Dyeing materials for sensory play

You can make your own brilliant bases for sensory play using simple materials around your home, including:

• beans, chick peas, coconut, popping corn, oats, salt
• hay, sand
• pasta, rice, rice noodles, cooked spaghetti

There are several different ways of dyeing your materials, including:

• food colouring/food dye – some materials may also need vinegar or rubbing alcohol to hold the colour
• liquid watercolours or powdered paint

Once you have dyed your materials, you can store and use them over and over again for wonderful sensory play.   Kids can have fun feeling the different textures as they pick them up in their hands and let them fall through their fingers, squish and mould them, and mix the different colours together,

You can also use them for other activities, such as scooping and pouring, sorting, weighing and measuring, letter and number writing, hiding and finding objects, pretend play, and small world play.

Here are some of our favourite ways to dye materials for sensory play:

How to colour beans for play and art from Fun At Home With Kids

Dyed chick peas sensory play from The Imagination Tree

Coconut sensory bin from Adventures and Play

How to dye corn from Fun-A-Day

How to dye hay for sensory play from Crayon Box Chronicles

How to make rainbow oats for sensory play from Laughing Kids Learn

How to dye pasta from Buggy and Buddy

How to make color rice for sensory play from Powerful Mothering

Rainbow rice noodles from And Next Comes L

Easy DIY colored salt from Mommy Evolution

How to make coloured sand from Kids Craft Room

How to dye rainbow spaghetti for sensory play from Parenting Chaos

You can find heaps more fun sensory activities on our Pinterest board here.