The Rosy Life: Toddler Rainbow Rice Sensory Box

Hi everyone!
As the summer days get warmer and Anna Ruth gets busier and older,

it's fun and challenging as a mom to find new activities for her!
She loves watching Curious George on the Ipad, reading books, playing with her dolls,

and most of the typical things babies this age enjoy.

However, I really enjoy researching new stimulating ways to get Anna Ruth's brain and curiosity sparked!

Sometimes my ideas work, other times-not!
This idea worked great!

The DIY directions for this Rainbow Rice Sensory Box are very simple.

I purchased one large bag of white rice from Wal-Mart (Great Value Brand) for $2.98.

I then came home and divided it up into Ziploc bags.

Next, I added several squirts of hand sanitizer (because that's what I had on hand, but rubbing alcohol would work well too!),

several drops of food coloring,

and mixed the hand sanitizer and food coloring into the rice!

(make sure your rice doesn't bust out of the Ziploc bag)

Next I carefully dumped the rice out onto a cookie sheet, and left it outside overnight to dry.

The next morning we woke up to brightly colored rainbow rice, smell-free! :)

I then put the rainbow rice in a clear plastic tub I already hand, and added some plastic bugs I found in the party section at Target (for $3.00).

Last-playtime!!!

At first Anna Ruth sat outside of the tub and reached in,

but after a moment or two of getting used to the texture of the rice
I put her in the tub to sit.

She LOVED this sensory tub!
She played in it for 20 minutes,

and then climbed out. :)

*You may notice I laid a large quilt down underneath the tub during her playtime.

Considering Anna Ruth quickly figured out it was great fun to grab handfuls of the rice and throw it,

this made clean-up super easy!
There was hardly any rice left on the floor to sweep up.

Some other fun Anna's been enjoying is her Cozy Coupe car!
Brett pushes her so fast in it and she loves it!
Her hair gets a mohawk from the static :).