Homemade dyed rice!

If you are new to the sensory boxes or are just looking for an easy guide on dying materials like rice then you are in the right place! There are handfuls of different ways you can dye rice for activities, some are less complicated than others and in the end you will all end up with the same result. I like to just keep it simple when it comes to making materials for our home learning whether it be play dough, goop, or dyed rice and just use what I have laying around my home. For this tutorial I am keeping with the classic approach and just using everyday products that I have stored in my medicine cabinets and pantry. So, let's get to it!

What you will need:

• White rice
• Rubbing alcohol
• Food dye
• Plastic sandwich baggies or even just small mixing bowls will do

You'll want to divide your rice up and this will all depend on how large you want your different color batches to be, if you are dying it all one color then you obviously can skip this step entirely. I just evenly divided a bag of white rice into five separate sandwich baggies for this time. Then you will add 2-3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol to each baggie, add a couple of drops of food dye to each bag (I put about five drops of food coloring dye to each batch ,but you can add more/less depending on desired color) and then just seal your baggie. Then comes the fun part: shake, shake, shake until everything is mixed together. Once you have finished this, you can lay the rice directly on paper towels to dry overnight. Simple right? It really is that easy! Once the rice is completely dry you are all set to create any sensory box you can imagine!