Have you ever dyed rice? It’s a really easy process and really enhances sensory play. I’ve never made it before, and thought that we needed some.
We gathered our materials.
- Rice
- Vinegar
- Food Coloring
- Plastic bags
- Measuring spoons
You simply add 1/2 cup rice, 1/4 cup vinegar, and 4-5 drops of food coloring into a plastic ziploc bag. I only made a quarter cup of each color of rice. Next time I’ll make much more.
Then, have a helper shake the bag.
Let the mixture sit for a while. The longer you let it sit, the better the color will be. I changed our yellow dyed rice to green instead.
Pour out the mixture onto paper towel lined cookie sheets to dry. I let ours dry 4 hours.
Pour the rice into a sensory bin and add any utensils you want and let you child explore.
His favorite part was learning how to use tongs to pick up the rice. It was challenging for him, but he figured it out!
Oh, and if you don’t want a big mess to pick up, than don’t leave the open bag of rice out for your child to find….oops. We just made another fun activity out of it…and I got the privilege of cleaning the floors that day!
I love coloured rice play although i have never used vinegar when colouring mine for the girls….is that to preserve Amanda?
At least it vacumns up well!!!
Honesetly, it’s just a recipe that I found. I have heard of using alcohol or hand-sanitizer, but I had more vinegar on hand so that’s why I used it.
We love colored rice play!
We do too! I can’t wait to make more!
Just did it. Love it!
Good! So glad you liked it!
It looks like little man had fun! We love a mess, and I know you do too, so it looks like you had a fabulous day <3
You have amazing ideas! I can’t wait to try the colored rice for Easter. My 1 and a half year old loved playing with a dry bean sensory bucket. He played for over an hour. I posted pics on my blog and linked it to your post about 31 days of play. http://famigliaandseoul.blogspot.com/2012/03/sensory-fun.html. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks! I’m so glad the beans were such a success with your son. Thanks for the link on your blog…your son is too cute! I have friends who adopted from South Korea 2 years ago. Congrats!
My son would love helping to make the colored rice – not to mention all of the sensory play fun!
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I have never heard of colored rice before! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
I’ve got my rice sitting right now, hopefully getting nice and brightly colored!
A word of caution: if you use Up & Up brand (Target brand) zipper bags, double bag them! I got vinegar all over the counters. PEEEW! (or maybe I just got a bad box of baggies?)
nice idea.. thanks for sharing.