Coloured Rice
Who knew that preparatory work could also become an activity for the young ones? I first attempted rice dyeing when K was about 2.5 years old. But I could see myself doing it with my 1 year old N... it just might not be THAT engaging.
This is also a PERFECT time to teach colours and their compositions. You can drop two different coloured dye into the bag and ask the child to guess what colour would result! A super fun science activity AND you get materials for more future play opportunities AND you occupy your kids AND get them to work those muscles and burn that energy too! What more could you ask for? 😉
Materials needed:
Ziplock bags
Food dye
Rice
Water
Baking trays or big plates that are stain resistant (DON'T use plastic if you don't want them to stain)
How to:
1. Pop 2 cups of rice into a ziplock bag
2. Drop a few drops of colouring in with 2 teaspoons of water (the water just helps to spread the colouring better. Omitting it will shorten drying time but lengthen mixing time)
3. Make sure you zip shut the bag real good
4. Get the kids to shake and mix till all the rice grains are covered
5. Lay it out on the baking trays or plates and leave to dry (you'll know it is dry if you pick the grains up and rub it between your fingers and the colour doesn't get to your fingers. You might have to use a spoon to stir the rice a bit to expose the grains buried underneath)
Pro tips:
- To make sure the bag is shut well, you might want to tape up the opening after zipping it up to make sure that you don't get a huge mess.
- Keep the colours separate when drying. You could even do a week on colours and do a bag/colour a day then allow the child to add the new colour into the bin after it dries.
- Make sure all the toys you use to play with the rice is always 100% dry.
- Store it in an airtight container or ziplock bag. I buy anti mite packs from Daiso and pop it into the bags to keep the rice weavels at bay.
This is also a PERFECT time to teach colours and their compositions. You can drop two different coloured dye into the bag and ask the child to guess what colour would result! A super fun science activity AND you get materials for more future play opportunities AND you occupy your kids AND get them to work those muscles and burn that energy too! What more could you ask for? 😉
Materials needed:
Ziplock bags
Food dye
Rice
Water
Baking trays or big plates that are stain resistant (DON'T use plastic if you don't want them to stain)
How to:
1. Pop 2 cups of rice into a ziplock bag
2. Drop a few drops of colouring in with 2 teaspoons of water (the water just helps to spread the colouring better. Omitting it will shorten drying time but lengthen mixing time)
3. Make sure you zip shut the bag real good
4. Get the kids to shake and mix till all the rice grains are covered
5. Lay it out on the baking trays or plates and leave to dry (you'll know it is dry if you pick the grains up and rub it between your fingers and the colour doesn't get to your fingers. You might have to use a spoon to stir the rice a bit to expose the grains buried underneath)
Pro tips:
- To make sure the bag is shut well, you might want to tape up the opening after zipping it up to make sure that you don't get a huge mess.
- Keep the colours separate when drying. You could even do a week on colours and do a bag/colour a day then allow the child to add the new colour into the bin after it dries.
- Make sure all the toys you use to play with the rice is always 100% dry.
- Store it in an airtight container or ziplock bag. I buy anti mite packs from Daiso and pop it into the bags to keep the rice weavels at bay.
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