Baby/Toddler Colored Rice Art

Other posts in this series include:

Golden Glitter Slime (and Dragons)

Painting the Bathroom Mirror

Pretend Baking:  Painting a 3D Cake

10+ Ways to Use Fingerpaint

Make Your Own Puffy Paint Shirt
Starter Art Kit from Discount School Supply

You know the saying every child is different?  It's so true!  By the time she was a year old, S was already quite interested in art.  She'd fingerpaint and color with markers with the intent to produce a drawing.  It was amazing and so much fun.  X loves markers, too...but to dump not to draw!  Nevertheless, I like to engage him in art activities from time to time, because one of these days I just know it will click for him!

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We often like to use contact paperin lieu of glue, and given X's natural desire to examine handfuls of sensory materials and drop them, I thought I would create an art invitation that allowed him to make art while getting to DUMP!

S and I colored rice according to our usual method with liquid watercolors (we chose just three colors this time) and we presented X with three containers - one for each color.  I cut large squares of cardboard from our recycling and covered them with contact paper (sticky side out - I used tape along the edges to secure the contact paper to the cardboard).  We then placed one sticky canvas on either side of our splat mat (one for X and one for S - though we knew X was liable to wander between the two).

X investigated the sticky canvas, and then set to work examining handfuls of rice and dropping them.

S was much more intentional - at times placing single grains of rice - while X was randomly dropping large handfuls.  Love this shot of my two curly headed babies!

And I've always got to get a picture of those chubby baby feet and toes!!!

Towards the end, (with sister's assistance) a digger arrived to help scoop the loose rice.  X thought this was a great turn of events!

Once they were completely done with their art pieces, I added one final layer of contact paper (this time sticky layer down) and taped around the edges.  Even as finished/sealed pieces of artwork - they were still fun.  You could touch and roll some of the grains of rice and the loose bits in between the two layers of contact paper made a quiet rattling noise.

My sweet baby with his (unintentional, but beautiful nonetheless) artwork.

The rattling noise inspired S to dance.  And dance she did all around the living room with her piece of art!  (S never can pass up a good opportunity for an interpretive dance.)

This was a fun way to involve little X in some art play and despite appearances, it was super easy to clean up!  Most of the rice was on the splat mat, so I made a funnel and dumped it back into a container to save for another day.  Any remaining stray grains of rice easily vacuumed up!

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

10+ Super Easy Sensory Plays

All of the plays in this series are:

Appropriate for all ages
Use two or fewer ingredients
Use ingredients commonly found in a home

My hope with this series was to remind everyone that play doesn't have to be complicated to be fun!  And for those of you who are new to sensory play - I wanted to give you some nice and easy ideas for starting up.

To read more details about each, please click on the links.   They will lead you to the complete post.  :)
As I add more Super Easy Sensory Plays, I will add them to this post!

Cornstarch and Water

Dirt and Worms

Ice and Warm Water

Oatmeal Textures

Soap Foam

Wet Cotton Balls

Baby Safe Cloud Dough

Water Play

Birdseed

Rice Play

Dried Pasta

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from the Dollar Tree

This is a post in our Play on a Budget series.  Other posts include:

Play on a Budget: Tips and Tricks

Our Favorite Free Sensory Materials

A Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from Target

I thought I'd write a post on how to set up a starter kit of commonly used sensory/play materials for those of you who are just getting started.  Every person has their own preferences, of course, but here's a list of what I'd buy (and why!) if I had a budget of $20 and could only shop at one store - the Dollar Tree.  I picked the Dollar Tree because it seems to be everywhere in the US, and ought to be pretty easily accessible for most of you.  If you don't have one near you, but do have a Target - I've put together a Target sensory kit here.

I was able to come in under budget again because a few of the things on my list were actually less than a dollar (baking soda and salt!).  I have noticed a lot of variation in what is available at each Dollar Tree, so this is based off of the selection at mine - you may have more or less available at yours (hopefully more!).

First off, I had to include baking soda and vinegar because we SO love them.  Just plain baking soda and vinegar is so much fun.  We've also used them to make Fizzing Gelatin and our Fizzing Hidden Ocean World, and in Encouraging Little Scientists, to name a few. 

Funnels, a big scooping spoon, and a set of measuring cups are things we use all the time for simple sensory play.  Because they have such a wide application, I knew I wanted them in my kit.

