How to Make Color Rice for Sensory Play
My kids just love making and playing with their color rice! I have seen sensory tubs popping up here and there and thought it a good idea for the boys. One day one appeared in my news feed. It was the most beautiful blue and I couldn’t help but wonder if I could get that color.
It turns out that making color rice is easy!!
Ingredients for color rice:
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1 cup Rice
- a few drops food coloring
Directions:
Rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of rice and however much food coloring you need for the shade you desire. I made 4 cups of color rice.
I made them in zip lock bags, poured the vinegar and coloring in, added the cup of rice and shook (zipped closed) and swooshed to get the colored vinegar everywhere. This step is also great for the kids to help with. They love to shake that bag!
Once the rice is mixed well with the coloring spread it out onto the wax paper to dry. It took about an hour in my kitchen. Other ways to get it to dry quicker is to put in the oven on the lowest setting and check it often or to take it outside into the direct sun.
Also in batches I have made with various kinds of rice some absorbed the vinegar so well I didn’t have to dry it at all. So this greatly depends on your rice that you have.
Update: How to Neutralize the Vinegar Smell when Coloring Rice or Pasta.
I just love the colors of the rice!
I then let the boys at the color rice!
In the corner on the foam mat where there would be minimum messing! We started out with one color each, then switched to another. They loved exploring and my very sensory 2 year old ran the grains through his hands many times inspecting them.
I brought out the cups, funnel and other containers. The rice then got mixed into rainbow rice for measuring and pouring. I let them do the mixing themselves and both boys were very interested in the mixing of the colors.
TOP MESS TIP! Do this activity in a corner which means there is only half the area to mess in! Put the bin in the corner that way they are also facing to corner and minimum spilling will happen. There was not that much to sweep up when the activity was done. Another thing that could work if you have carpets is to put down a large bed sheet to contain the grains. This will make your vacuum happy!
Next time we will make even MORE color rice then get the little cars and farm animals out!
Did you know? That your color rice will keep for YEARS if you store it in an airtight container!
