How To Make A Watermelon Colored Rice Sensory Bin

Create a fun Watermelon Sensory Bin with red and pink colored rice! This easy and budget-friendly activity will keep your kids entertained with creative play ideas and summer fun!

Looking for a fun, easy, and budget-friendly summer activity for the kiddos? Let’s create a watermelon-themed sensory bin using dyed red and pink rice as the base!

This quick and simple activity uses supplies you can grab from Target’s Dollar Spot (or the Dollar Store if you prefer). With the help of some basic household ingredients, you can even dye your own rice for an extra summery touch. The setup is so easy!

Why Make A Watermelon Sensory Bin?

Sensory bins are always a hit because they’re inexpensive, easy to set up, and kids absolutely love them! Using dyed red and pink rice as a base adds a colorful and summery vibe that’s perfect for warm-weather play. It’s great for scooping, pouring, and digging, plus it provides a smooth, crunchy texture kids enjoy.

Add some black bean “seeds”, pom-pom balls, or watermelon-themed toys, and you’ve got a bin full of summer fun! Summer sensory activities like this help kids engage with the time of year, build special memories, and encourage imaginative play.

The Best Watermelon Colored Rice Sensory Bin

What You’ll Need

Before you get started, make sure you have everything prepped and ready to go. The great thing about this watermelon sensory bin is how customizable it is, so you can get creative with what you have on hand. I linked what we used from Amazon.

• Colored Rice: You can either make it at home (which I’ll show you how to do in a sec!) or buy colored rice. It’s just as fun to make it as it is to play with it!
• Watermelon-Themed Trinkets: Think black beans (as “seeds”), pom-poms, gems, or any summer-themed toys.
• 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 Sand, 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 6-8 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 Watermelon Sensory Bin

1. Fill the Bin

Start by pouring the dyed red and pink rice into your large container or sensory bin. Spread it out evenly, making sure to cover the entire base of the bin. The bright red and pink colors will instantly create a summery watermelon vibe.

2. Add Watermelon Trinkets

Next, it’s time to scatter the watermelon-themed trinkets like black beans, pom-poms, fruit charms, and gems into the rice. Hide some toys deeper while keeping others visible to create an element of surprise and discovery.

3. Add Scoops and Tongs

To make the bin even more interactive, toss in some scoops, tongs, bowls, and funnels. These tools encourage kids to practice fine motor skills as they scoop up the rice, use tongs to pick out watermelon toys, or pour rice into bowls.

4. Let Them Play

Now that everything is set up, sit back and watch your kids dive into the watermelon sensory fun! They’ll enjoy exploring the textures, sounds, and sights of the bin as they dig, pour, and scoop their way through the rice.

Creative Play Ideas for Your Watermelon Sensory Bin

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

1. Seed Hunt

Bury the black bean “seeds” in the rice. Challenge your child to find all the seeds using their tweezers, scoops, tongs, or even their hands. Have them count the seeds or sort them for an extra activity.

2. Watermelon Juice Station

Set up a “Watermelon Mixing” station by including small jars, scoops, and watermelon items like pom-poms, gems cups or mason jars, and straws. Encourage your child to scoop the rice and mix in the items to create their own pretend watermelon juice.

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 Watermelon Sensory Bin

What’s not to love about this watermelon sensory bin? It’s super easy to set up, budget-friendly, and reusable all summer long. Once playtime is over, just store the rice and toys in separate bags, and you’re ready to go again anytime. It’s a fun way to create lasting summer memories with minimal effort!

Whether your kids are on a seed hunt or mixing up some watermelon juice, this sensory bin is sure to be a hit!