I recently set up a rice center for my kids and it’s been a huge hit. It was really supposed to be for my four-year-old niece, who homeschools with us, but all the kids have enjoyed it. The rice center was easy and relatively inexpensive to set up.
You’ll need:
* a large shallow container (I used a 2-qt Rubbermaid container with a lid)
* a large bag of rice (I bought a giant bag of store-brand rice — this was, surprisingly, the most expensive component of the project)
* items for filling, pouring, and measuring (i.e. cups, measuring spoons, funnel)
You just pour the rice in the container, add the items for play and – voila! – you have hours of enjoyment and fine motor skills practice for your preschooler (and up!).
**The rice does get everywhere, so you’ll want to make sure that it’s in an area that’s easily swept or vacuumed. One commenter on my blog even said that she used baking soda instead of rice and now she gets the added bonus or having her carpet deodorized from the spilled soda.
Kris is the sweet-tea drinking, classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom to her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea! I think I will be picking up a few bags of rice to do this with my two year old! Brave…yes!
In my previous life, I was a preschool teacher. Every kid in the class loved what we called the sensory table, but it was just a big tub filled with rice, scoops, funnels, bottles, etc. We tried other things but always went back to rice. I’m not exaggerating when I say everyone loved it… well, everyone except the cleaning crew!
I am going to do this for my toddler. He’ll love it.
This is fun! We used to take rice and put it in a 2 liter bottle with little toys and such. Then they could turn the bottle around and around searching for something…like I Spy! I used to let them play with it in bed and then they would get tired! :)
I love this idea. It’s also great for daycare or preschools.
Something I did was take THAT container and put it in a container itself… or set it on the lid and let the lid work as a catch-all for the extras. We use pinto beans here (because my son loves to use the collander and got really upset everything kept working its way through). But having that container sitting in a larger one helped contain a LOT of the spillage. ;) It’s messy but it’s FUN!
I LOVE this idea! putting it on my to-do list :)
I just did this for my 3 year old and he loved it! Thanks for the idea!