I always look forward to Saturdays! Why? Because i love watching my husband and son have a fulfilling play and learn session since during the weekdays daddy has no chance due to work. Also, during the weekends we get to have visitors (my close friends) who would spend some time with Charles and us as well (some socializing for everyone! :D) and today, my appendix (yes, i give my friends nicknames) came for a visit! The lucky guy got to join Charles for his Rainbow Rice activity and from the pictures, im sure they all had fun!!

While he was sleeping, i set up the activity box.

This set up requires:

1) Large sized plastic box

2) 3 different colours of rice (I used blue, green and yellow because Charles loves BLUE and i think green and yellow goes well)

3) Foam letters in fun colours (i bought mine from munchkin awhile back)

4) Plastic balls for added texture

5) 3 Funnels of different sizes

6) some scoops

7) Some plastic CARS to bury into the rice (so Charles can have fun digging for them with the scoops!)

8) A pail, a glass and some random plastic containers for scooping the rice into!

What is RAINBOW RICE?

Its basically just uncooked rice with food colouring added to create vibrant beautiful colours, much like the rainbow! It is a safer alternative to sand, at least thats my personal opinion and much prettier to look at! This rainbow rice is homemade, using only food coloring and vinegar to color the rice, so this is non-toxic if ingested. However, always exercise caution and have proper supervision on your little ones during such play & learn sessions! You can never be too careful!

The weather is dull and dreary here today, so I thought I’d brighten things up a bit with an activity using Rainbow Rice.  You have probably seen coloured riced used as a base for sensory bins when you’re scrolling through Pinterest or your favourite kid blogs.  Coloured rice is wonderful for sensory fun! It promotes learning through play and gives our little ones a chance to explore different textures and colours!

It is fun to see how our little ones figure out the items in the box and also fun to teach them how the items could be used! I especially enjoy it when they use the items in ways we adults wont because of their vast imagination! Always gives me a good laugh! 😀

Charles loves the texture of sand and i can tell that he loves the texture of rice too! He would put his hands in, grab a handful of rice and start giggling as he lets them fall through the gaps of his fingers.

He enjoys scooping the rice and pouring them through the funnel into the tall glass.

He soon gets very good at it and manages to do it without spilling a single grain!

Sometimes, he prefers to do it without the funnels.

And at times just digging through the rice to look for buried items sends him into fits of laughter when he finds the car or letter that he wants!

HOW TO MAKE HOME MADE RAINBOW RICE?

It turns out that making your own rainbow rice is pretty easy. You can just google it and there are quite a few tutorials on how to make them on Pinterest and various websites!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Vinegar
• 1 cup Rice
• a few drops food coloring
• wax paper
• baking tray (or any kind of flat surface trays)

Directions:

Rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of rice and however much food colouring you need for the shade you desire.

You can make them in zip lock bags. Pour the vinegar and coloring in, add the cup of rice and shake (zipped closed) and swoosh to get the colored vinegar everywhere.

Then bring out the wax paper and placed on top of some trays, pour the rice onto the wax paper to let it dry. It will take about 2-3 hours (if you put it under the hot sun, it dries and sets faster).

OR

You can also purchase your Rainbow Rice from www.heydiddlediddle.com

Hope you and your little will enjoy this activity as much as we did and remember to check back for more of Charles’s Play and Learn activities! Have a good weekend everyone!

xoxo,

MLBB