Rice is probably one of the most loved, cheapest and easiest to prepare sensory play base. Here you can find more than 30 rice sensory play ideas to get you started!
Either used in it’s dry form or cooked, white or colored, rice is the perfect filler for sensory bins, bottles or bags!
How to Color Rice for Sensory Play?
Before we get down to ideas, let’s go through steps to color the rice for your sensory play. Of course, you can use rice as is, but when you want to change things, you will need to color it.
Materials for colored rice:
- uncooked white rice
- vinegar
- food coloring
- ziplock bag or plastic container with lid
- paper towel or baking paper
Follow these steps for each color:
- Place rice in ziplock bag or plastic container.
- Add few drops of food coloring.
- Add 1-2 spoon of vinegar.
- Seal the bag or container.
- Squish the bag until color is spread. If you are using container, shake it until all rice is covered in color.
- Spread out on paper towel or baking paper until dry.
Rice Sensory Play Ideas for Kids
Allow kids to explore with their hands, eyes and nose! It is common to add a bit of scent to themed sensory bins like an apple scent in a bin linked under the picture.
Start with our yummy Apple Spiced Rice Sensory Bin. Perfect for fall or when you work on an apple theme.
Go on a letter hunt in this Spell Your Name Sensory Bin filled with rice. It’s a combination or fine motor practice and letter recognition.
Mini Eye Spy Bottles are perfect to bring with you when you are out and about. Because of it’s tiny size, this sensory bottle is great fit for baby’s hands.
Simply fill a bin with rice and let the kids dig their fingers and decide how to play from there.
Enjoy a game of I Spy in this Sensory Bin in super colorful sensory bin which is perfect for your little hooligans.
Raid your kid’s puzzle drawer to set up this rice based Letters Sensory Bin. They will learn to recognize their letter without knowing they are learning!
Make music with rice when you use it as a filling in DIY Rainsticks. It’s amazing how sound changes depending on what you use as filling.
Enjoy playing in the dark with bright Neon Rice. Kids will totally adore this activity since time when we allow them to play in dark is rare and short!
Fill an I Spy Bottle with Rainbow Rice and invite a child to find all the letters of their name (or anything else you can think of).
Explore the scents and colors of autumn in this large sensory tub. Can you smell pumpkin or clove?
Mix up and play with rice in the colors of your nation. We have Australia as a sample with green and gold, plus she added an eucalyptus scent!
Calm down your child before bedtime with a Lavender Scented Sensory Tub. It smells divine!
Enjoy scooping, pouring and transferring in this Winter sparkly sensory bin.
Did you know that you can dye rice with kool-aid? Colors come up very vibrant!
Rice is an ideal base for some Mini Animal Habitat Sensory Play.
Perfect red and white sensory base to use for Christmas or Valentine’s day!
A rice based Christmas sensory bin perfect for fine motor practice too.
You can make cinnamon and vanilla scented sensory bin for Christmas too!
Fill a Winter Sensory Counting Table with snowy rice.
Greet Spring with themed sensory bin!
Turn your sensory bin into pretend play ocean!
Add some ice to your rice in this Little Blue and Little Yellow book themed sensory play.
Make Rice Dance with this sensory science experiment.
Celebrate coming of the fall season with pumpkin scented sensory bin!
Set up a rice table with funnel stand. There will be lots of pouring and laugter from kids!
Among fluffy clouds airplanes fly on blue rice sky! Loving this airplane sensory bin!
Make a zesty lemon scented sensory rice for hot summer days!
Watermelon sensory rice sounds yummy enough to eat!
Brew a potion for a Halloween with fun purple rice sensory bin.
Mix in rosemary in a sensory bin. It will be a new sensory experience for kids!
Bring out an old pool and fill it with rice! More space, more fun!
It’s tricky to find an invisible letters and numbers in a rainbow sensory bin!
How to Store Sensory Rice After Play?
Many people ask this question.
In general, if you store uncooked rice in a plastic container or ziplock bag after play, it can last very long.
We had colored rice still good after a year. Only thing you have to make sure before sealing is to check if rice is completely dry.
Looking for more fun things to do with your kids? We want to recommend you our book – Learn with Play (150+ Activities for Year-Round Fun and Learning)! You will find inside easy to prepare activities for everyday fun as well for all seasons and holidays! Here is a preview for you:
WHAT TO DO NEXT?
- Easy to set up water play
- Playing with Q-tips is fun too!
- To try something new, pick some of the activities with shaving foam!
↓ PIN FOR LATER ↓
We just made a batch of rainbow rice… Can’t wait to put it to good use through this list of ideas! Thanks for sharing 🙂