Home       About Us       Salsa Store       Referral       Lifebooks       Recipes       Videos       Blog Headers

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Rice art is fun (and cool looking!)

The girls were begging for another Rainy Day Project today (no, it’s not raining today, not even close, Ro and Ree are just tickled with the idea of projects), so I pulled out Rice Art. This was a big hit with the little ladies! DSC_7107LRsrgb

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put 1/2 cup of uncooked rice in each bowl (we used brown rice because that’s what’s taking up space in the cupboard not being eaten by our picky little rice connoisseurs). This is Ree, btw:DSC_7033LRa

Add 5-8 drops of food coloring in each bowl (you know we tend to excess, so we probably put in 8-12, there’s just no telling):DSC_7034LRa 

Add 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar to each bowl (it helps to set the colors, or so I hear):DSC_7038LRa

Stir gently (so you don’t fling rice and food coloring all over your kitchen and your mama):DSC_7048LRa

Spread each color flat on a baking sheet. I made four little liners out of tin foil for easy cleanup and so the piles of rice would be easy to pour back in the rinsed bowls later:DSC_7052LRa DSC_7059LRa

Bake for 45 minutes to get it all nice and dry and twinproof and all:DSC_7060LRa DSC_7063LRa

In the meantime, while you’re waiting for the rice to bake and cool off, do NOT do what Ro did and apply semi-permanent stamps all over your body. Sigh…DSC_7065LRa

Then draw some shapes on cardboard (the bigger the shapes the better) and cover parts of your drawing with glue. We used rubber cement, because the girls had used all of the Elmer’s glue in an unfortunate patio-glueing incident last week, and it was REALLY easy to use, but I don’t know if it will hold up as well as Elmer’s once dry. Then sprinkle colored rice on the glue (one color at a time), dump the excess back into your bowl, and voila:DSC_7071LRa DSC_7072LRa DSC_7074LRa DSC_7082LRa DSC_7083LRa

This project was so fun that the girls left all their supplies on the art table and did some more rice art the next day. Ro is in the pink polka-dotted shirt this time:DSC_7104LRa DSC_7105LRa 

I think they turned out really well, and clean-up was a breeze, the girls actually did it all.DSC_7091LRa

Our Rainy Day Project list can always be found in the left sidebar, if you need it. Cheers!

~~~~

My friend Leda and her family are in the process of adopting an adorable 8-year-old little girl in China with Thalassemia. They’re fundraising to bring her home right now, and if you’d like to help in any way, please visit her site Fund for Faith to make a donation or purchase neat adoption-themed items that have been donated in Faith’s name.

7 comments:

  1. This looks so much fun!!! I must remember to do this with Tate when she gets just a bite older....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is Ree going to be a ballerina standing on her toes like that?

    OUCH!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very cool! Linhsey did this at school one day but the colors ran all over and was all over her hands. Maybe the oven part eliminates that? I'll have to try!

    ReplyDelete
  4. now that is one cool project!

    i am still wondering how Ree didn't break her toes. have you SEEN how she stands on them?? maybe it's time for ballet shoes... :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad you posted the directions for this! My mom did this with us as kids but I had no idea how to replicate it. I can't wait to try it with my Sweet Girl!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7/21/2010

    We did this today and followed your directions. But we had some plastic bottles (for ship in a bottle projects) so the girls put shells in the top and filled the bottom with rice. You can get the bottles at Michael's. I bet the twins would like that. We also had a shadow box laying around so we covered the bottom with rice and the girls told me where to hot glue some shells to the rice covered bottom. It turned out nice.
    Thanks for the idea!

    Elaine M.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh funny, I had to go back and look at the pics to see Ree's toes. Yep, she does that all the time. Freakishly strong toes (well freakishly strong everything, actually).

    ReplyDelete