Happy Wednesday, people! I know it’s been wayyyyyy too long since I had a “real” post up. Oh well. I’m really, really going to try to do better! Today I want to share with you this super easy project to put together for your toddler!
I was needing a new, “big boy” activity for C to play with while I cook supper in the afternoons. He’s pretty much given up his afternoon nap, so I have to get pretty creative to keep him out under foot. Up until recently I was letting him watch a movie (Thomas, Bible stories, ect), but I don’t like him having screen-time everyday, so I knew I had to come up with something.
I wanted some kind of sensory play, so I decided on rainbow rice. Before having a child, I always thought it looked fun, so we took a quick trip to Dollar General (we took Grandmomma along with us!) to get the stuff I didn’t have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:
-white rice (I got 3 bags for $.80 each)
– plastic box with locking lid
-food coloring
-plastic zipper bags
– small things to play in the rice with
All I did was put the rice in 4 different plastic bags and added food color to them. Then I just mixed and combined the rice with the color. I did a green, red, blue and a purple{ish}. Then I put them on paper plates to dry. Once it was dry, I poured it into the tub for C to mix up and play with! 🙂
I ended up getting some measuring spoons, a wooden spoon and some small party cups at DG plus I had some popsicle sticks on hand for C to use for the activity. Let me tell ya, it kept him occupied for over an hour!!!! Momma score! Everytime some rice came out of the box I just told him, “oh no! Keep the rice in the box so you don’t run out!”, and he did his very best at keeping it in. After he was done, I just swept the floor in 5 minutes and was all cleaned up. 🙂
Tell me, how do you keep your toddler occupied while cooking? Do you think rainbow rice would be a hit for your little one?
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I love this! I have a 2 year old and I think he would like this!! Thank you! 🙂
Let me know if you try it out! Hope your Little One enjoys it!
I know my boys would love this! I’m going to have to make some, Hannah!! You make it sound so much easier than I thought it would be. Sharing!!
This is a great idea for little ones! My boys would have been throwing the rice out of the bin, so we did these types of activities on the patio! My favorite activity for keeping them occupied was to give them craft pom-poms, a paper towel roll, and small plastic containers (like ice cube trays, empty plastic jars, etc.). They would drop the pom-poms through the paper towel tube into the containers, one at a time, then dump them out and start again. I don’t know why that worked so well!
Sounds like fun! Caleb loves playing with craft pom-poms, too!
This looks fantastic and like a great sensory experience. As for how I keep my little one occupied while cooking? I move some magnets down on the fridge for her to play with, or give her a skillet and old spatula so she can “cook” too. If there’s no grease popping, I sometimes lift her up so I can show her what I’m doing.
It really is great sensory play!