If you have to stay at home with the kids because of the lockdown or on a rainy day, it's better not to spend the day in front of the TV. Luckily, there are lots of great indoor activities thatAlso suitable for the smallest childrenare. Today we offer you an idea to combat boredom on these days. This doesn't require expensive toys, just a simple ingredient that you most likely already have in your pantry: rice! You can find a few tips on how to color the rice and lots of great ideas for interesting children's games with the colorful rice in the article!
Coloring rice: recipes with and without vinegar
Before we get to the exciting activities, you need to make your play rice. There are a few variants, the most popular of which requires vinegar and food coloring. You also need uncooked rice, small bowls or freezer bags and a box or large baking tray in which to dry the rice.
Color rice colorfully with food coloring
For this project you will need the following materials:
- 1 cup uncooked rice per color
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar (or water if you want to color the rice without vinegar) per color
- 10-15 drops of liquid food coloring in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
- 6 zippered freezer bags (or old food storage containers with lids)
And this is how the classic rainbow rice is made:
- Add 1 cup of rice to each bag.
- Mix 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or water with 10-15 drops of each food coloring.
- Add the paint mixture to the bag, close the zip and shake well until the paint is evenly distributed. Add a little more color and/or liquid if necessary.
- Place the colored rice on the baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it dry thoroughly (about 1 hour).
- Repeat the last two steps for the other 5 colors.
- Once completely dry, you can either store each color in different containers or mix all the colors to get a colorful play rice.
Color the rice naturally
If you don't have food coloring or other artificial colors on hand, you can use some natural dyes instead. These are also wonderful forColoring the Easter eggs. And the best thing is that the natural dyes are completely non-toxic! So perfect for crafting with small or large children.
And how can the rice be colored naturally? First you should prepare the dyes. You need:
- Spinach for green color – puree 10 spinach leaves with 3-4 tablespoons of water and put through a sieve
- Turmeric for yellow color – Mix 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder well with 2-3 tablespoons of water
- Beetroot for pink/red color – Mix 1 tablespoon of beetroot powder well with 2-3 tablespoons or puree 1 large cooked beetroot and strain through a sieve
- Blueberries or blackberries for purple/blue color – boil down 1-2 handfuls of berries, puree them and strain them through a sieve
Color the rice as per the instructions above. Let the colors dry thoroughly and the colorful rice is ready to play with.
Activities for children with colored rice
There are so many things your kids can do with play rice! Babies and children under 2, for example, can train their sensory perception, while older children can make great rice pictures. We summarize all the possibilities that rainbow rice has to offer below.
Make your own sensory box for toddlers
Diesensory experienceplays a big role in the child's development. The sensory box is usually a box that can be filled with various materials. The child then explores these materials with their hands and can play with them in a variety of ways. The colorful toy rice is ideal for a box like this because it is colorful and has a specific structure. This allows your little one to fill different containers, pour out the rice and experiment with utensils such as spoons and funnels. The fun is guaranteed.
Babies under one year oldcan also play with dyed rice, with parental supervision required at all times. For example, you should be careful that the baby does not put the rice in his mouth. For babies under 12 months, you can put the rice directly on the floor (but preferably on a bed sheet). This way the child can step on it and also practice the perception of their feet. And yes, the vacuum cleaner should always be within reach.
Color with rice or make rice pictures
Painting and coloring are among the most popular activities for children. Even at 2 years old, little ones begin to show an interest in art and make their first attempts with a brush or pen. The colorful toy rice offers another opportunity to get creative. When children make pictures with rice, they not only develop their creativity, but also their sensory perception. We'll reveal below how these great rice pictures are created.
Learn to write letters
The colored rice doesn't just offer opportunities for play. The little ones can also learn with the help of a bowl of play rice. For example, they use this like a painting board and use their fingers or another tool (brush, eraser, etc.) to write letters and numbers in the rice.
So that the child can write in the rice, you need a large bowl or tray into which you sprinkle a thin layer of rainbow rice. If there is too much rice, the letters will not form well. To help the child learn, you can, for example, provide cards with the letters and numbers that the child should then copy into the rice.
Make beautiful rice pictures with colored rice
You can really get creative with colored rice. The art made from rice looks really beautiful and with a little skill you can create great pictures from the simple material. All you need is a piece of paper and glue.
Dye rice and make a colorful fish
Using simple instructions, we will show you how children can quickly and easily make beautiful rice pictures. In this example, a stencil is used to create a fish. The fish can of course also be drawn by hand.
What you need:
- colorful toy rice
- template
- Papier
- white craft glue
- Scissors
- Peel
- Paint brush
And this is how it works:
1. Select a stencil and place it on the sheet of paper. For smaller children, the stencil can be attached to the paper with painter's tape. Cover the inside of the stencil completely with glue. It is best to spread the glue with a brush to create an even layer.
2. Remove the template. Take a pinch of colored rice and spread it on the sheet. Apply several coats until the entire image is covered. The more rice sticks to the glue, the more beautiful the picture will be.
"Pajaki" is a traditional good luck charm from Poland that is hung on various occasions. This is how you can make the mobile!
3. Allow the glue to dry completely. Then lift the leaf and shake off the excess rainbow rice. If everything went well, only the toy rice motif should remain on the sheet.
4. The final step is cutting out the shape. To do this, cut around the rice shape to create a small white edge. The rice picture can then be attached to the wall in the children's room with adhesive tape or designed as a gift for grandma.
Color an exotic bird
Coloring pictures can't just be colored with paints or pens. If your child uses dyed rice instead, great textured designs will be created. To create an exotic bird like the one in the picture above, you will need a suitable coloring page, glue and colorful rice.Beautiful coloring picturesFor example, you can download and print it out or look for a picture in the children's old coloring book.
We recommend that you “paint” the different parts of the selected motif one at a time so that the glue does not dry out too quickly. For example, start with the bird's beak. Have the child cover the beak with glue and then sprinkle the selected color of rice on it. Then you can move on to the next section. When the rice picture is finished, simply shake off the excess rice.
Dye rice and make cards for Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is coming soon and although the holiday is more often celebrated by adults, many children are looking forward to it too. There are lots of great things you can doCrafting with children for Valentine's Daycould. The cards can be decorated with rice, for example. The simplest option is a card with a heart motif. The child should first draw a heart on the card with craft glue and then sprinkle some red colored rice over it until the glue is completely covered. Let it dry briefly, shake off the excess rice and the original Valentine's Day card is ready!
Painting flowers out of colorful play rice with small children
Even the smallest children can make pretty pictures with rice with a little help from their parents. To do this, you can first create the motif with the glue and then the child should just sprinkle the rainbow rice over it. If you lift the sheet and only the motif remains on it, the little one will certainly be surprised.
Make a rocket rice picture
You can make any motif out of colorful toy rice if you have a suitable template. This rocket, for example, offers an exciting idea for the boys. Younger boys can design the rocket in a single color, while older boys can try to conjure up different motifs and patterns on it. This way they also practice their fine motor skills.
Gift idea for Mother's Day: make a rice picture on canvas
Every mother would be happy to receive a beautiful picture with flowers as a gift on Mother's Day. The children can create the picture on a canvas so that it looks even more decorative and can be more easily attached to the wall. You just have to make sure the rice sticks well to the glue before hanging the picture.
