How to Make Your Own Vinegar- Dyed Rice (It's SO Easy!)
I made colored rice for Froot Loop and Cocoa Puff's sensory bins. It was really easy, took a reasonable amount of time (most of the time was drying time), took only a few ingredients, and has become something we play with pretty frequently.
Isn't it GORGEOUS!? Oh man, it's sooooooo pretty. I almost hated to mix it all together.
So, here's all you need to make this for yourself:
Disposable Pie Tins or something else to hold it while it dries.
First, divide your rice into 6 equal amounts.
Put each section into its own zip top baggie. Add just enough vinegar to get all of the rice wet. Add lots of food coloring. The more food coloring you add, the darker your rice will be.
Mix! Mixmixmixmixmix. Shake shake shake. Recruit your kids to help if you need to. Shake and mix it up until the rice is evenly coated. (Note, I added too much vinegar to this bag and it took FOREVER to dry.) I let mine sit in the baggies for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
Dump the (now colorful!) rice from each bag into its own separate pie tin or other vessel to dry. A cookie sheet will work. Get it as flat as possible so it will dry faster.
If your rice is like mine and in more of a bowl than a sheet, make sure you mix it and stir it frequently. Let dry for as long as it takes to get BONE DRY. Mine took almost a whole day because it was too wet from too much vinegar and also it was in the bowls and not out flat on a cookie sheet.
Once it's dry, mix all the colors together and put in your sensory bin of choice! Let your kiddos go nuts with it. Provide measuring cups, funnels, spoons... anything they can scoop, stir, and dump with. This rice is incredibly fun on its own, but you can add other small trinkets like farm animals or cotton balls (for a rainbow bin) or whatever. One of our favorite things to add to the rice is present wrapping bows and large, foam beads that I found in a dollar store.
We also use this rice to practice our writing skills! I dump a small layer into a deep cake pan and then have the boys practice drawing their shapes, numbers, and letters in the layer of rice. It's a lot of fun and they don't even know they're learning.
What will you use your rice for first?
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