Do you have some left over cooked rice? Or rice from your take out order? I used rice from my Chinese dinner – that we did not eat from (I don’t like white rice from Chinese restaurants). I kept mine in the refrigerator overnight and used the next day for their play and learning.
For this activity you may need any of the following:
- Rice
- Tub
- Drop cloth
- Sandbox items (small)
- Mortar and pestle,
- Spoons
- Sieve
- Any other material that comes to your mind (safe for children).
Add a drop cloth under your bin for easy clean up – you will be sweeping or vacuuming after or please take the activity outdoors.
Sensory play is very beneficial to young children’s learning, exploration, curiosity and connections of the world around them. Through sensory play the children learn about textures, problem solve, develop focus and build their vocabularies.
Invite Children to Play
- Mold, smush, press, form – I allowed them to quizzically investigate the materials.
- Making Shapes
The Mobile Infants investigation
An infant circled the bin not knowing what to do. She kept watching the older children play as she anticipated her play.
She mustered the courage to enter the bin.. The older toddlers were hesitant and kept telling her no. I encourage her to touch, feel and play.
She kept rubbing the rice in her hand, feeling its texture – soft, icky, sticky, gooey feel. The more she held the rice, the more she shook it off her hands.
While all this was happening her friend kept watching and when she exited the bin, he entered it (room for rent apply within).
And the infants had fun learning, playing and building their knowledge bank.
Sensory play is messy play! If you are anxious about mess then please take the activity outdoors. In my opinion this kind of play is perfect for raining days; days when you are not feeling your best but want the children to have fun. This play happened on a day when my head was pounding and I was not myself. I wanted the children to have fun and they did.
After the play I took the container outdoors, vacuumed the area, washed the items (during their nap).
I intentionally emptied the rice on ground outdoors and not in garbage bin, because we love to watch the squirrels eat .
Children love to watch wild life.
Have fun doing this activity with your children – remember mess can be cleaned up. Make beautiful memories with your little ones and along the way – help foster their curiosity
xoxo – Miss Sue
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