The Rice Project

It's been such a busy and hectic week. I would have posted some of these as mini updates during the week if I would have had a few hours to sit and upload. But I didn't so... Now that the week is finished I guess I am going to recap the excitement!

The Rice Project

So I was thinking and reading on one of my homeschooling boards last week. I had never allowed my kids to dye pasta, sand or rice. Alison was sharing her experience and I thought to myself... Why not? So I gathered the kids and the supplies and we headed outside (there is NO way I am doing something THIS messy inside). I had to come up with something more than simply following the directions. We talked a bit about what we were using as a base, how much food coloring they THOUGHT it would take to make the color desired, how much rice to add and then I let them go at it. As all experiments go, the first wasn't as big of a success as the girls had thought it would be. However we had resounding success the second time! My advice if you try this at home... Go for the over night air drying method. The vinegar being cooked in the oven made the WHOLE house stink!

Dyed Rice
2 C of white rice, gallon ziplock, food coloring, 1/4 C vinegar, container to spread it out in.

Our supplies

Abby pouring her estimate into the measuring cup.

Hali adding the amount of rice she thinks will be right.

Close the bag and mix. Advisory here: Make sure the bag is actually CLOSED. Hali lost more than half on my patio. She found that rice can be a pain to have to clean up!

Anyone who knows Abby knows she is game for anything that is an absolute mess. Her hands were a shade of blue for a couple of days. She did manage to get most of it off, however her shirt didn't fare as well and is now in the city landfill.

Our final product before drying in the stove.

Now before you ask, "Don't you think your kids are too big for this?" I will just put this thought out there. First of all, they chose to do this activity on their day off. Second, it was still educational because they had to make a guess and create a formula. Third, come back next week and see the awesome art project I have planned for Abby in Science on Monday. We are going to mix different mediums to create a flower, stem, leaves and roots... Which is what she is studying this week in her Abeka Science book.