A simple activity for children that creates hours of play. All you need is rice, vinegar and food colour!

Ingredients:

• Raw Rice (about 1 ½ kg)
• Vinegar (one capful per 200g)
• Food colour (a few drops per 200g)
• Ziploc Bags or Plastic Containers

Method

• Divide the rice into seven equal portions. (about 200g each)
• In a ziplock bag or a plastic container, add 1 portion of rice (200g), a capful of vinegar and a few drops of food colour (Always start with the lightest colour).
• Shake it vigourously. Your children can get involved in this part. If you’re doing it in a Ziploc bag, you can see the colour getting into the rice. If you’re using a plastic container, you’ll have to keep opening it and checking. You have to really shake it well for the rice to catch the colour evenly. You can always add more food colouring if you want a darker, more vibrant colour.
• Once the rice has been coloured evenly, spread it on a plate and leave it to dry (it takes around 2 -3 days to dry completely.

Method

• If you are using the same Ziploc bag/plastic container for all the colours, ensure you wipe it nicely with a tissue or cloth. Make sure that all the colour has been wiped away before adding the next lot of rice and food colour. Dry each colour on separate plates.
• Its very important to ensure that the rice is completely dry before allowing your children to play with it. The waiting time is quite long for children, but when they look forward to something, the joy they actually get when they play with it, increases profoundly! The rice may clump together while drying, but if you put it in a Ziploc or plastic container and give it another good shake, it all separates. Once the rice is completely dried, your children can play with it and it won’t leave colour or smell on their hands.

You can use the different colours for art and craft activities such as making a rainbow, or a collage (where you draw a picture and your child can fill it up with different colours of rice.)

We also made a simple rainbow bottle by filling it with different layers of rice.

Once we finished all our craft, I allowed the children to mix it all together. I gave them a few spoons and containers and they spent the next hour completely mesmerized by the rainbow rice!