FUN FRIDAY - CRAFTY COLOURED RICE

Wow I'm so super dooper excited, today we have our first GUEST BLOGGER!!!

When I saw my friend, Cath's Facebook status mentioning she was trying her hand at colouring rice for her young son I just knew I had to grab her for a guest blog post. So here you have it introducing Catherine Chapman & her adorable son Heath showing us all how to make....

Crafty Coloured Rice

I never really considered using rice as a plaything for my son before, but I found the idea on the internet and HAD to try it out. Its great fun for them, as it sifts through there fingers, and they can pour into cups, bowls etc… even can be used to stick to their drawings. The colours add that extra touch, and will be enjoyed by your kids.
Dying Your Rice

I think the best rice to use, would be any rice that is white, so jasmine rice, long grained rice etc… as it picks up the dye better, brown rice won’t work as the colour won’t stick to it as well as white rice.

In a small bowl (metal or plastic bowls work best as they won’t stain)

Then mix 3 tablespoons of water with 4 – 5 drops of food colouring, depending on how strong you want the colour, stir with a metal spoon till the water and food colouring is mixed together

The next step is to add 1 cup of rice to the coloured water, let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Then using a sieve, drain the rice and spread the colored rice out on newspaper (make it several layers thick to absorb any excess liquid) to dry. Let it dry for a few hours, 7 – 10 hours.. Works better if dried overnight. You can repeat as many times as you like with the different colors. (I have used blue, green and yellow in the photos)

Once dried, mix colours together, and then let the kids have a play! The rice is best kept in see through jars.

Kids will mix the colours, so if you want to keep them separate, make sure you only offer one colours at a time. For putting out multiple colors at once, egg cartons for example are best to use, just spoon one color into each cup.

The coloured rice should keep indefinitely. However kids may scatter or hide rice around the house, I have already found some in my sons ride-on car, oopsey!

Ideas for the coloured rice
Layer colours in a jar
You can make pretty decorations by simply layering colored rice in a clear glass jar and setting it on the shelf.

Make pictures

Spread glue on a picture and then sprinkle with coloured rice, great to add a special touch to those drawings.
 
 
 
A very big thanks again to Catherine for doing this guest blog spot for us!!! If you try this out or any other of our crafts & tips I'd love to see your photos. Photos can be emailed to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com