Next from the food section, I grabbed oats because they are such a fun material to play with.  You could set up our Oatmeal Textures Sensory Bin with these.  I chose salt because it's a great material for dumping and scooping.  We like to color ours, and you can see us playing with it in our Funnels and Tubes post.  I bought flax seed because it would be a great substitution for birdseed - it's still a seed and would behave similarly - so you could do something like our Birdseed Sensory Play with the flax seeds.  I bought cooking oil for use in making baby safe Cloud Dough.  

I added Penne pasta for art, making necklaces, or doing a Dry Pasta sensory play; I added Linguine for making our Dirt and Worms sensory bin, or our Rainbow Spaghetti.  I included beans because they are fun to plant and grow and can also be used as a fill material in small worlds or as a standalone sensory material.  And finally I included rice because we love to play with rice by itself, as we did in our Rice Play and we also love to color it and add it to small worlds/sensory bins.  You can read how we make rainbow rice in our How To Color Rice post.

I grabbed shaving cream, which we've used in a Shaving Cream Search and in our Dragon World small world.  I also grabbed four sponges for use in a Washing Station.  And I've included a bag of cotton balls for the Wet Cotton Ball sensory play and/or for making Baked Cotton Balls.

Our Dollar Tree didn't have a great selection of miniatures when I was there, but these guys were pretty cute, so I added them as "guys" for small world play.

Play foam is fun for Window Art (we also used it to make our Recycled Car City) and we use pom poms frequently (though I don't have any posts up currently involving them, so you'll just have to trust me on that).

Here is the complete sensory kit I would put together for someone starting out if I had just $20:

Now, there are a few other fantastic things that I'd like to point out at the Dollar Tree:

These are FABULOUS art/craft supplies.  All of the above items are frequently utilized in our Art Room, so I figured I would point those out, since at $1 a piece, they are a great deal.  I joke not, the Dollar Tree is the BEST place to buy googly eyes!  They have the assorted sizes and the huge eyes are hilarious.

Recognize these from my small worlds?  Love all three of these.  We have several packs of the mixed gems.

And check these out!  These are officially "sound tubes" but they'd work great for our Funnels and Tubes.  Basically all you'd need to complete the set-up we had in that post is some suction cups, since the Dollar Tree also carries funnels and salt!

Our Dollar Tree had a lot of what I wanted, but there were a few items that I would still want to add to a kit if there was room in the budget/they were available in the store.  I'd love to add flour to complete the recipe for Cloud Dough.  I was also SO saddened by the lack of cornstarch since it's my personal favorite (you can see how we've played with it with Cornstarch and Water, to make Chilly Ice Cream Goo, and in my Dinosaurs and Sticky Mud world).  Finally, I would want to add some sort of coloring - be it food coloring, or our favorite - liquid watercolors.  Liquid watercolors last longer, are more vibrant, come in a wider variety of colors, and are completely washable (at least in our experience).  We buy our liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply.

To make things as easy as possible, I've also typed up a free printable shopping list, which you can access here:  Printable Dollar Tree Shopping List.

For further reading in the vein of Play on a Budget, check out:

100 Things You can Purchase from the Dollar Tree and Use in Play by Growing a Jeweled Rose

Sensory Materials that Last by Train Up a Child

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from Target

This is a post in our Play on a Budget series.  Other posts include:

Play on a Budget: Tips and Tricks
Our Favorite Free Sensory Materials

A Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from The Dollar Tree

I thought I'd write a post on how to set up a starter kit of commonly used sensory/play materials for those of you who are just getting started.  Every person has their own preferences, of course, but here's a list of what I'd buy (and why!) if I had a budget of $20 and could only shop at one store - Target.  I picked Target because it seems to be everywhere in the US, and ought to be pretty easily accessible for most of you.  I'll be back in a few days with the Dollar Tree Sensory Starter Kit.

I was able to put together a pretty great kit and even came in under budget - $19.78!  :)

Now for the details - here's what I chose and why:

I found these two for one mesh sponges in the Dollar Section - since one of our favorite activities is setting up a Washing Station, I wanted to be sure to include these.  Next I grabbed shaving cream.  Shaving cream is such a fun sensory experience and we love it!  We've used it in a Shaving Cream Search and in our Dragon World small world.  We will be sharing even more ways that we use it as time goes on and I write up more of our activities.  It's a definite must-have.  Next I included salt.  Salt is so fun just by itself as a sensory item - you can draw in it, write in it, pour it, scoop it, etc.  We most notably use it with our Funnels and Tubes, but you will see more of it in future posts as well.  

