Rainbow Rice

Rainbow rice is an easy, colourful and fun activity which babies and toddlers love.  It’s been kindly shared by Nicole who set up the Gurgle & Co Facebook group to share ideas on how to create messy, sensory and stimulating play easily at home.

rainbow rice, messy play, what to do with toddlers

All You Need:

  • a cheap bag of long grain white rice
  • vinegar
  • some different coloured food dye



How to Make Rainbow Rice

1. In a bowl, mix one cup of uncooked rice with a 1/2 tsp of food dye. The more dye you add, the more vivid the colour. I used a folk to mix and coloured plastic bowls to remind me of the colours to make.
2. Once mixed, add 1/2 tsp of vinegar. This stops the colour coming off on your hands but it’s not essential if you don’t mind the colour staining your hands.
3. Repeat for each colour you would like in your rainbow.
4. Shape into a rainbow arc on a tray or plastic plate.
5. Allow to dry before use.

Have fun and enjoy getting messy!

If you like this idea, then you must check out the Gurgle & Co Facebook group which has lots of easy and fun ideas.  Nicole has also shared some great tips on messy and sensory play.

Here’s Nicole’s story.

Hello! I’m Nicole and I decided to set up Gurgle & Co following the birth of my daughter Evelyn. We moved to the Cotswolds when she was three weeks old and as soon as Evelyn had her first vaccinations I was keen to join some baby groups in order to make some new mummy friends and get out of the house.

Over the course of my maternity leave we joined all sorts of groups: baby massage, baby signing, music groups, swimming, messy play and lots of mother and toddler coffee groups- all of which I loved and provided a routine to what could have been a lonely life with no family close by.

As my maternity leave drew to an end I decided that I did not wish to return to my job as a primary school teacher as I wish to spend as much time as possible with Evelyn whilst she is young and I am lucky enough to be in a position to be able to do so.  As Evelyn’s grown so has my desire to provide her with a variety of different play opportunities. I’ve researched online and replicated what has worked at the groups we have been to at home and Evelyn has loved getting involved and I believe she’s learnt a bit too!

My desire to offer this to other children has also grown with her getting older, so here we are today! I’ve decided to set up Gurgle and Co to share ideas on how to create messy, sensory and stimulating play easily at home. I had no idea what I was doing when I first started to make things for her but through the use of the internet and looking around the house I’ve made some great play activities which have also provided her with learning opportunities and most of all some fun!

My intention eventually is to grow into a weekly baby group, in which I would provide activities for babies to crawlers and then confident crawlers to 2 year olds. I would love to hear your ideas on the idea of having a group in the Chipping Norton area and what types of activities you would love to see.”

Nicole x



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