I’ve been hunting for hands on ways to introduce munchkin to colour/paint without the worry of her eating it
and stumbled onto an idea for older kids on Pinterest that I filed in my head for future use.
Then I thought, why not mini-me size it.
So I did and it was a blast!
The Pins that I saw suggested using dyed rice instead of sand in a sandbox. Neat eh.
What I did instead was dyed up some white rice,
(super easy, drop a few drops of food coloring onto some dry rice, stir, voila)
and put it in a square plastic container.
Then I plunked monkey down in her high chair,
rolled up her sleeves, put on a waterproof bib and let her have at it.
I figured worst case scenario, she grabs a fistful and chows down,
I wasn’t concerned since it’s non-toxic & edible.
Of course she tried lol who wouldn’t want to taste the rainbow heh
but one “No honey, yucky” from me and she took me at my word and didn’t try again.
She loved grabbing fistfuls and mixing the colours and dropping it on the dog like confetti ha
I poured it over her hands like rain, buried little toys in it for her to dig out, and just generally had fun with it.
When I saw she was getting tired of it we changed it up, thus the waterproof bib.
I put the container aside and grabbed a water bottle
and poured it out like a fountain on her tray and over all the spilled rice.
The colours began to swirl and mix together and my daughter promptly began splashing wildly.
Wet floor, wet dog, wet baby & mommy, but totally worth it.
Dry mop & sweep later, all tidied up and the leftover rice, in a bag for next time.
I highly recommend it!
She got to have fun while playing with colours, exploring sight, sound and touch and worked on fine motors skills by trying to pick up grains of rice.
Just remember, don’t be a schmuck and supervise all play 🙂
Amanda Milke 