My kids just love making and playing with their color rice! I have seen sensory tubs popping up here and there and thought it a good idea for the boys. One day one appeared in my news feed. It was the most beautiful blue and I couldn’t help but wonder if I could get that color.
It turns out that making color rice is easy!!
Ingredients for color rice:
- 1 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1 cup Rice
- a few drops food coloring
Directions:
Rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of rice and however much food coloring you need for the shade you desire. I made 4 cups of color rice.
I made them in zip lock bags, poured the vinegar and coloring in, added the cup of rice and shook (zipped closed) and swooshed to get the colored vinegar everywhere. This step is also great for the kids to help with. They love to shake that bag!
Once the rice is mixed well with the coloring spread it out onto the wax paper to dry. It took about an hour in my kitchen. Other ways to get it to dry quicker is to put in the oven on the lowest setting and check it often or to take it outside into the direct sun.
Also in batches I have made with various kinds of rice some absorbed the vinegar so well I didn’t have to dry it at all. So this greatly depends on your rice that you have.
Update: How to Neutralize the Vinegar Smell when Coloring Rice or Pasta.
I just love the colors of the rice!
I then let the boys at the color rice!
In the corner on the foam mat where there would be minimum messing! We started out with one color each, then switched to another. They loved exploring and my very sensory 2 year old ran the grains through his hands many times inspecting them.
I brought out the cups, funnel and other containers. The rice then got mixed into rainbow rice for measuring and pouring. I let them do the mixing themselves and both boys were very interested in the mixing of the colors.
TOP MESS TIP! Do this activity in a corner which means there is only half the area to mess in! Put the bin in the corner that way they are also facing to corner and minimum spilling will happen. There was not that much to sweep up when the activity was done. Another thing that could work if you have carpets is to put down a large bed sheet to contain the grains. This will make your vacum happy!
Next time we will make even MORE color rice then get the little cars and farm animals out!
Did you know? That your color rice will keep for YEARS if you store it in an airtight container!
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Check out the things we have done with Rainbow Color Rice so far!
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- Fire Works!
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- Heart Cards
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- Spiral Making
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- Make a Flag!
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- Make a Pond
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- Neon Color Rice
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- Color Rice Tree
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- Shakers and Shapes
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- Ocean Scene
Need more awesome Ideas for your RICE PLAY?
My color rice ebook is an amazing resource with over 25 activity and craft ideas for toddlers featuring great photos, easy to follow instructions, a NO-FAIL color rice recipe PLUS each idea can easily be done at home! Click here to see more and download!
Letitia says
Hi! I just tried my first attempt at colored rice & it looks cool. But it crumbles when you touch it! I used uncooked, plain white rice (not minute rice) & followed the directions. Any idea what’s wrong? Anyone else experience this? Thanks!
Nicolette Roux says
wow! :O thats the first i’ve heard of rice crumbling! how long did you let it soak for? what type of vinegar did you use?
Stacey says
How do you keep the dye from coming off of the rice onto the kids hands? What have I done wrong trying to do this, lol?
Nicolette Roux says
did you let it dry out first? either in the sun or bake it.
if you did and it still rubs off you might have added too much coloring. Here you can try adding a few more grains of rice to absorb the extra color. In theory it should work. Or use a paper towel and rub it over the rice to also remove some coloring.
Ms.Cat says
I absolutely love this idea thank you for posting may I make a suggestion however maybe just put a little note on your page here letting people know to be careful using this rice outside because it is harmful if birds eat it it expands in their stomach I do not want to be a killjoy as I think this activity is amazing but some people and I can understand why would want to do this outside in the grass so just letting them know this would be very helpful! thanks again for this though I am making some and putting it into a empty plastic drink bottle as a sensory shaker for a friend’s baby well 2 year old happy holidays everyone
Anna Langford says
This looks great. Just wondering how long the dried rice would last if kept dry?
Nicolette Roux says
It can keep for YEARS if stored in an air tight container and kept dry 😀
Courtney says
I am making edible colored rice for a project. Do you recommend soaking it in the vinegar before or after cooking?
