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It’s a new season (not my favorite one either) – so you know what that means…new sensory bin! As soon as we took down our Christmas decorations it was out with the Christmas Rice, and in with the “Winter Rice” as my 4 year old likes to call it!
If you’re new to this concept, you can check out my previous blog post here and if you’re not, let’s dive right in!
So “winter rice” might me a little bit more of a stretch than some of my other themed rice bins, but we’re rolling with it and it’s been a hit so far!
We start, of course, by simply making our rice – using a ziplock bag, food coloring (of choice), 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, and white rice.
I started out making a pretty blue – and then I thought, well what fun is that to only make one color?!
So, at the risk of it turning out gray, I decided to make purple rice as well! Purple is hard people. But we made it work!
After I mix up the rice in my ziplock bags, I lay it out on a baking sheet to dry. And then comes the fun part – the add ins!
This little snowman was honestly my “winter rice” inspiration. It is actually a plastic Christmas ornament from the Dollar Tree that I snagged during the holidays. Our gingerbread man ornament was such a hit for the Christmas Rice, that I knew the snowman would be the perfect addition to this bin!
The basketball is actually a Dollar Tree find from last year…because wait for it….it’s an Easter Egg! But it’s perfect for a sensory bin since it opens, closes, holds rice, acts as a scoop, etc.
And then we have our standard scoops, cups, and spoon! The blue cups and spoon are other Dollar Tree finds that we keep with our sensory bin items – and I never throw away a good scoop – like the ones that come in protein powder!
If you’re a Disney loving family like we are you might also recognize some familiar faces in here…yep that’s Snow Plow Christmas Lightning and Sally with Ear Muffs! These were a limited edition find at Target during the holidays…but I couldn’t resist adding them to this winter bin! Mater has also since made the bin…don’t worry!
Now I just add it all to our Tupperware container – and we’re ready to play!
It never takes long for him to dive in…every time I make new rice, he is constantly asking me “is the rice ready mommy?” “can we play in the rice now?”
Needless to say – he’s always ready to dig in as soon as I give him the all clear!
Which, as I’ve said many times before, is why I love these bins so much. Do they provide hours upon hours of entertainment at a time? Not necessarily. But do they provide entertainment for a block of time? Yes.
I leave our rice sitting out (with the lid snapped on) on our IKEA kids table. Hudson knows where it is and knows the rules of keeping the rice in the bin, and is free to get it out anytime he wants.
Sometimes her gets it out and plays for 5 minutes. Sometimes he plays for 30. But regardless, it’s a great tool, and often a great *calming* reset activity. And what mom doesn’t love that?!
And as always – my favorite part about changing these out for each season (aside from the fact that I thrive on seasonal changes and decor) is that each time I bring a new one out, new interest is sparked! If interest has been waning, I know it’s almost time for a new season (I mean, I get it!), and immediately, his attention and interest is sparked again!
Enjoy your winter rice – we’ll catch ya next season for more!