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I am so very happy to be taking part in Little Bins from Little Hands new series called 40 Sensory Bin Fillers. Our contribution to this lovely series is rice sensory bins!
We have long been playing with rice but have only recently started exploring sensory bins in more detail.
To make this vibrant color rice sensory bin you will need.
- Color rice – (See how we make our color rice) for this bin we used these neon gel colors.
- Black beans
- Random items your child loves to play with (like a favorite car for example)
- Optional sand toys, like the funnel displayed below
- Optional bed sheet to cover the floor to make picking up after easier!
I added the black beans to spice up the color rice and add some contrast to our usual just rice bin. The result made me think of pips in a fruit, the orange is like a passion fruit and the pink looks very much like watermelon.
Letting the kids bring a favorite toy into the rice lets them also explore how that toy effects / behaves in the rice. For instance my 4 year old had his little truck, it made a path as it went and the harder he pressed the more it dug down into the rice eventually covering the truck.
My toddler (20 months) loved running her fingers in the color rice, for her this was a total sensory experience. She also loved picking the black beans out to inspect them.Mixing the colors together is also a sensory experience in itself!
At this point my 4 year old got out our sand funnel to watch the rice fall and turn the wheels.
The kids also played “where is my hand?” in which we bury a hand under the rice, it is kind of like peek-a-boo. There it is!
This lead to climbing into the bin and hiding feet!
25+ Activities & learning Ideas for your color rice!
Includes a NO-FAIL color rice recipe — great photos — easy to follow instructions — all things you can easily try at home
Christy Garrett Parenting Tips says
This looks like so much fun. I need to try this with my youngest son before he gets too old.
Theres Just One Mommy says
I love how bright your colors turned out!
There is nothing quite like a sensory bin to help the kids transition after the kindergartner comes home from school… And they are so much fun to set up, too!