Rainbow Rice

Boys and girls are very different.  This isn't a new realization to me by any means.  :-P  But it was sooooo evidenced by today's activity.  Micah and I made a batch of rainbow rice last night (instructions below).  So I put out the rice in a tub for him to play with while I showered (Liliana was at preschool)....I come downstairs and he's using the kid sized pots and pans I had given him as "jails" for the "bad guy rice."  And the toy whisk was a "super spinner that sucked everyone into the vortex."  He went on for 15 minutes about the purpose of the toy spatula in the fight against evil but it all went totally over my head.  Silly me!  I thought he would have used the pans to bake pretend cupcakes.

(Update-  Oh way too funny!  Liliana just got home from preschool and went straight to the rainbow rice for the first time and was playing really nice, and I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm making a cake!"  Called it.)

So, Rainbow Rice.

It's super easy to dye rice and pasta and then way fun to use it for art projects and sensory tables! 

Get the BIG bag of rice from Sam's.  We got the 25 lb. one for $10 and dyed about half of it.  It seemed like a ton when we were doing it, but I'm going to go ahead and do the other half now because once it's poured into a tub, it really isn't much.

Micah was so totally pumped about digging his hands into the rice!

Scoop into ziplock bags.  Add food coloring (maybe like 7-10 drops) and a splash of rubbing alcohol.

Shake.

Lay out to dry.

Done!

The rubbing alcohol evaporates making the rice/pasta safe to play with...but while drying, your house will smell like your alcoholic Uncle Herb is visiting and on a bender.  Just a warning, so you don't decide to do this on the day your church Bible study is meeting in your home or anything.  ;-)  The scent goes away really quickly.

A note about sensory tubs-  You can use ANYTHING for a sensory table.  It doesn't have to be elaborate.  Put some water/rice/sand/playdough/beans....not all at the same time :-)....in any sort of container and you've got a sensory tub.  Our rule is that the kids have to sit in the kiddy pool while they play, so that helps contain the mess.  I also try to start out with just the plain filler (rainbow rice in this case)...then after they get bored running their hands through it, etc. I add in something new (pots and pans).  Later, I'll switch out the pots and pans for sand toy scoops, etc. to keep them interested as long as possible before switching to a different filler.

There is a ton of research about how important sensory activities are for kids!  Sometime I'll do a post about it because Liliana is a total "sensory-seeker" and I've been doing a lot of reading on sensory disorders and activities....but in the meantime, get creative and have fun!!!