Baking soda and vinegar are another favorite item around here.  Just by themselves they are loads of fun.  We've also used them to make Fizzing Gelatin and our Fizzing Hidden Ocean World, and in Encouraging Little Scientists, to name a few.  Cornstarch is my favorite sensory item, so I for sure had to include it!  You could use it plain, or add water for a super fun sensory exploration, or even make it into Chilly Ice Cream Goo.  It's also great in small world play, as in my Dinosaurs and Sticky Mud world.

Pasta and rice!  These are fun plain, or you can color them following either of the two methods I outline in this post on Coloring Rice (follow the same steps for pasta as you would rice).  You could use the fettuccine noodles to make my Dirt and Worms sensory bin, or you could use them to make Rainbow Spaghetti.  You could do a Dry Pasta sensory bin with the penne pasta, or you could string them and make a pasta necklace or bracelet.  You could use rice for Rice Play or for a Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin.

If you have a baby or toddler, you might want to substitute cooking oil for baby oil - because I'm including this with the flour to be able to make Cloud Dough.  And the gel colors were the only type of food coloring Target had - but they are included to be able to add color to your sensory bins (not necessary, of course, but for added fun).

With cotton balls, you could do the Wet Cotton Ball sensory play or you could make Baked Cotton Balls, either of which are so much fun.  And if you have some of the previously listed items, I included black beans and pinto beans (or dried oats - not pictured) as possible substitutions - they make a great sensory material as well as fill for small world play.

The whole kit together in all its glory:

Though I was able to find much of what I wanted to include, I was disappointed to find that there were no miniature plastic figurines, foam sheets, or glass decorative gems.  I use those three items all the time in our sensory and small world play and I would have liked to include them.  All three of those things can be purchased at Michaels or another craft store (or the Dollar Store) - if you're willing to make an extra stop.  

And lastly, if you have the budget and a child who is no longer tasting/putting things in their mouth - I would strongly recommend purchasing liquid watercolors over food coloring.  Liquid watercolors last longer, are more vibrant, come in a wider variety of colors, and are completely washable (at least in our experience).  We buy our liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply.

To make things as easy as possible, I've also typed up a free printable shopping list, which you can access here:  Printable Target Shopping List

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Exploring Sound with Homemade Egg Shakers

I apologize in advance for the insane number of pictures in this post, but our rainbow rice bin was just SO pretty, I couldn't stop myself....  :)

You can read about how we made this rainbow rice here.

I wanted to think of an activity that would be appropriate for both X and S that involved plastic Easter eggs, since it's always nice to give those things a second life after the egg hunt is over.  I wanted S to experiment with different combinations and amounts of rice and pompoms and hypothesize about whether or not they'd make sound, and how much sound she thought they'd make.  I started the activity by setting up our rice in rainbow order and dumping a ton of pompoms on the ground.  I asked S to sort  the pompoms into the rainbow (she loves to sort!).

Once they were all in place, I brought out the plastic eggs and told her my idea.  I asked her for her hypotheses.  (She always starts by saying I have a hypothesis, which is the cutest thing ever) "I have a hypothesis - that the pompom eggs will be quietest and the rice eggs will be the loudest...and that the eggs with the most rice in them will be the loudest."

Before testing her hypotheses, she wanted to play in the rice.  :)

X reallllly wanted to play too.  He had a hard time resisting the temptation of sampling the rainbow rice.  Though it is non-toxic, it is not something I'd want a baby eating, so I had to watch him very carefully.

He spent quite a while investigating the plastic eggs.

Here's S making him one of several egg shakers (this was the one she was sure was going to be the loudest!).

S desperately wanted to sit in the rice.

Then she had a great time smooshing her feet around in it.

So of course X needed to try it, too.

Just a baby hanging out in a giant bin of rainbow rice.  :)

Exploring the rice some more.

S later decided she needed to take a quick "rice nap".

Did I mention that it's SO PRETTY?!?!?  :)

X loves his rice egg shakers.  He spins them around slowly and likes to watch the rice grains move.  He also loves music, so enjoys the different sounds they make.

Here's a sampling of what big sister made for him.  She was pleased to see that she was correct in her guess that the pompoms alone wouldn't make noise.  She was, however, shocked to find that the full-to-the-brim egg shaker was nearly silent!  She loves to show everyone who has come to visit since that "it's SO QUIET!!!"  It was a fun little experiment, and X now has some fun new musical toys to explore.

I'm not sure if you can see below, but I did seal the eggs with a piece of clear tape because they easily pop back open without it!

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.