Playdate {Valentines Sensory Bin}

Karen and I do most of our LuCk Date planning through texts. Last Friday night's exchange went something like this: 
Ally: How do I  dye rice pink?
While waiting for a response, Ally skims through Pinterest to see if she can find the answer
Karen: Shake it.  You can use rubbing alcohol and food coloring
Ally: Pinterest told me vinegar works too, but I want to dye a lot of rice. 
Karen: How much?
Ally: Twenty pounds
Karen: Where are you planning on drying all this rice?
I'm a tinkerer by nature. So, at this point, I had already identified this as a problem.  I was already in the kitchen shaking rice and red food coloring around in mason jars, seeing what would happen. 
Ally: I figured it out!
Karen: You already did it?
Ally: Mason Jar. Food Coloring. Shake!
Karen: I'm surprised you didn't put it in the Kitchen Aid.

I'm a self proclaimed Kitchen Aid junkie.  I use it to scramble a basic egg.  Why I didn't think of using the Kitchen Aid to mix the rice, is beyond me, but this is why I love working with other moms.  After spending the previous 30 minutes shaking small batches of rice in mason jars, I poured the remaining 10 pounds into the Kitchen Aid and it was a beautiful motley mix of red and pink rice in about 3 minutes.  It looked absolutely amazing!  I was so excited to let Chuck explore her first sensory bin, that I had to share this experience with others! 

I then texted the mother of our 3-year-old neighbor:
Ally: Do you want to come over on Saturday and dig through a bin of pink colored rice for Valentine's Day?  I'll make heart shaped quesadillas!  
Michele: Sure! What time?

If I could fill an in ground pool with rice, I would.  I love the therapeutic, soothing nature of rice.  During these winter months, my little, lovely, energetic toddler needs a little soothing. There are so many kinds of sensory bins to create! Since its Valentine's Day, I decided to go full-blown LOVE!  I scented the rice with vanilla and scattered some candy conversation hearts, heart-shaped gems, rose petals, heart shaped bracelets, and shiny necklaces.  I gave the girls some sand toys, and little red-plastic cups to explore with. 

At first, the girls spent some time simply digging through the rice and exploring it with their hands.  After a while, they began to fill and refill the cups and containers.  Then, they started discovering the jewels, and necklaces, and candy!  The girls spent about 40 minutes discovering treasures in the rice (which, as we all know, is an eternity in toddler time.) They got quite serious with their rice exploration.  I loved watching their tiny fingers go exploring, scooping, sorting, sifting, pouring.  

Days later, Chuck still points to the bin and says "rice, rice".  I consider our first adventure with rice sensory bins to be a success!  There are so many possibilities in our future!
Now, if only I could teach Chuck how to use the vacuum cleaner . . .