Feed the Senses

Yesterday was a rainy day so I decided to add a little sunshine by letting Tanner and Abigail use their sensory bins for the first time. 

I have been reading a lot about sensory bins on the web; what they are, why kids love them, and the many ways that they can be adapted to strengthen a variety of developmental skills.  You can read more about sensory bins here.

Last week I bought a 10 lb. bag of long grain white rice at the grocery store which I brought home and colored.  I split 5 pounds of rice between two (gallon) Ziplock bags.  In the first bag I put several drops of blue food coloring (Tanner's choice). I sealed it up (getting out as much air as possible) and began massaging the color around to coat the rice.  Tanner and Abigail helped too.  I continued to add food coloring and mix it up until the desired color was achieved (i.e. when Tanner said it was done).  I did the same to the other bag of rice with red food coloring (Abigail's choice).  To set the color I added a little rubbing alcohol (about one teaspoon) to each bag and mixed that in.  I poured the rice into large bowls to dry and to allow the smell to dissipate.  I let it dry over night and then put it back into the Ziplock bags I used to color them.  Here is a page all about coloring rice and/or pasta.

Digging for "treasure"!

Found one!

When the Twinkies woke up from their nap yesterday it was still raining.  Since they couldn't go outside to play I laid an old bed sheet on the the kitchen floor and set up their sensory bins.  I poured their rice into their containers...they picked them out at the Dollar Tree the week before and buried some shape erasers in the bottom of each bin.  I put the bins in front of each child, handed them a spoon and small container to put their "treasures" in, and let them have at it.

They played happily for about 45 minutes.  Some of the rice escaped but was easily scooped up and returned to the bowl, the rest I shook out outside.  I put the rice back in the Ziplock bags to use another day.