Sensory tubs are a must at our house! Not only because my daughter loves them and they are great for development, but they are a sanity saver! Nothing keeps my daughter occupied and happy as long as sensory play. It is also great to use for a variety of learning topics, so one big batch can create months of learning fun!

The current batch that my daughter is playing with I started back in February when I hosted a Valentine’s Day party. Rainbow rice is cheap, easy to make, and cleans up extremely easily.

I recommend getting most of the supplies at a dollar store. Personally, I go to the Dollar Tree. I bought 5 bags of white rice, 1 package of gallon Ziploc bags, and a roll of parchment paper. The only other thing you will need is liquid watercolors. This is something I always have because I use it for a variety of craft projects. If you don’t have any I recommend buying a set on Amazon. I promise you will use them for other things too. I bought the Colorations 6 pack which cost about $25. Some people use food coloring mixed with vinegar, but that can be smelly and doesn’t produce as bright of colors.

Once you have all of your materials, you can make your rice in less than 15 minutes and even let your child help! Pour one bag of rice into a gallon bag and add a ¼ cup of liquid. I mix the liquid watercolors with some water to compose the ¼ cup. For brighter colored rice use more watercolor and less water, and for a lighter shade use more water.  My go to ratio is 2 Tbsp of watercolor and 2 Tbsp of water.  There really is no science to this. Now the fun part! Zip the bag and shake away. My daughter loves helping with this step. You want to make sure the rice is completely covered. 

Once it is thoroughly coated, pour it onto a sheet of parchment paper to dry. It takes about 1-2 hours to completely dry.  Often, I make this right before nap time with my daughter so it is dry, and is ready to be enjoyed when she wakes up!  To help with the drying process I stir it around on the paper occasionally.

After it is completely dry, I pour it into our sensory tub. I bought one large shallow tub with a lid from Menards. It cost around $5. When I switch out the rice for a different medium, I put the rainbow rice in 2 small containers with lids that I bought at the Dollar Tree. That way they are easier to store and I only need one large tub.

It will look this beautiful for about one minute until your child mixes it all up!

This kept her happily playing for over an hour!

Tips for Play:

• Provide spoons, cups, bowls and just let your child explore! My daughter loves just scoping the rice and pouring it from container to container.
• Hide objects in the sand for your child to find. They can be foam letters if you are working on the alphabet or plastic animals if you just want something fun for them to find. I have even hidden puzzle pieces.
• To add more fine motor, give your child tweezers or tongs and see if they can use those to find objects.

Tips for Maintenance:

• Always place the tub on a large tablecloth while your child plays with the rice. Rice will find its way out of the tub no matter how much you tell your children to keep it in. When playtime is done, simply pick up the table cloth from the corners and pour it back in. This way you don’t lose any rice and clean up is easy!
• If some rice gets off the table cloth, just vacuum it up.
• After a week of play, store it in a small tub or Ziploc bag. It keeps for months so no need to throw it away. Like I said, by current batch I started back in February.

Have you ever tried making rainbow rice? Did this motivate you to give it a try? Please let me know if it was a success for you or if you have any question!