Rice & ice sensory play

What you need

• Two ice cube trays Yellow and blue food colouring
• Water A large tub
• 1 cup of dry uncooked rice

Benefits

This is a fun activity that provides an opportunity to: Play with rhyming words

• Explore scientific concepts such as absorption, solids and liquids, etc.
• Learn about primary colour mixing
• Continue the learning in a multi-sensory way - children are able to watch the colour of the rice change as the blue and yellow ice begin to melt and combine to create a secondary colour, green.

The experience

Use the ice cube trays, water and food colouring to create coloured ice (blue and yellow). Place the coloured ice and rice in a tray/ large tub and let your child explore colour mixing through this sensory experience. Children are able to watch the colour of the rice change as the blue and yellow ice begin to melt and combine to create a secondary colour, green. A few ideas to explore:

• Talk about the rhyming words i.e. rice and ice: can you think of another word that rhymes with rice and ice? Words such as mice, twice, vice, nice and so on. You may like to try and write these words in the wet rice on the tray.
• Talk about the two different coloured ice blocks and make predictions about what will happen.
• Sort the coloured ice into groups according to colour.
• Line all the ice blocks up around the outside of the tray. Try to build and stack with the ice blocks.