Cheap Therapy

One of my kids' favorite preschool activities is playing with rainbow rice.  Yes, you read correctly, rainbow colored rice.  It may sound strange but I can assure you that most kids love playing in rice.  There is just something about the texture of it, the way it slides through their little fingers and the way it pours and spills, that kids find fascinating...relaxing even.  

Since school is out for the summer I thought I'd give it a try at home.  This was my first attempt and I have to say it was surprisingly simple and inexpensive.  You may already have everything you need around the house.  

Here's what you need...

rice, rubbing alcohol & liquid food coloring

Now here's how you do it...

Scoop rice into a large Ziploc.

I used 3 oversized cups per Ziploc.

Pour about 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol into an old plastic cup.  

Your measurements don't need to be exact.  You just don't want to get your rice too wet.

Add food coloring to the alcohol and stir them together.

Pour the mixture into the bag of rice and seal it.

 Mix it with your hands until all of the rice is colored.

Pour the colored rice on a cookie sheet covered in foil.

Place the cookie sheet of colored rice somewhere to dry.

I carried mine outside and slid the foil off the cookie sheet.  Then I placed it in the sunshine.

Let your rice dry completely.

It took about 15 minutes for each color to dry.

Mix the rice together in a bowl, 

and place them in sealed Ziplocs or a tub with a lid.

A 20 pound bag of rice made 3 1/2 Ziplocs full of colored rice.

The kids loved playing with it!

They let it run through their fingers.

They scooped it and poured it.

And they made a huge mess.  

My next craft will have to be some kind of cute drop cloth...