Saya + Colored Rice

Colored Rice.

Yet again, I found another fabulous activity for my toddler via Pinterest! It's easy and cheap too! I've mentioned in this previous post that I have been trying to come up with simple activities to do with my daughter to keep her busy and prevent boredom. Maybe it has something to do with keeping Mommy sane too! ;)

Well I found the idea of colored rice or colored macaroni from the blog, The Baker Bee.  Once I saw it, I just knew I had to try it. This project really made a very happy little girl and Mommy. It was a great sensory activity. Saya seemed to have been mesmorized by the colors and the feel of the rice. No kidding, she plays with the rice anywhere from 20 mins to an hour! Do you even know how hard that is for a toddler? That is totally a #win!

Want to make your own? All it takes is a few things you probably already have in your pantry or medicine cabinet. Let me warn you though, you may get dirty so don't you go wearing your Sunday's best when you make them. ;)

MATERIALS:
1 - 2 cups of rice for each color, uncooked
Gel food coloring in different colors (I used Wilton)
1 tbsp Rubbing Alcohol
Cups or bowls for mixing
Sheets of Parchment Paper/Aluminum Foil/Paper Plates (# is determined by the # of colors used)

INSTRUCTIONS:
In each cup/bowl, add a few drops of the Gel food coloring and then the rubbing alcohol. Mix until combined. (Note: the rubbing alcohol is strong smelling... Leave this part to Mommy. I think at some point I want to try this with Vinegar or something edible)

Add a cup to two cups of rice into each cup/bowl. Mix until all the rice has been coated.

Dump each cup of colored rice and spread out onto their own sheet of parchment paper. Let the rice dry for a few hours. I let ours dry overnight.

Once the rice has dried, dump them into a container of your choice that the child can play with. You can use any type of plastic container.

Don't have rice? You can use dry macaroni too!

See... That's it! Now you try ;)

"Recipe" by BakerBee