What you need for Rainbow Rice:
- Uncooked white rice (1 cup per colour)
- Water (1/2 tsp. per colour)
- food colouring of your choice (15-20 drops of food colouring per colour)
*you will need red, yellow, orange, green, blue and purple
- 6 plastic bags or plastic containers you won't mind if you stain.
Life is better in colour, that is always going to be true. A colourful sensory bin will keep your children engaged and involved for hours on end.
This activity has a two step process. First preparing and making the rainbow rice and then assembling your sensory bin.
How to assemble:
- Step 1: Put 1 c. of rice into each baggie.
- Step 2: Mix 1/2 tsp. of water and 15-20 drops of food coloring per color.
- Step 3: Place into the baggie, ensuring it is tightly sealed. Shake the bag until the color has spread evenly. You might need to add another 1/4 tsp of water along with a couple more drops of coloring if it doesn’t coat it perfectly.
- Step 4: Place the rice out on a piece of parchment paper, aluminum foil, baking sheet, or paper towel and allow to dry. Repeat for the other 5 colors.
Once completely dry, pour all colors into a small storage bin.
For the Sensory Bin:
- you could just lay out the colours in a row (will only be perfect the first time. Give your children spoons, scoops and jars and let them play in their colour glory.
- if you are using a deep bin, you could purchase some small plastic toys or animals and hide them in the rice and have your children dig for their treasure.
It is all up to your child's imagination.
Once the sensory bin activity has lost it shine, you can use the rice for an arts and crafts activity.
