Discovery Tuesdays - Colored Rice!

In our attempts to get ready for winter, my friend Amey suggested I make a rice box. A box full of rice that can be used kind of like sand. you give the kiddos sand toys and let them have at it. A rice box is  ideal for outdoors like a sand and water table but also can be used indoors. You will need....

Rice! And lots of it! We happen to have lots of rice because we shop at Sams Club. And believe it or not this big box of 25 lbs is only about 12 dollars! Now that is a steal!

 Hand sanitizer, a small bottle will do!
Food coloring, which ever colors you want!
Zipploc Bags, I used about 10 of the quart size ones. But I did more colors than most people.

 Sand toys! Buckets, funnels, rakes, molds. Any sand toys you have, or even small cups. These I found in storage so that is what I am using. I love free toys!

 A tote! I chose a flatter tote that was pretty wide. I wanted her to have plenty of room to play in. But too big and it will be hard to fill. Too small and the kids might dump the rice out by accident. I got one with a lid, so that it can be stored easily. This is the only item I had to buy! Everything else was in the house. This was a cheap project for me.






 So to start the project take the desired amount of rice and break it up into as many bags as you want different colors. I used a heaping cup full of rice in each bag. Add about 3 squirts of hand sanitizer in the bag and 3 drops of food coloring per bag. Shake and move around the rice until it is all colored. If it isn't dark enough then add more. if it isn't coating well, then add a little more sanitizer.

After it is coated pour it out onto a paper bag or paper towels to dry. It should take about 20 minutes or more. Make sure to spread it out so that it isn't clumped.

 Add to the box however you like! Then add the toys and have fun exploring! It will only look this good before the kiddos touch it! But that's okay!