The Rainbow Rice Bin

My kids love sand, I hate sand.  You can only use sand for about 4 months out of the year.  Not to mention it's dirty and messy.  When they come inside, I find sand everywhere, for days, socks, shoes, toes, underwear, diapers, nose and HAIR!  How do they get it in their hair?  Well, my kids lay down in the sand and dump it on each other.  Did I mention that I hate sand?  I do appreciate the things that make them happy though, so through my constant Internet searching, and Pinteresting, I found a fun alternative!  The rainbow rice bin! 

Step 1- buy lots of rice and a bin with a lid. I bought a bin for $2.00 at Big Lots, and two, 10 pound bags of rice.  I dumped 1/3 of 1 bag of rice into a big metal bowl. 

Many people colored their rice in ziploc baggies, but I think the bowl was easier.  I then added 3 Tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and stirred.  Yes this is stinky.  After the alcohol was mixed in I added food coloring, starting with yellow, because it's the lightest.

Add 3-4 drops of gel food coloring, more if you want your color darker.  Once mixed, spread rice onto large cookie sheets so the colors and alcohol can dry out. 

At this point it stinks, and you are wondering why you thought this was a good idea.  The smell does go away, and is odor-free by the time it's dry.  If it still smells, it's not dry enough.  I let my rice dry over night.  But lots of websites say it dries quickly in the sun. 

 I found 1 idea on Pinterest that I loved.  Find her blog here .  She added sand toys to her rice bin.  Which tied into my original plan of finding an alternative to the sand box!! Brilliant!  I added some Easter eggs, because I put this out Easter morning, and gave The Bunny all the credit! 

The rice bin was a hit and the kids played with it for at least an hour!  They've asked to get it out every day, several times since. 

Put a large blanket under bin to catch the rice.  You can toss it out or dump it back in afterwards!  I have a wild 2 year old!  On the down side, I did still find sand in my 4 year old's hair and nose!  I can't win!!

Happy Rice-ing :)  -Erin

UPDATE- The rice bin is a perfect dinosaur land, for all those dinosaur loving kiddo's out there!!!