Sensory

My one year old has a sensory disorder.  He was a preemie and has hydrocephalus and he reacts to things differently as if his brain can't process what to do.  A lot of that involves his mouth; his reaction to anything new is to lick it.  I know, I know, most babies put things in their mouths, but you'll just have to trust me that this is different.  Another problem he has is with sensations themselves, especially water.  Bath time is pretty awful.  For a long time he'd scream if he heard the washing machine filling up.

His therapist suggested a sand box, or sand and water box, something like that.  However, we live in Las Vegas, it's October 9th today, and projected to be around 98 degrees.  If you've never been here in the summer I'll let you imagine how bad it gets.  Everyone says "but it's a dry heat!" well 115 degrees is 115 degrees, no matter the humidity.  So outside play is very limited.  Instead, I found this idea online that we play with inside:

Rice Sensory Bin

It's prettier than sand, the pieces are bigger (so the theory is easier clean up or at least easier to see to clean up) and it's small enough to go back in the cabinet when we are done.

I needed 1.5 boxes of this:

1 bottle of vinegar (no pic!)

And two different types of food coloring:

The plastic bin is a 12 quart bin I got for $5 at Walmart.

I am listing the measurements in the amounts I did per color.  I made 7 different colors.

1.5 cups of rice
3/4 cup vinegar
6-12 drops of food coloring

Mix in a tupperware bin, stirring or shaking with the lid secure to prevent spilling.  Then let it sit for about 10 minutes, spread onto a baking sheet as thin as possible, and let dry.

I was hoping they would just dry naturally outside:

That didn't seem to be working too well so I baked them at 250 degrees for 30-60 minutes.