An easy rainy-day activity for entertaining your kid
I usually post photos of family photography, but I thought I’d try something a little different today. I’m posting some photos of my own son and an easy activity (that he absolutely LOVED!) for you to try at home – rainbow rice!
Here in the UK it’s been pouring with rain for weeks on end. I hate the rain. It’s not great to say that (it always makes me think of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People!) but I really don’t enjoy being outside when it’s wet or cold.
We are starting to rethink that though because we’re getting a serious case of cabin fever going on over at Chateau Deslauriers!
How to make your rainbow rice
I’ve heard that Tuff trays are amazing, but I just got a big roller box that we had under the spare bed. Benefit of our box is that it has a lid so it can be put away. Plus, it has wheels so Grayson can get it out (and theoretically tidy it away, ha!) himself.
Nip to the supermarket and buy some food colours and some value brand rice. Grab yourself some ziplocks, put the rice into them. Of course, I had to measure mine out so we had equal colour ratios but that’s not everyone’s style! You can easily see from the colour through the bag how it’ll end up so add enough food colouring until you’re happy. It’ll need a few hours to dry, depending on how much food colouring you added. If you’re impatient you can put the rice on a baking tray in a very low oven for 20 minutes.
The more colours the merrier! We started with four colours (including leaving some white) and have just added more in different colours when the box needs a top up.
That’s it.
Then put the dry rainbow rice into the container and find toys to put in there. My son loves little dump trucks and diggers to move and mix the rice with. He is also really enjoying an assortment of plastic cups for pouring, digging etc. Essentially I think you could use any toys you have lying around.
Now play!
He was so excited when he first laid eyes on his box – look at that little face!
Maybe try making a little beach scene with tiny towels and play figurines – yellow rice would be perfect for this? Or perhaps green rice could be grass for your field where animals live? The possibilities are endless…
Be warned: you will end up parroting “no, IN the box” about 400 times an hour. And if you have a cheeky monkey like this one then you may end up with some “rainbow rice angels”! The good news is that it’s easily hoovered up.
Definitely give this a go at home. Little hands seem to love it and it’s a great rainy-day indoor activity. If you try this, why not take a photo and pop it on my Facebook page? Your ideas will be fab and I’d love to see them!
We had so much fun playing with this together that I wish I had photos with me in them. Do you have any photos of you at play with your kid?
Just in case you’re reading this on a nice sunny day, check out my recommendations for the five top parks in St Albans.
