Colors, colors, colors everywhere! There is a special place in my heart for sensory bins and although they are not necessarily Montessori, I believe they still have value and my daughter enjoys them. Rainbow rice was one of the first bins I tried and I can say, it is worth the effort to make it. The colors are vibrant and beautiful and mixing them was all apart of the fun. If the thought of letting your young toddler play with rice in the house has you cringe, I still encourage you to give it a try, as cleaning up won’t take longer than five minutes, promise!

To help control the potential mess, I laid out a big sheet or towel and presented the bin to Emery. I allowed her to investigate while gently reminding her that “the rice stays in the bin.” One thing I have found particularly helpful when talking with toddlers is describing things as they are vs labeling it in relation to them. For example, “rice stays in the bin” vs “don’t pour out the rice” “Emery stop doing that.” This gives clear direction, is not personal, allows them to make the choice of how to respond and is usually more well received. If she continues to deliberately take the rice out, I calmly state, “It looks as though you are having a hard time keeping the rice in the bin, I will put it away and we can try again another time.” Then I ask her what she thinks we need to use clean and she might mention a broom or the vacuum and we clean it up together!