{disclaimer ~ affiliate links used in this post}
It’s been many years since I have colored pasta or rice for sensory play, but the process hasn’t changed! The materials have though! I was inspired by this post on dyeing barley for sensory play. We didn’t have barely but I am obsessed with wheat berries {and order them in bulk from Amazon} so I gave it a try! The results were awesome!
There are a few methods to dyeing stuff, but I chose to use the method I had used years ago as a teacher. All measurements are totally guesses, I didn’t actually measure anything.
- put uncooked wheat berries in Ziploc bag {approx. 1 C}
- add about a teaspoon of white vinegar
- add a drop of food coloring
- seal bag and shake/mix it up
- add more coloring if desired.
- mix well
- put parchment paper on cookie sheets {not necessary, but what I did}
- dump damp colored wheat berries onto trays
- allow to dry {we left ours overnight}
Here’s a bit of a visual version…
You can see I did some macaroni noodles on the same day…
She played on the trays the day after they dried, I just forgot to take any pictures! The next week I surprised her with her new mini sensory bin for her All By Myself Preschool Box time!
She loved her rainbow wheat berries and played with them for hours! They will now be put in the sensory item rotation for her boxes each week!
See more sensory play ideas on my Pinterest board!
