinegar for every cup of rice, but I stayed on the lower end to reduce the smell a bit. I added in a drop of peppermint oil to make it a little more pleasant smelling as well. It's faint!
- Shake until the color is evenly distributed.
- Set out on wax paper to dry. Make sure to spread it out so that it dries quickly!
After making the rice, we set it out to dry on wax paper while the kids took naps. Then playtime began!!! Woohoo!
Now making it with kids was time consuming. So if you are in a rush, you could probably make it in about 5 minutes all by yourself. It’s really that easy. But for me, I love having the kids be a part of the experience.
Check back soon to see what we did with our colored rice!!
Here are some more fun sensory activities we’ve done:
I love this! My son is really into his sensory bin and this would be the perfect way to get him involved in making another one! Thanks, Carisa!
They are loving their Christmas sensory bin! I thought the excitement might wear off a bit, but if anything they just ask to play with it more.