Nicolette Roux says
i do this with spaghetti rice pasta! You cook it as normal then use a bit of colored vinegar (same as dry) except you don’t leave it to dry instead you rinse off the extra coloring (no staining hands!) the kids usually play with the items just as is.Remember this does not store well. you might get 2 days out of it.
Courtney says
I am making colored rice for a project, but my kids have to eat it.
Can I boil the rice and still get good color?
Merle charles says
Looks awesome I was just about to colour some rice.but wasn’t quite sure if I had to boil the rice first. So I thought why not Google. And there it was.thanks a bundle.
Monica says
My boys and I may need to try colored rice now that we can see how easy it is!
Monica
Danielle says
Thank you for sharing. Simple enough for this mom to do it 🙂
Chasing the Donkey says
Finally!! I now know. Cheers.
Debs says
Thanks for linking to our rice! 🙂 So glad the vibrant blue hooked you in, haha. What sensory fun!
Nicolette Roux says
🙂
Ali says
Found this activity and made colored rice for my 4-year-old campers! Just wondering what color combination you used for such a vibrant pink. Thanks!
Nicolette Roux says
Hi there!
It was the red coloring that went like that (I used very little) I also think it depends on the brand you use.
Lavanya says
Help! I need the exact pink that you have? Can u Pls share what brand of food color u used and where can I get it? This is a project for my temple that I need it for! Thank You! Lavanya
Nicolette Roux says
It was a local cheap water food coloring. If you have a look on like amazon for wiltons neon gel colors they have a lovely pink in there that is just as gorgeous!
Michelle Kerkhoff says
I tried liquid food coloring and gel food coloring. The gel seems to work better- color and drying speed. I would recommend the gel if your are planning in advance, but on a whim liquid food coloring works just fine.
I did not have essential oils on hand, so I tried to neutralize the vinegar odor with real vanilla extract. Negative!! It did not help. Any other ideas that might be lying around the house? Fabreze? (Only kind of joking!)
Nicolette Roux says
HA! The only other thing i’ve tried for smell is leaving it in the sun. The ones I dried in the sun definitely came out with way less smell. Also peppermint oil is very cheap you might like to grab a bottle on your next shop trip 😉
Dez says
Does the color come off the rice at all, did it stain their hands at all when they played with it? I would love to try this it looks great and like a lot of fun 🙂
Nicolette Roux says
Not at all. It was completely dry when they played with it and didn’t stain.
Dez says
Thank you, sounds great we will def. be trying it out this summer 🙂
Ashley says
Featuring you on Mom’s Library this week!
[email protected] says
love sensory play. Your rice came out great. Featuring you this week on moms library
Nicolette Roux says
awesome! Will come check it out. Thank you!
Ashley says
I haven’t done colored rice, but it is lovely! We will have to try! Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library!
Stephanie @ Life's Little Adventures says
This is such a great post. I would like to invite you to link up this post to my Money Saving Monday Link Up so others can find this great idea. Please stop by and link up.
I hope to see you,
Thank you,
Stephanie
Chris says
My niece loved rice for sensory play when she was younger, particularly pouring it from one item to another. We never thought of coloring it, though! Way too cool!
Marie says
This looks a nice easy activity. I might have them do it outside since we have so much carpet in the house.
Nicole says
What a great idea! I love how nice and bright the colors turned out.
Nicolette Roux says
Thanks! I LOVE the color too!
Victoria from the Busy House Big Heart says
That is cool! I guess you could also do a sand candle type thing but with rice, and no candle.
Nicolette Roux says
Now I need to know what a sand candle is.. lol
o my! this is no good for crafty itch.. I NEED to make this…
Meeha Meeha says
The colored rice looks amazing, I love the texture and the kids must, too! I’ve been following you on Hellocotton, which is closing tomorrow. So now I’m following you with Bloglovin, G+ and FB, hope you could return the favor 🙂
Nicolette Roux says
Thanks! I’ve added you to my social stuff too! 😉
Nicolette Roux says
Honored to have our rice featured. Although It is easier than it looks to make! 🙂