Rainbow rice is simple to make and provides hours of fun sensory play for young children. Unlike many recipes, which use rubbing alcohol or paint, this recipe is made with all food-safe ingredients — white rice, food coloring, and vinegar — making it appropriate for use by very young children who benefit greatly from sensory play and exploration.
How to Make Rainbow Rice
To make one cup of colored rice, start by combining one tablespoon of white vinegar and three drops of food coloring in a small container with a lid. Add one cup of white rice and shake vigorously until the rice is evenly coated with color. I recommend using Wilton’s gel food coloring for especially vivid color. (Note that if you want to make purple rice, you will have to use Wilton’s pink coloring and add a small amount of blue. Mixing the red and blue in Wilton’s primary color set produces a greyish color that’s quite disappointing if you’re looking for purple.)
Spread your colored rice out to dry on a cookie sheet or a piece of parchment paper. Check it after about fifteen minutes and turn it over if the bottom is still damp.
Once dry, your rice can be safely handled without the color transferring to hands or clothes.
Activity Ideas
Rainbow rice can be used as a base material for any sensory bin. A few of our favorite activities include:
- Digging for buried treasure — small toys, beads, or even puzzle pieces
- Construction site — add excavators, bulldozers, etc
- Small world play — include toy animals, bugs, people; create different landforms and scenes
- Scooping and transferring — use spoons, funnels, measuring cups, muffin tins
- Sorting and sifting — mix rice with dried beans
- Writing practice — simple and very forgiving letter practice for little hands
Storage
Store your rainbow rice in any lidded container. It does not have to be airtight. I have found this is a great way to recycle my Nature Made calcium bottles. Each bottle holds about three cups of rice, which is perfect for the wooden trays we use for sensory play, and the child-proof cap means that I can store them where my preschooler can see them and choose one, but he cannot open it without a little help from a grown-up!
While my preschooler was enjoying a lot of sensory play this summer, his big brother taught himself to read with the self-guided Ron Paul Curriculum. Do not waste another moment running yourself ragged with your current homeschool curriculum. Check it out today!