Sensory Activities: Valentine’s Day Dyed Rice
Sensory activities like this Valentine's Day Dyed Rice are great ways to get your kids involved in sensory learning while having fun. I love utilizing holiday themes to keep my kids busy learning while also feeling like I am just letting them have extra play time.
Do your children love sensory bins? If so, add a little Valentine's Day homeschool and sensory fun with this easy dyed rice activity. I like to call this the “shake n' dye” recipe since it is a fun idea they can help you make! Grab a few supplies listed below, gather your kids together, and have fun making this great addition to your Valentine's Day sensory activities.
Sensory Activities Valentine’s Day Dyed Rice
Dyed rice is a great inexpensive way to add variety to your sensory bin for any holiday lesson. Kids have fun creating it, and you enjoy having an easy way to keep them busy while working those fine motor skills.
Supplies needed:
Mason jar
Rubber band
Plastic baggie
Red food coloring
Dry, uncooked rice
Directions:
1. Begin by pouring 1 cup of dried rice into a mason jar.
2. Add a few drops of coloring to the rice. Add more or less depending on how deep you want the hue to be. For ours, we added about 8 drops of color.
3. Place a baggie over the top and seal it in place with a rubber band. You can use a lid if you have one, but the baggie allows kids to see into the jar during the process.
4. Now comes the fun! Allow children to shake away, allowing the rice and dye to mix. Shake for 2-3 minutes. This is all part of the sensory activities process. Not only do they get to play in the dyed rice, they also get to help create it for you to use in the classroom.
5. Pour the rice out onto a paper plate or paper towel to dry. It won’t be really wet, but it will still need to dry and be play ready.
Note: It's best to add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to your rice to get a more even color. For Valentine's Day, I like the variation of reds and pinks. If you are dyeing rice for another sensory bin, just add the vinegar before you shake for a uniform color. Store your dyed rice in an airtight container and it will last for years!
Add your Valentine’s Day red rice to a bin or bowl so children can enjoy playing in it. Add heart cookie cutters, measuring spoons, measuring cups, and other items to manipulate.
Creating sensory activities like this Valentine's Day Dyed Rice for your sensory bin can be a great inexpensive way to help get more SPD friendly activities into your classroom. I love using things like this since it is so easy to adapt this for all of my boys.
Use Sensory Activities On Valentine's Day In Your Homeschool Classroom:
- Use measuring spoons and cups to practice fractions and division for older students.
- Use different food coloring dye to talk about color combinations and how they blend.
- Add different manipulatives into the rice to have younger children find, and then classify by type. I love using things like small erasers or toys that are different objects. Animals, food, and numbers are great for this.
Have fun using this Sensory Activities Valentine's Day Dyed Rice in your homeschool classroom this year as a great way to keep kids busy and learning. Develop fine motor skills, patience, and an understanding of the senses with fun and simple sensory activities using products you already have at home! Looking for another fun Valentine's Day sensory activity? Check out our Conversation Heart Play Dough!
More Sensory Activities:
- Pond Themed Sensory Bin Idea
- Summer Sensory Activities For Preschoolers
- Halloween Sensory Bin Ideas
- Christmas Sensory Bin Ideas
- Snakes and Frogs Sensory Bin Ideas
