Science- dying rice and pasta!

Today we finished up our rice and pasta dying. I'm glad that this is done and my hands can return to their normal color (for some reason some watercolor paint does not want to wash off while other colors had no problem washing off :( ). This is a really fun activity and a great addition to a sensory center. We have a table in our classroom that usually has sand it in, but we decided we were ready for something new. We have dyed rice in the past for different art projects and decided that it would be fun to have different colored rice and pasta in the table.


Supplies needed:
rice (uncooked)
pasta noodles (uncooked)
water color paint (or food coloring)
rubbing alcohol
bowl
spoon
somewhere to lay the rice and pasta out to dry
gloves (I thought about this after my hands began to change colors)


1. Mix a cup of rubbing alcohol with a few drops of watercolor (or food coloring- both work) or until you get a shade that you like (the darker the better usually). We used watercolor paint this time because we had a lot more color options than we do with the food coloring. 


2. Stir in the rice/pasta. Mix really well until all of the rice/pasta has changed colors.

3. Pour it out and let it dry. Beware- wherever you do this at will smell like rubbing alcohol. We had to open the doors in our classroom and let it air out. 

4. Once it's dry it's ready to use!

  

These pictures are before the pasta was mixed in as well. We also kept a shoe box sized Rubbermaid container of pasta separate that we are going to use for sorting activities. 



We also usually keep a bag of dyed rice in our art supply closet to use for various art activities (or just for free art).