playing with the rainbow rice

Well, the rainbow rice that I made on the weekend was a HIT with the Hooligans!  To make your own, click here.

I spread it out in rainbow fashion in a plastic bin, and added colourful bowls, plastic eggs, , scoops, glass jars, craft sticks, glass beads and cotton balls. 

I’ve had a couple of people ask where I get my containers for my sensory bins.  You really don’t need a fancy container.  I often use my large 9 x 15 pyrex (glass) baking pan, or a large foil “turkey roasting pan” that I picked up at the dollar store.  When I’m making a sensory bin that’s really big, I use a shallow storage container with a lid – the kind that you get at Walmart or the Hardware store.  You can even use a shallow cardboard box as a sensory bin. This one, I picked up at the dollar store for a few bucks.  It’s supposed to be a kitty litter box.

 

Anyway, back to the rainbow bin.  The Hooligans were REALLY excited to see this.  Heck who wouldn’t be?  Doesn’t it look yummy?

And it still looks gorgeous when it’s all mixed up!  

Have you ever made rainbow rice?  How did your little people play with it?

rainbow rice

The weather is dull and dreary here today, so I thought I’d make some rainbow rice to brighten things up a bit.  This is super easy to make.  There are all kinds of recipes for it out there in the blog-o-sphere, but I chose to make mine a little differently than most of the recipes I’ve seen.  I also used a super simple method for mixing the rice which saves time, mess and materials. I used a bag of white rice that we’ve been using for ages in our sensory bins.  Whenever I make a sensory bin, I always save the base material for future use.  I have bags of rice, lentils, popcorn kernels, pasta, oatmeal etc. tucked away that we’ll likely continue to use and re-use for years. I just want to mention that most recipes that I’ve seen call for using rubbing alcohol in this recipe as an agent for “setting” the colour so the rice doesn’t stain your hands when you’re playing with it.  A few sites suggested using vinegar as an alternative, but most who mentioned it, hadn’t tried it.  I decided to give the vinegar a try so we’d know for sure if it worked as a more kid-friendly alternative to the rubbing alcohol.  I’m happy to say that my rice turned out to be really vibrant, and I’ve run my hands through all the colours while it’s drying, and the colour didn’t transfer to my hands.  So far, so good!  I’ll report back once the Hooligans have had a good play with it.Ok, let’s get down to business!  For each colour, I used:

• 1 cup of rice
• 1/2 tsp vinegar
• a gob of Wilton icing gel (you could also use several drops of liquid food colouring)

Now most recipes suggest mixing the rice/food colour in a ziplock bags.  The thrifty mama in me looked for easier/less wasteful way to do it so I went out to the recycle bin, and grabbed a margarine container that was headed for the trash.  I cleaned that out, and it worked perfectly!  Just give it a quick wipe between batches in case there’s any colour left behind (there won’t be much at all – the rice absorbs all of it). So: Pour a cup of rice into your margarine container.  Then, with a toothpick, a stir-stick, knife, whatever… (I used a plastic toothpick that I could just wipe off each time), swirl a generous gob of colour-gel through the rice.  Drizzle your 1/2 tsp of vinegar over the rice.  Pop the lid on your container, and shake the heck out of it.  Remove lid, and be amazed! Spread each batch out on a plate or a cookie tray (I used styro meat trays – I run them through the dishwasher before using them for this kind of thing) to dry.  You can place them in the sun, or by the fire to dry them quickly.  It’s not sunny here, but it’s too warm to have the fire going, so I’m just going to leave my trays on the dining room table over the weekend.   Doesn’t it look fantastic?   To see how we played with it, click here!

our Valentine’s candy shoppe

Ok, I am so excited about this post!  Remember the Valentine’s Activity Bin that I put together earlier this week?  Well, I’d tucked it away for a few days, and on Friday, I brought it out and surprised the Hooligans with it.  I wish this photo did a better job of showing how their faces lit up when they saw it.

The smiles were huge.  There were excited ooooh’s and aaaaaaah’s (I mean look at it!  I still want to ooooh and aaaah over it, and I’ve been looking at it for days!),

and there were questions like “where you got this?”  and “what IS it?”,  and “we can take the lids off?”, and then, almost immediately, there was dumping…

and pouring, 

filling,

transferring, and sorting.

They cut

and tweezed,

and made cupcakes

and chocolates,

and created a big beautiful candy shoppe.We turned the plastic bin upside down, and it became a work-station/counter, and the Hooligans took on the roles of chocolatier and customer.

I made extra tweezers by folding drinking straws in half, a brilliant idea that I saw over at   Teach Preschool the other day.  Brilliant aren’t they?  Even Miss 2 was able to manipulate them.

You have no idea what an enormous hit this was.  I’m not kidding; they played with it for almost the entire morning.  Close to lunch we packed it up, and Ohhhhh my goodness, can I tell you how much fun it was to pack up?  It was a adventure in sorting and organizing.  It was awesome!  And then I played around with all of the bits and pieces setting it all up so it was ready to play with again.  Every time I set it up, I make some changes and group things together differently than they were before, to initiate new ways of playing with all it.  

