Fun With Rice - A Colorfun Sensory Activity

It's been snowing on and off here on the East Coast and we're all going CrAzY from cabin fever.  To break the monotony, some of my girlfriends have been making colored rice as a sensory activity for their little ones.  I couldn't wait to jump on that wagon!  It was so easy to do!  Here is what you need:

2 Rice
A few tablespoons of vinegar
Food coloring in your favorite colors

 

I took about two cups of rice (per color) and put it in a zip close baggie with a few tablespoons of vinegar, and enough drops of food coloring to get nice, bright colors.  After squishing the rice mixture around in the baggies, I laid it out on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  You basically want the rice to dry in the oven.  When it comes out, it looks like this:

 

 

I combined green and blue rice, after it had cooled, in a container to hide small, wooden objects for Declan to find.  The verdict:

 

 

He loved it!  We have lots of fun feeling the rice, letting it run through our fingers, digging in it and finding & burying the wooden toys.  We've tried tasting it a few times, but it tastes like vinegar...so he wasn't too thrilled.  Is it messy?  Yes.  But we've found that if you can put the container on a pan with a lip, it helps to keep the rice in one place.  If not, it's super easy to vacuum up.  Nice!