I previously mentioned that I have been longing to make Jesse coloured rice to play with after seeing so many pretty pictures of it on Pinterest. I looked up a couple of recipe's and noticed they all used rubbing alcohol (surgical spirits) as the liquid to spread the colour over the rice. I don't really like the idea of my child playing with something covered in alcohol, besides the fact that it stinks, so I made up my own recipe, with great success! I used vinegar instead, and my colours came out just as, if not more vibrant.
Here is the recipe for my (almost natural) recipe for making rainbow coloured rice. I say almost natural as I used food colourants instead of natural dyes. I wanted vibrant colours and food colouring delivered. Now, while I don't allow my child to consume this poison, I figured that since the colouring has dried on the rice, and it does not come off the rice while playing in it, it is virtually safe. I'm not sure I would make finger-paint with food colouring as then the dye has a chance to be absorbed into his skin. Well that's my logic anyway.
Now for the how-to...
First, gather your supplies:
You will need:
- A large quantity of cheap rice, 'sweepings' would work well as it is not going to be consumed.
- White Vinegar
- Liquid food colouring in a variety of colours
- Re-sealable Bags - you will need one for each colour you want to make.
Place a few cups of rice into your re-sealable bags, depending on how large it is, and add a few drops of food colour. How many drops you use depends on the quality of you food colouring, I used a good quality and a cheap food colouring and achieved bright, deep colours with both, I just had to use more of the cheaper one. Add enough vinegar to wet all of the rice without soaking it. I used about a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of rice. The more you use, the easier it is to spread the colour, but the longer your rice takes to dry.
Seal your bag and shake the rice around letting the colouring completely dye the rice. If you find the colour is too weak, or there isn't enough to cover all the rice in your bag, add more.
Once you are convinced the rice is dyed empty it out onto a baking tray lined with tinfoil and place somewhere to dry.
I left it to dry overnight, although it was dry enough to move into bowls by the same evening.
