Some More End of the Summer Play Fun: Rainbow Rice Sensory Play

These are the last dog days of summer. Whether that leaves you feeling wistful or (im)patiently awaiting to hear the familiar rumble of school buses trudging up the street early in the morning--or even a bit of both--let's not reinvent the wheel right now. Whatever this pending change of seasons holds for your family--whether it's school, work, holidays, or just a change in temperature (please let it be SOON), there will be plenty of opportunity for novelty and fresh starts. These are the days, rather, that I choose to revisit old favorites. In our house, we are gearing up for our Mommy & Me Homeschool adventure--something that has plenty of novelty to both me and my son, as I've taught preschool out of the house for the better part of the last decade but not yet taught my own preschooler in the house! But as we excitedly count down the days until we embark on this journey, we're enjoying some low key favorite play activities. Ideally these are activities that require minimal prep or prep that my son can help with and enjoy. Ideally they are activities he can sustain with an age appropriate level of independence as I alternate between playing along, being a spectator and preparing materials for the weeks to come. One such activity we've enjoyed these days is this rainbow rice sensory bin:

 Dry rice makes for a fabulous sensory material. Although many moms and teachers (sometimes myself included) have mixed feelings about food items being used for sensory play as opposed to eating and whether this is wasteful, I feel like dry rice is a material that can be used repeatedly and in a variety of ways even if being served on the dinner table isn't one of them. You can use it as it and add cups and scoops for pouring and exploring. You can add cardboard tubes and other recyclables. You can create a small world using small toys and figurines related to a theme for fabulous story telling and dramatic play. You can turn it into a game of I-Spy using magnetic letters or other small objects. You can have plenty of fun (trust me on this one) even adding nothing at all and just enjoying the sensation of scooping and pouring with your hands (or feet if your little one decides to climb right in).

Dry rice is great fun on its own and requires no additives. However, dying it can be a fun activity in and of itself and make for a very colorful result! We dyed this batch of rice late last winter. You can choose one color or make a variety of colors. The best part--little ones can help and it's pretty mess free! Here's how:

You will need:

• dry white rice, you can decide how much
• ziplock bags
• food coloring
• hand sanitizer

What to do:

• Decide how many colors you will make and designate a portion of rice in one ziplock bag per color
• Add a generous amount of food color (I used about 15-20 drops in each bag--the more color, the brighter the shade, so you can experiment with this to reach your desired effect)
• Add a good squirt of hand sanitzer to the bag--this, believe it or not, helps the color to spread and permanently set in
• Tightly seal the bag and shake, shake, shake to spread the color and coat the rice--this is the part the little ones will especially enjoy. As an added educational bonus, if you are mixing primary colors to create a secondary color, it's a hands-on visual for teaching this process to little ones!
• Pour the dyed rice into a foil pan or shallow dish to dry completely before you play to avoid your hands taking on new colors

Fun extension activities:

• You can use a few drops of a favorite essential oil to add a pleasant aroma to your rice
• You can use this in a lot of ways for sensory play, but it also makes a great craft material for gluing and making collages
• We also used some rainbow rice inside an empty plastic bottle to make a great shaker/sensory bottle. I am partial to the small Gatorade bottles and I always duct tape or hot glue the lid on to prevent unwanted emptying of the contents inside
• You can also dye dried white beans, lentils, popping corn or pasta in the same manner. I've found that larger items require a bit more drying time before being ready for playing.

You can store unused rainbow rice in a ziplock bag or plastic container between play sessions. A drop mat or outdoor work space prevents massive cleanup efforts for the inevitable spills and splashes. Even very little ones can appreciate and help with the task of using a dust brush and pan to help with the sweep up when you're done. Have fun and happy playing!

Here's a peek at our first play sessions with our rainbow rice last spring. I added a variety of small world objects and even a sweet orange scent to relate it to the story of Purim since it was coming up at the time.