Sensory Rice Bin!

I ran across an idea for some sensory exploration from some of my mom friends and decided to try it out with M.

Sensory Rice Bin

It seemed simple enough.  Color some rice, throw it in a bin, and let them explore.

First up, getting the ingredients.  While grocery shopping today I picked up a 5lb bag of rice (I got extra long grain) and some gel food coloring (neon and primary).  I already had vinegar and the various other utensils at home that I'd need for this project. 

Making the rice was super easy.  I made it in 2 cup color batches.  So each batch was:

2 c. uncooked rice

1 tsp. vinegar

globs of food coloring

You can really use as much or as little food coloring as you want.  I used a lot so I'd get some vibrant colors for M to explore.

After mixing it up, I put each batch on a baking sheet (covered in foil) and cooked the rice for 15 minutes at 250 degrees.  You don't have to bake it, but it makes it dry faster and I didn't really feel like leaving the rice to air dry for a couple hours and have my cats throw it all over the house.

From each color batch I made a small snack sized baggy of the color, and then with the rest I just dumped it all into a tub.  Below is the set up waiting for M to wake up from her nap.  I used some different kitchen items I already had for her to scoop and pour the rice into different containers.  Also, some of her small toys (legos, rings, etc) are hidden in the rice for her to find.

When M woke up she had a blast with the rice.  45 minutes STRAIGHT it held her attention.  Pretty impressive in my opinion.  Here are some shots.  My favorite was when she got INTO the bin to play!

She had a blast playing with the rice.  It didn't end up being too messy.  I had a bit to pick up on the carpet that she flung out of the bin or rolled off the edge of the blanket.  No color came off of any of the rice on anything, huge win! 

Hopefully this gets a lot of use for a while!