WednesDiY - Kid Friendly Craft Project: DiY Rainbow Rice

Rainbow rice is the perfect project for a rainy day or just a simple DiY project with the kiddos.  It's inexpensive and fun, and your kids can easily help to create it!

You will need:

white rice (long or short grain)

liquid watercolor paints

rubbing alcohol

I purchased the rice very cheap at the local market.  They have bulk bins where I can scoop as much as I need and pay per pound.

For the paint, we used the Sargent Art Fluorescent Watercolor Magic Set.  I couldn't find any at Michaels, so I ordered it off of Amazon.  If you have a Prime account, it ships for free, or if your order totals $25, it will ship for free too.  It sells out fast because the price is awesome - only about $12 for the set.  You can also pick up this set here for $25.67 shipped with coupon code "ABC5"  That's the cheapest place besides Amazon that I could find.  Now you can see why it sells out fast on Amazon!  ;)

The rubbing alcohol helps the paint to dry quickly.  It's fairly inexpensive at Target or Walmart.  I didn't have any at the time, so I used some witch hazel which still worked well.

Divide the rice into how many colors you will be making (so you don't run out).  Mix one color at a time by putting the plain white rice into a mixing bowl, add the liquid water color paint and about 4 Tbsp of rubbing alcohol.

If the color isn't vibrant enough, just add more paint.  Part of the fun is experimenting!




Repeat this process with the other colors in separate bowls to create the rainbow effect.

Once you finish mixing a color, spread it on a baking sheet (I lined mine with a sheet of waxed paper) so that it can dry completely.  It dries fairly quick - about 30 minutes or less.  The rubbing alcohol will help to speed the process.  You could probably leave the rice in the mixing bowls to dry, but you will need to mix it every once in a while or it will take hours for it to dry.

The kids are amazed by the colors, especially when you arrange it in stripes on the baking sheet to dry - so it looks like a rainbow.  I think I amazed myself too!

Once the magically rainbow rice has dried, it's time to break out the sand toys, kitchen measuring cups and spoons, and a couple baking dishes.  My kids enjoyed burying their toys and turn it into a treasure hunt.  It's also perfect for the little toy bull dozers and dump trucks!

 

And don't worry about the colors mixing together - it's going to happen....just like Play-Doh!  Now sit back and watch your kids play for hours with their new rainbow rice!

**have fun**