Materials
Cardboard blocks in various colors
Construction paper (the same color as the blocks)
Scissors
Thick black marker
Clear contact paper
Instructions
1. Fill the sand table or a large tub with uncooked rice. (Big bags can usually be
found at club stores.) You can substitute sand or birdseed, but children really
like the texture of rice.
2. Playing in the rice with scoops and cups is great fun for three-year-olds, but
to spice things up a bit, add a bunch of marbles to the mix.
3. Play "marble hunt" by burying all the marbles in the rice while the children
close their eyes. Then when all the marbles are out of sight, ask the children to
use their hands to dig through and pull out the marbles and put them in a cup.
Let the children each take a turn hiding the marbles for the others to find.
4. Another game is to see how many marbles a child can scoop into her cup
before it fills with rice. The rule is you can't dump out any rice if it "sneaks" in.
5. Encourage imaginative play using the marbles. For example, a child can
pretend she is stirring "cookie dough" (the rice), and then stir in some
"chocolate chips" (marbles). Or she can fill muffin tins with rice to make
"cupcakes" and then decorate them with the marbles for cherries.
Note: Supervise closely, especially if children still put objects into their mouths.
More to do
Art: Make rice collages. Also, write the child's name with glue on a piece of
paper and encourage her to sprinkle the rice over it.
Snack and Cooking: Cook rice in a microwave and eat for a snack with a touch
of butter.
