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Herbal Rice for Natural Sensory Play

June 16, 2014 by Anna Ranson

Add some herbs to rice to make a lovely natural sensory play material that smells wonderful and adds interesting textures to the usual mixture.Natural herbal rice for sensory play

We have made a lot of sensory rice tubs for play and they last indefinitely, if stored in a dry place. This makes them extremely economical and versatile for later using in Discovery Bottles and other play set ups too.Add herbs to natural sensory rice for scent

For this latest sensory tub I wanted to keep it as simple and natural as possible, using herbs from our own garden to add extra sensory dimensions of texture and scent. We went together to gather branches of rosemary (I think any other dry-ish herb would work just as well here too) and the girls started to pull off the leaves. I had already dyed a bag of rice using 1/2 tsp  Wilton Green Icing Colouring (EU approved version) and a few drops of water. The rice dries extremely fast and doesn’t need any alcohol or anything else added that you sometimes see recommended on other sites.Natural sensory rice with added herbs

The rosemary leaves made the rice tub smell just wonderful and really enriched the sensory element of the play.Natural herbal rice

To keep this entirely natural just leave out the colouring altogether or use a natural plant dye instead from boiling and reducing green herbs or vegetables. They used the tub to pour, scoop, transfer from hand to hand, swirl around and build scenes using the leaves. It is both refreshing and relaxing and a good place for them to play when they need some time alone or to relax. Sensory play tubs are always great for zoning out and thinking time, and I love them just as much as the girls!

Herbal rice for natural sensory play

We have made a lavender version of this which is exceptionally relaxing and wonderfully scented! I really recommend trying it.

Here is where we used rosemary to make scented water for play.

The children are currently aged 5, 4 and 2.

What they are learning as they play:

Sensory: exploring materials using all of the senses, talking about how things feel and smell

Physical: fine motor strength as they pick and pull apart the herbs, transferring, pouring, scooping, sprinkling etc

Creativity: making up stories, scenarios and games using everyday materials

Want some more ideas along these lines?

Here are 10 Natural Play Dough Recipes to try

Here are some ideas for Calming Play for kids

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Filed Under: Age, Fine Motor Development, Herbs, Make, Natural Play, Play, Play Recipes, Preschooler, Scented Play, School Age, Sensory, Sensory Rice, Sensory Tubs, Texture Tagged With: Natural Play, Play Recipes, Sensory Play

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Comments

  1. Adela says

    June 16, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    Anna thanks for the idea. I have some rosemary in my garden too! Going to make a batch for my children. 🙂

  2. Katie / The Surly Housewife says

    June 17, 2014 at 4:47 am

    Love this idea. I have a bit of an herb overload in our garden. This will be perfect to use up some excess!!

  3. airporttaxi moscow says

    June 17, 2014 at 12:34 pm

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  4. Susan says

    July 15, 2014 at 6:46 pm

    I absolutely love this! It is so great for kids to create something that uses sensory systems — it is just how we learn!!!

Trackbacks

  1. The Best Rice Sensory Bins All Year Long | Little Bins for Little Hands says:
    November 3, 2014 at 12:51 am

    […] Herbal Rice ~The Imagination Tree […]

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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