One of my students’ favorite things is playing at the sensory table! Add rainbow pasta and they are extra excited! For this month’s sensory activity I dyed some ABC pasta in rainbow colors and put them with plain rice. I was going to dye the rice as well, but I love the way that the colorful letters and numbers pop with the white rice! At first, I put some funnels and scoopers in the rice so that the students can investigate. Later I will put plastic letters in the mix as well.
Sensory activities give young children the opportunity to learn by activating the different senses and different parts of their brains. It’s also so much fun and provides a hands-on approach to learning! Some other ideas include hiding letters in the rice and having the students look for a certain letter, practice measuring with different measuring cups, or weighing cups of rice with a balance scale. Of course, you can just give your students materials and let them create their own learning activity, you will be amazed at what they come up with!
How to Dye Rice or Pasta:
Materials
*Rice and/or pasta ( I used a box of ABC pasta)
*Sandwich size Ziploc Bags
*Gallon size Ziploc Bags
*Food Dye in different colors (I love the neon colors!)
*Rubbing Alcohol (do not allow the children to handle the alcohol)
*Wax Paper
*Cookie Sheet Pan
1. Separate the rice or pasta into different sandwich size Ziploc bags.
2. Pour a TBSP of rubbing alcohol in each of the bags (This should be done by an adult.)
3. Put a few dots of one color of dye in each bag.
4. Close the bag and massage the dye and alcohol into the pasta/rice.
5. Pour each bag out onto a cookie sheet with wax paper making sure to spread it out evenly.
6. Leave out overnight to dry.
7. Put all dry pasta/rice into a gallon bag, close the bag, and massage the bag breaking up any clumps.
8. Pour into a container and enjoy!
