Materials:
A large, shallow plastic container
Enough uncooked rice to fill your tub about an inch deep
Pink and lavender scoops, cups, and bowls
Directions:
Children of all ages love to explore rice at the rice table. We like to color ours, but it’s not necessary—white rice is fun, too! (If you need directions on how to color the rice, see the blog post “Hunting for Hearts” in which I’ve explained how to do it. It’s easy!)
Rice is a wonderful sensory material. It’s relatively inexpensive, doesn’t leave residue on children’s hands, is easy to sweep up, is soothing to run one’s fingers through, and is calming to work with. Children love to scoop it up, fill containers with it, dump it out, and do it again. They make connections with and explore concepts of weight and volume. And it can be used over and over again. Store your rice in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. It will keep for years!