How to make colored rice – Rainbow Rice

Ready to learn how to make colored rice? Not only is this a fun sensory activity for kids but it’s also a creative way for them to learn more about colors. I use this opportunity to teach the kids all the colors of the rainbow.

With the colors of this rice being so bright and beautiful, your young children or busy toddler will love digging in it with their hands and finding all sorts of fun things that you might want to hide in there, too. Plus you only need 3 ingredients!

Here are more sensory activities that will shake the scene and break the mundane routines:

1. Muddy Oobleck Sensory Table With Animals 
2. Rainbow Colors Science Experiment For Kids
3. DIY Sensory Foam Play Recipe.

Why Use Sensory Bins?

First, let’s talk about what sensory play is:

Play that engages our senses—taste, smell, hearing, sight, and touch—is referred to as sensory play. It facilitates children’s interaction with and understanding of their immediate environment.

Sensory bins are awesome tools for children to learn about the world around them through hands-on techniques that target the senses. Here are some benefits of sensory play:

• Assists kids in understanding how their activities impact the world around them.
• Improves problem-solving skills, memory, and brain growth.
• Uses tactile play to help kids develop their fine motor skills—useful when they wish to handle pens or use scissors, for example.
• Fosters the growth of social, communication, and linguistic abilities.
• Improves a child’s capacity for observation and recall.
• Stimulates original and creative thinking. Improves emotional regulation skills by having a calming impact on kids’ irate or nervous emotions.

Read this informative post to gain a better understanding of The Importance of Sensory Play.

How to make colored rice – Rainbow Rice

This colored rice sensory activity is great for early learners and preschool-aged children. You’ll be amazed at how simple uncooked rice and a few squirts of food coloring can have the kids playing for hours on end.

Just make certain that you talk to the kids about how their rainbow will only stay a rainbow as long as they don’t mix the colors together. But once that happens, they’ll still love the texture and the feel of the rice so it’s still a lot of fun

When using sensory bins, the children get to use their imagination for play.

Don’t forget to check out all of our Sensory Bins here on the blog.

Here’s a how to video:

Rice is fun to play with but it’s also the main staple food of more than half the world’s population! I like taking some time to discuss Interesting Rice Facts, the kids’ favorite rice dishes and the different kinds of rice, that exist. It just helps the concept stick better!

How to make Colored Rice

You’ll find that the instructions to dye rice are very straightforward. Here’s how to dye rice for sensory bin:

This process is simple and not messy at all. The kids will love jumping in and helping to make their colored rice! You can vary the shades and the scent- this targets the olfactory sense or your sense of smell!

Supplies needed to make colored rice

• Large tray or container
• Rice (use uncooked white rice)
• Food coloring (use regular food coloring or gel food coloring)
• Vinegar (I use white vinegar)
• Oven safe containers

How to make colored rice – Rainbow Rice

Keep in mind that these steps are totally simple and take minimal effort on your part.

1. Before the kids can start playing with the colored rice, you’ll need to make the rice the varied colors first. Start by dividing your rice into 5 oven-safe containers. (You could also divide them into batches on parchment paper or paper towel.) You can do whatever measurement you want but I started with about a cup of white rice in each bowl.
2. Next, add 1 tbsp (1/2-1 tablespoons) of vinegar and a few drops of liquid food coloring. You can choose the different colors that you want to use.
3. Take a spoon and mix.
4. Once that is done, put the rice in a line of colors on the baking tray.

Fun Ways to Play with Rainbow Rice

There are so many fun ways that young kids can play with colored rice. Some of our favorite sensory play ideas are:

• Dig in the rice with their hands
• Grab some beach toys and dig in the rice, it can act as sand
• Try and make a rice castle
• Trace letters and numbers in the rice
• Write words in the rice
• Hide small toys and let the kids find them

There really are endless ways that you can play with the colored rice once made!

How we use our colored rice in sensory bins

Learn how to make a sensory bin here.

• Bugs sensory bin
• Spring Sensory Bin
• Shapes Hunt Sensory Bin
• Sight Word Sensory Bin
• Christmas Sensory Bin
• Valentine’s sensory bin

Find more Sensory table ideas.

We even used some plastic letters and hid them. The kids used scoops to find them and then we talked about the letters once they found them.

Learn how to make colored salt and check out the best playdough recipe as well. Both are fun and easy to do!

How long does Rainbow Rice take to try?

It will dry in under an hour but if you want to save some prep time for the next day, you can do it the day before. Dry it in the sun or by a fireplace to speed it up.

How to store rainbow rice?

 It stores well in an airtight container or ziplock.

More Sensory Activities for Kids

• Water Beads Fun Sensory Bin!
• Preschool Shapes Sensory Table
• Rainbows and Butterflies Sensory Bin
• Halloween Water Play – Sensory Play for Toddlers

More Rainbow Activities:

• Skittles Rainbow
• Rainbow Q-Tip Art
• Rainbow Number Matching
• Rainbow Slime 
• Fizzing Rainbow 
• Rainbow books for kids
• Rainbow Fish Book Activities
• Rainbow Colored Ice Painting
• Rainbow Fizzing Ice Experiment
• Printable Color Wall Rainbow for Toddlers + Preschoolers
• Taste Safe Edible Paint Rainbow
• Rainbow Walking Water Experiment for kids