• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Courses
    • Teaching Every Reader
    • Teaching Every Writer
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Contact

The Measured Mom

Education resources for parents and teachers

  • Alphabet
  • Reading
    • Printable Books
    • Pre-Reading
    • Balanced Literacy
    • Phonics
    • Sight Words
    • Comprehension
    • Fluency
    • Vocabulary
  • Writing
    • Grammar
    • Handwriting
    • Spelling
    • Writing in Pre-K
    • Writing Workshop in K-3
  • Math
    • Counting
    • Number Recognition
    • Addition & Subtraction
    • Colors, Shapes & Patterns
    • Visual Discrimination
    • Time, Money & Measurement
    • Place Value
    • Graphs
    • Multiplication & Division
    • Fractions
    • Problem Solving
  • Book Lists
    • Letter of the Week
    • Early Childhood Themes
    • Pre-Reading Skills
    • Math Concepts
    • Writing Mentor Texts
    • Versions of Familiar Tales
    • Holidays and Seasonal
    • History
    • Leveled Book Lists
  • Membership
Home
  • Shop
  • Blog
    • Alphabet
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Book Lists
  • Podcast
  • Courses
    • Teaching Every Reader
    • Teaching Every Writer
  • Subscriber Freebies
  • About
  • Membership
  • Contact

PSPKK123 February 19, 2013  •  3 Comments

Colored Rice Sensory Bin

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

colored rice sensory bin

It was the week of Valentine’s Day, and we were learning about the letter H.  It was the perfect time to do an “H is for heart” colored rice sensory bin.  

Here’s how I dyed the rice:

1) I bought a giant bag of 25 lbs of white rice from Sam’s Club. It cost about $10.

2) I put 4 cups of rice into a gallon-sized ziplock bag. I added 2 tbsp of rubbing alcohol and a lot of red food coloring (about a third of the tiny bottle).  

3) I smooshed it around until the rice was all colored.

4) I repeated steps 2 &3 so I’d have eight cups of colored rice.

5) I spread the colored rice on cookie sheets and put it in a warm oven to dry and then on the counter overnight.  (If it were summer and not the dead of winter I’d have put it outside to dry in the sun.)  The rubbing alcohol smell was strong at first, but after the rice was dry we could’t smell it at all.

My Four was especially excited and couldn’t wait until it was time to pour the rice into the big Sterilite container.  

colored rice letter H sensory bin

After mixing in some white rice, I added some things to play with. I’d bought some heart cups at the dollar store, some heart-shaped bowls at Target, and some heart-shaped measuring spoons from Target’s dollar bin.  We threw in a few letter “H’s” and the boys were good to go.  

When I showed my sister what I’d bought she said, “Oh! I always wondered who bought that stuff.”  I had to laugh.  “Me too.”  But you can bet I’ll be scouring those dollar bins from now on!

children dumping rice into funnels

This time we pulled out the funnels, which work great with rice.

children dumping rice into funnels

You can do all sorts of math with sensory bins.  How many scoops do you think it will take to fill that bowl?  Which container will hold more rice?

But I didn’t ask any questions this time.  

They were having enough fun on their own.

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: preschool, kindergarten, winter, Valentine's Day, sensory play, Pre-K

You May Also Enjoy These Posts:

Preschool Crafts for Letter TLetter E craft ideasFree Letter S Printable
A Baby Sensory Play Activity: Baby in the Oats!
Hot chocolate counting mats #1-20

Reader Interactions

3 Comments

  1. Adeyemi Taiwo

    January 14, 2017 at 11:14 am

    l always appreciate your teaching methods , it is always awesome . l really appreciate your efforts .
    Can you please email me more sensory activities for teaching the alphabets to toddlers .
    Thanks

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 14, 2017 at 9:13 pm

      Thank you so much, Adeyemi! I’m not an expert on sensory activities, but Little Bins for Little Hands has great ideas. This post should help you out! http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/alphabet-sensory-play/

      Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. 50 Fun Ways to Play with Rice | Mama OTMama OT says:
    September 1, 2013 at 2:03 am

    […] 21. Valentine’s Day sensory bin with colored rice: The Measured Mom […]

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Grade Level Key

  • PS Preschool (ages 2-3 years)
  • PK Pre-K (ages 4-5 years)
  • K Kindergarten
  • 1 1st grade
  • 2 2nd grade
  • 3 3rd grade

Hello, I’m Anna!

Welcome to The Measured Mom. I’m so glad you’re here!

Meet Our Team

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Shop Our Most Popular Resources

At The Measured Mom®, our mission is to share high quality educational resources that are engaging for students and easy for educators.

Letter of the Week Curriculum

$29.00

120 Print and Play Math & Literacy Games for K-2

$15.00

Mystery problem solving activities

$20.00

Shop All Resources

Members get more!

The Measured Mom Plus is the perfect online membership for Pre-K to third grade educators.

Learn More

Love Freebies?

Subscribing to our email newsletter is completely free. And when you do, you'll get access to our library of subscriber freebies! Sign up below to get access to a wonderful variety of math and literacy resources.

Join our online courses and get the tools you need to teach every learner in K-2!

Confidently teach every reader in your classroom. Still have time to live your life.

Learn More

Get everything you need to teach writing well, including over 200 ready-to-use lessons.

Learn More

Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher

Check out these recent podcast episodes:

  • The 3 Keys to teaching phonological awareness
  • 5 Important things you may not know about phonological awareness
  • How to meet every writer’s needs during writing workshop
More Episodes

Join the conversation over on Facebook! We have three separate groups for Pre-K through grade 3.

Join Facebook Group

Check out these FREE email courses...

Get strategies and tools to teach a particular topic with a free 5-day email series! Just click an image to sign up. We recommend signing up for just one at a time.

For Pre-K Educators

How to teach letters and sounds to preschoolers

How to teach letters and sounds to preschoolers

Learn my must-follow tips for teaching the alphabet in this free 5-day email series!

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

How to teach phonological & phonemic awareness

Learn how to develop this important pre-reading skill with a free 5-day email series!

How to teach preschool math

How to teach preschool math

Learn exactly what to teach your preschoolers in this free 5-day series!

For Kinder & 1st Grade Educators

How to teach kids to sound out words

How to teach kids to sound out words

Learn my top strategies for teaching kids to "sound it out"

How to teach sight words

How to teach sight words

Get strategies and tools for teaching sight words to young learners!

Tips for teaching phonics

Tips for teaching phonics

Sign up for our free 5-day email series to learn what phonics skills to teach and how to structure your phonics lessons!

For 2nd & 3rd Grade Educators

How to build reading fluency

How to build reading fluency

Learn smart strategies for helping your learners become fluent readers with this free 5-day series!

How to teach writing in 2nd & 3rd grade

How to teach writing in 2nd & 3rd grade

Learn the most important writing skills to teach to 2nd & 3rd graders in this free 5-day series!

How to build reading comprehension

How to build reading comprehension

Discover the essential reading comprehension strategies for 2nd & 3rd grade and how to teach them!

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:33

Copyright © 2021 The Measured Mom •  All rights reserved  •  Privacy & Disclosure Statement  •  Site Design by Emily White Designs