Fall-Themed Sensory Bin using DIY Colored Rice

Create a festive Fall-Themed Sensory Bin using DIY Colored Rice! This easy, budget-friendly, activity will keep your kids entertained with creative play ideas and hands-on autumn fun!

Looking for a fun, easy, and budget-friendly activity for the kiddos? Let’s jump into cozy seasonal play with a fall-themed sensory bin using vibrant red, orange, and yellow dyed rice as the base!

This quick and simple activity uses supplies you can grab from Amazon, Target’s Dollar Spot, or the Dollar Store. With the help of some basic household ingredients, you can even dye your own rice for a warm, autumn-inspired look. The setup is simple, but the fun lasts for hours!

Why Make a Fall-Themed Sensory Bin?

Sensory bins are always a hit because they’re inexpensive, easy to set up, and kids absolutely love them! Using dyed rice in colors like red, orange, and yellow creates a gorgeous fall backdrop perfect for small-world play. It’s ideal for scooping, sorting, and exploring textures—plus the crunchy texture is so satisfying for little hands.

Add in fabric fall leaves, mini pine cones, sparkly autumn gems, and fuzzy pom poms, and you’ve got yourself a whimsical fall wonderland! Fall sensory activities like this fall-themed sensory bin helps kids explore creativity, develop fine motor skills, and enjoy hands-on learning through imaginative seasonal play.

The Best Fall-Themed Colored Rice Sensory Bin

What You’ll Need

Before you get started, make sure you’ve got everything prepped and ready to go. The best part about this fall-themed sensory bin is that it’s totally customizable! I’ve linked what we used from Amazon below.

Here’s everything you’ll need to make a batch of Colored Rice. This recipe is based on using 1 cup of rice. If you’d like to make a larger batch, simply multiply the ingredients by the number of cups of rice you plan to use. I recommend 4-8 cups of rice, depending on the size of your sensory bin.

• 1 cup Uncooked Rice
• 1 tsp Vinegar or Rubbing Alcohol
• Food Coloring or Liquid Water Colors

Extras for the sensory bin:

• Fabric Fall Leaves
• Mini Pine Cones
• Fall-Themed Gems
• Pom Pom Balls in Fall Colors
• Silicone Cupcake Liners or Small Bowls
• Scoops and Funnel or Tongs and Tweezers or Spoons
• Sensory Bin (or any container big enough for your child to play in)

Pro Tip: This sensory bin uses Colored Rice as the filler. But if you don’t have rice or want to switch it up, other fillers like Kinetic Sand, Colored Chickpeas, Colored Pasta, Taste-Safe Kinetic Sand, Moon Dough, Cloud Dough or Edible Play Dough work great too! Click the links for step-by-step instructions to make your own.

Check out our blog post about Essential Sensory Bin Supplies to have on hand, making it easy to set-up multiple different sensory bins in seconds!

How to Dye Rice (Quick and Easy!)

If you’ve never dyed rice before, you’re in for a treat! It’s SO simple, budget friendly, and takes only a few minutes to prep. Plus, it adds a fun sensory experience before the bin even comes together.

Check out our post on How To Make Colored Rice with step-by-step directions, along with helpful tips and tricks for dying rice. Here’s a short version for how you can whip up a batch in no time:

1. Grab some uncooked rice

Go with the budget-friendly kind! You’ll need about 4-8 cups total, depending on the size of your bin.

2. Add food coloring

Divide the rice into ziplock bags, one for each color you want. Squirt a few drops of food coloring into each bag along with a teaspoon of white vinegar or rubbing alcohol per 1 cup of rice (this helps the color set).

3. Shake it up!

Shake the bags. Let your kids help shake them—this part is really fun! Shake until all the rice is evenly coated in bright color.

4. Spread out the rice to dry

Lay the colored rice on a parchment paper or a baking sheet to dry. It usually takes about 1-2 hours to fully dry, but it’ll be good to go once it feels nice and dry to the touch.

Now, you have beautiful dyed rice! You can store it in an airtight container and use it over and over again for different activities.

How to Set Up Your Fall-Themed Sensory Bin

1. Fill the Bin

Start by pouring your dyed rice into a large sensory bin or container. We used red, orange, and yellow to give it a warm, autumn harvest look. Spread it evenly across the bottom.

2. Add Fall Toys and Trinkets

Place your fabric leaves, mini pine cones, sparkly gems, and soft pom poms on top of the rice. You can even bury a few items for kids to “discover” while digging through the fall scene!

3. Add Scoops and Tongs

To make the bin even more interactive, toss in some scoops, tongs, bowls, and funnels. These tools help build fine motor skills as kids collect autumn treasures, transfer rice between containers, and dig for hidden fall goodies.

4. Let Them Play

Now that the bin is ready, it’s time for your little ones to explore their magical fall small world! Watch as they sort pine cones, gather “harvest” leaves, scoop rice, and bring their imagination to life.

Creative Play Ideas for Your Fall-Themed Sensory Bin

Once your fall-themed sensory bin is set up, here are a few extra activities to keep the fun going:

1. Fall Treasure Hunt

Bury the pine cones, gems, and pom poms under the rice and challenge your child to find and collect them using tongs. They can count them, sort by type, or “deliver” them to a pretend autumn market.

2. Harvest Market Pretend Play

Set up small bowls as pretend harvest baskets and use the rice as the “ground” of your fall farm stand. Kids can scoop rice and “sell” their treasures like they’re at a seasonal market!

3. Scoop and Pour

Include measuring cups, scoops, funnels, and small bowls in the sensory bin for a classic scoop-and-pour activity. Kids can practice transferring the rice from one container to another, experimenting with quantities and different tools.

Why We Love This Fall Sensory Bin

What’s not to love about this fall-themed sensory bin? It’s easy to put together, super budget-friendly, and endlessly reusable. Once playtime is over, just store the rice and toys in airtight containers or bags and you’ll be ready for your next cozy play session.

Whether your child is sorting pine cones, exploring textures, or creating their own fall stories, this sensory bin provides hands-on fun and endless learning through play.