Literacy & ABCs
SensoryPreschoolersToddlers9 Comments
A rainbow rice sensory bin is great for toddlers, and we added in letter learning for preschoolers! Plus, learn how to make colored rice for hours of fun!
Farah is sharing a fantastic sensory bin for learning letters today! She’s a fellow Huddler, will you join us too?
I have been using rainbow rice to create innumerable learning opportunities.
How to Make Colored Rice
We have more rainbow rice activities that also goes into detail of how to make colored rice.
It’s very simple and the kids can help do it! All they gotta do it shake it up!
It’s fast, fun and super easy, I promise. And provides hours of fun.
When my daughter was barely 2 years old, I used the rainbow rice for sensory play with cups, spoons, funnels etc. This would keep my daughter engaged for a long period of time.
I would closely supervise to ensure nothing was going into her mouth. I had also trained her to never put this in her mouth and also to contain the mess within her mat.
Later I started using the rainbow rice to introduce letters, to teach colors and shapes, in art and craft activities (see here an idea to use rainbow rice with an art project), in pretend play (when the rice is the food for her guests), in developing fine motor skills such as pouring, spooning, transferring, in developing practical life skills such as pounding rice, etc.
Try our fruit loops rainbow craft for preschoolers!
I would like to share in detail how I used this rainbow rice sensory bin to teach her letters.
Learn Letters with a Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin:
I collected 26 pebbles from the garden and wrote capital and small letters (capital on one side and small on the other) on each.
I put these letter pebbles in a basket.
You can also write letters on small pieces of paper!
I had bought two sets of wooden alphabet (upper and lowercase) puzzles (here’s an affiliate link to a wooden puzzle with both upper and lowercase letters) and was trying to figure out the most creative way to present it to her. That’s when I thought of using it with the rainbow rice.
Use whatever letters you have available.
The rainbow rice, in our house, always has a designated bin.
I put all the wooden letters (both big and small) in the rainbow rice bin.
I laid out the mat, opened the bin, put the two alphabet puzzle boards in front of her.
Pick a pebble (or a letter on a paper) from the basket, find the matching letters in the rainbow rice sensory bin.
I never pushed her to do more than 5-6 letters in one sitting and we did this activity whenever she showed an interest.
I did not want any negative association with learning letters of the alphabet.
This strategy of only a few letters at a time worked and she would want to sit with the rainbow rice bin almost everyday, and later independently.
It was a success to say the least.
More rice sensory bin activities:
- “I Spy My Name” Rice Sensory Bin
- 3 Activities in One with Homemade Colored Rice
- I Spy Sensory Bag for Sight Words and Letters
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