This is easily the best bin we’ve had yet, and I can honestly say that I love setting it all up as much as the Hooligans love playing with it.

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures to give you some ideas for making one for your kiddos.  I’d love to see pictures if you put one of your own together!  Feel free to link up your photos on my Happy Hooligans facebook page!Have Fuuuun!

Valentines activity bin

Last night I set out to make our Valentine’s Sensory Bin, after seeing this one that Growing a Jeweled Rose made for her girls.  Let me say that this was no easy task.  I’m the only female in our home.  Our boys are 11 and 14, so pink items are kind of a scarce commodity around here.  I struggled all evening to pull a bin together, but I just couldn’t round up enough materials to fill the bin with. 

I decided instead to take what I was able to find, and make up several different Pink and Red activities to set into the bin, and you know what?  I love it.  I was tempted to bring it out for the Hooligans today, but we kept busy with other things, so I figured I’d wait on it a little longer.

I want to show you what it looks like though.

I filled a couple of glass jars with red beaded Christmas tree garland.

I had two more large jars with lids, so into one I put white lentils, and pink and red foam pieces.  Into the other, I put that red, stretchy mesh that clementines come packaged in.  I’ve been saving that up for a while, thinking it would be perfect for a Valentine’s craft or activity.

I filled two small jars with pom-poms, and a small spice bottle with pink, red and white buttons.  Beside that, I placed one of those little cases that holds medicine and a scoop for filling it with.  Jars and bottles with lids are great for fine motor development, and little ones love snapping the compartments open and closed on the medicine holder.

I added some pink ice-cube trays, some red foam trays, and some tongs for sorting and organizing.

Lastly, I found some pink paint chips for a cutting activity.  This is a great way to teach little ones how to use scissors.  Encourage your child try to cut along the white lines to chop the strips up.

As an extra activity, (this didn’t fit into the bin) I filled a plastic heart-shaped pan with red and pink markers and crayons, and added some white cardboard hearts for decorating.

I love how pretty and inviting this bin looks.  It makes me think of a candy shop! I think we’re going to have some fun with this!!

What crafts and activities are you doing at your house for Valentine’s Day?  I’d love it if you’d link them up on my Happy Hooligans facebook page!

our Christmas village

My Christmas village is usually one of the first things that I set up as the Christmas season approaches.  I was really late pulling the village out this year though.  I set my tree up a few weeks ago, after we’d had a little dusting of snow, and that was it.  The sun came out, and melted the snow, the weather turned unseasonably mild, and decorating the house just sort of fell to the bottom of my list of priorities.  It just hasn’t felt like Christmas with the weather being as warm and wonderful as it has been.

Today I decided we’d better get at it!!  I can’t believe Christmas is less than two weeks away!

I hauled the rubbermaid “village” container up from the cold-room this morning, and the Hooligans had a wonderful time investigating all the houses, the people and the different bits and pieces that go along with it.  

I always set the village up on top of my piano.  It’s too high for them to get at it, we we started by setting all the pieces out on the piano bench, and then one by one, they handed me everything until we had it all put together.  While they were having snack, I rigged up all the extension cords, and then we had a countdown, and I hit the lights.  Oooooh, Aaaaaah!

Last night, I was at my mom’s, and as luck would have it, she was scaling her village back a bit, and she gave me a bag of small village houses and pieces that she no longer wanted.  Today we emptied out our Christmas Sensory Bin, except for the rice and a few beads, buttons and cotton balls, and we placed all of Mom’s hand-me-downs in the bin.  The Hooligans now have a village of their own to play with!

It was a big hit! 

Nativity sensory bin

Ahhhh, I just love this time of year!  I made another Christmas sensory bin yesterday.  

I picked these nativity sets up years ago, at a dollar store.  They’re always a big hit with the little ones when I bring them out of storage at this time of the year. 

I usually just set them on a table or on the floor for play, but this year I decided to turn it all into a sensory experience.   

Nothing fancy – I just filled a foil roasting pan with various lentils, tucked the Nativity sets in and added a “christmas tree” (it’s a candle that I’ve had for years).

The Hooligans had a great time with it.  The lentils add a whole new element of play.  Pouring, scooping, filling the houses with beans etc.

I love how boys and girls typically play differently with things.  Yesterday, when I set out the bin for the first time, Miss Mess quickly announced, “I’m going to decorate my house”, while the boys proceeded to make construction noises, and use their house as a bulldozer.

I love this too:  This morning I set the Nativities out for a two year old who hadn’t yet seen it.   Then I had to answer the door, and got talking, for a few minutes, with a parent who was dropping off their child. When I came back, I had to chuckle at what the 2 year old was busy doing:

Hee-hee.  I love it!

winter wonderland sensory bin

Ok, I can’t tell you how excited I am that the Christmas season is just around the corner!  December is my very favourite month for crafting, baking and for creating fun seasonal activities.

Putting our Christmas tree up this weekend totally put me in the Christmas Spirit, so on Sunday, I went through my holiday boxes and bins and pulled together our December Sensory Bin.

