how to make rainbow rice for sensory play

I have a rule that activities must entertain him for longer than it takes to set them up and tidy up.

I have decided to bend the rules a little for Rainbow Rice, as although it takes a bit of time to prepare, you can tidy it away and use it again and again.

I was so ready for this to be a repeat of the DIY playdough disaster from last week (check out my instagram for that delightful experience), but the weather forecast for today was miserable so I decided to brave sensory play again.

I have been meaning to try rainbow rice for ages, so after he went down for his morning nap, I took 10 minutes to set this activity up.

what is rainbow rice?

Rainbow rice is just regular (raw) rice, dyed into fun colours using food colouring.

what do I do with sensory rice?

I gave Osk some rice to play with a few weeks ago and he really enjoyed it. At the time I just threw some plain rice in a baking tray and gave it to him in his high chair. He then spent ages swooshing it around and running it through his fingers. When he got bored, I gave him some cups and spoons to scoop it up and pour it.

This time I decided to jazz it up a little, I had a big cardboard box, which I cut in half to make a big tray and gave him all three colours in separate bowls. We spent a little while squishing it through our fingers, then poured each of the colours out into the tray separately before mixing them all together.

I then left him to it, watching him as he swirled the colours together and poured the rice into his pots and pans and through sieves and other toys. I considered pulling out some trucks, but he was happily occupied so decided to save the diggers for another day.

Note: eating raw rice is not recommended, so this is definitely an activity that requires supervision.

how do I make rainbow rice?

Making rainbow rice is so much more straightforward than I thought it would be. Preparing it and cleaning up takes about 10 mins, then it needs an hour or so to dry before it can be played with.

you will need

1 cup of rice (I used a combination of basmati and long grain)
1 tsp vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
food colouring (quantity depends on how strong a colour you want)
sealable container (for shaking the rice - I used a jam jar)
baking tray & kitchen paper

step 1

Add all the ingredients into the jar and seal it tight

step 2

Shake shake shake to ensure all the ingredients are fully mixed together

step 3

Pour the rice onto the paper towel and leave to dry on the baking tray. (To speed this up, I popped mine in the oven with the fan on, but no heat).

how do I store rainbow rice?

I just poured all of the rice into a big ziploc bag and put it away in our activities cupboard. I have seen people use the same rice for months, but I’ll report back on how long ours lasts!

good things about sensory rice

It’s quick and easy to make
It can be reused again and again
It occupied my 16 month old for ages
The ingredients are cheap and readily available
It’s easy to clean up

bad things about sensory rice

It is unbelievably messy (but easy to clean up)
It’s not safe to eat

verdict

Rainbow rice is simple to make, provides loads of open ended, sensory play opportunities, is reusable AND any spilled rice can be hoovered up in two minutes! Do it!