Rainbow Sensory Bin

Jedrek has been playing with his plain white rice in a sensory bin for a couple months now, so I decided it was time for something a little more exciting.  We appear to have skipped spring out here and dove straight from the bleak colors of winter to the vibrant colors of summer!  Hence, the inspiration for our bin.

Step 1: Pour 2 cups rice, a couple drops food coloring and a splash of white vinegar into a Ziploc sandwich bag.  Seal the bag and squish around the rice until all the grains are coated.  (I hear watercolors work better… and don’t smell like vinegar, but I didn’t have any on hand.)

Bags of Dyed RiceStep 2: Spread the semi-wet rice out on cookie sheets to dry.  I fit about 4 cups on a large cookie sheet.  I used a total of 16 cups of rice in the bin, so I needed 2 batches.  I let mine dry for about 10 hours, but I’m sure that’s dependent on your climate.

Trays of drying riceStep 3: Fill the bin!  I carefully poured the rice in to look like a rainbow, and assured my husband that I would not be disappointed at all if Jedrek immediately mixed it all together :-)  I put matching measuring cups and measuring spoons in, first for pouring and scooping but also hoping to reinforce the fractions lesson from last week.

Bin of Rainbow Rice(Update- after 45 minutes of playing, the rice is still sorted by color… gotta love my organized little man!)

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