I used white rice for the base, and tossed in some green and white buttons, a few glass beads, a handful of cotton balls and some red beaded-garlandy-stuff.  Then I went to my Christmas tree, removed some of my least-treasured ornaments, and popped them into the bin as well.

The Hooligans discovered the bin shortly after they arrived this morning (I’d hidden it behind a chair because I wanted to surprise them with it), and they looooved it.  They played with it for a good chunk of the morning, and then off and on again in the afternoon.  

I gave them some scoops and some Apothecary jars, and I overheard them playing “Candy Shop”, filling the jars with glittery goodness. 

I just realized I don’t have a Santa in there.  I guess I’d better go back to my tree and see what I can do about that!

What’s in your sensory bin this month?

November sensory bin

I absolutely love the months with holidays in them, so we can base our crafts and activities around a special theme.  November has me kind of stumped.  Hallowe’en is over, and Christmas is still off in the distance, so we don’t have any real celebration to focus on.

I decided to go with another fall themed Sensory Bin for November.  I chose some fall-ish items that we’d used in our September bin, like chestnuts, apples, mini-pumpkins etc., and placed them on a bed of rice and pasta.

A few tongs and trays for sorting and we were good to go.  It’s amazing how switching just a few things up, gives an activity new life.  

Tongs and scoops are the most popular tools in the bin, so I try to have a variety so everyone is happy.  The meat-ball maker (at least I think that’s what it is), is great for picking up chestnuts and other small round objects.  Large plastic tweezers are fun too.

I covered some toilet paper tubes in fall-coloured wall paper samples, for pouring and dropping things through, and provided some ice-cube trays for sorting.

As you can see, some of them get right into the whole sensory thing.  One with his body, and one tasting the rice and pasta.

I love sensory bins.  They’re so easy to pull together with things you have around the house.  If you’ve never made one, go for it!  Your kiddos will love it, and you’ll be amazed by how much fun and entertainment they provide!

What’s going into your sensory bin this month?

 

ghost mud

Ghost mud was the perfect thing to make today, on this last day of October, to celebrate Hallowe’en.  I first read about ghost mud over at Teacher Tom’s.

Grate a bar of Ivory soap and add it to about 1 cup of hot water.  Stir it around a few times until it’s melty and mushy.

Meanwhile, toss a roll of toilet paper to your little people, and challenge them to get all of the paper off of the roll.  Enjoy the giggling and squealing that follows.

Now, just pile all that t.p. into a large bin or basin, and have the kiddos rip it into a million pieces.  How fun is this activity?  And we haven’t even gotten to the “mud” part yet!

Once your t.p. has been shredded, pour the soapy water into the basin and start mushing and mashing everything all together with your hands.  It feels good, and smells great, and you wind up with this awesome slippery, silky, moldable “dough”.

I’m not sure if ours turned out exactly as it should have.  I’ve heard others say it should have the consistency of cool whip.  I don’t believe ours ever did.  It was pulpier than that, but maybe we didn’t rip our t.p. enough.  You know what though?  It totally didn’t matter.

This stuff was awesome!

a spooky sensory bin

With Hallowe’en approaching, I’ve been itching to change-up our sensory bin.  The Hooligans had a lot of fun with our fall bin, and played with it many times through-out September and October, but I “retired” it this past weekend.  Actually, I picked it apart and used most of it to create an awesome table-scape for our Thanksgiving Feast, which we hosted Sunday at our house.

In case you missed it, this is what our fall bin looked like:

and this is what it looked like in its second life, spilling across my dining room table:

I loved it!  But….out with the old, and in with the new!  With another “holiday” looming on the horizon, I was eager to pull out the Hallowe’en items that I’d stashed away for our October bin.

So, Saturday night, I handed the bags of goodies over to Andrew (seen above, in his jammies), and he pulled it all together for me.   He started with orange lentils and dried black beans (I picked up both at the Bulk Barn about a month ago).

Everything else, I either had on hand here, or had picked up at the Dollar Store: beaded necklaces, witches fingers, plastic skulls, foam bats, Hallowe’en rings and erasers, a large pipe-cleaner/styrofoam spider, and some awesome battery-operated flicker candles.  I love flicker candles, and was really happy to find some in orange.

Today, just before the Hooligans arrived, I added some scoops, and containers.

Ok.  The Hooligans LOVED IT.  We went to the beach for the morning, but before and after the beach, after lunch, and after naps, there was always someone, or several “someones” digging and playing.   

I’m always amazed at how even the youngest ones grasp the concept of playing OVER the bin, so we don’t end up with half the beans on the ground.  A reminder every now and then helps, but for the most part, they just do the scooping and pouring over the bin.  This morning, I just swept any strays into the garden, as I’d had it set up on the front porch, but this afternoon I put a plastic table-cloth underneath it.   At the end of the day I just picked up the tablecloth and tipped any spilled beans back into the bin.

There’s rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so I think we’ll take our play downstairs to a darkened room, where the “candles” can really do their thing.

I think this is one of my favourite sensory bins yet!  What do you think?