Sand Art Bottle Craft No Sand Colored Rice

How to Make Sand Art in a Bottle without Sand

We wanted to make sand art in a bottle, but we didn't have any colored sand. Also, we like to make our crafts edible whenever possible so that toddlers and preschoolers can participate without getting sick. Isn't this lovely? Just what does one do with such a beautiful piece of art? We put it in our kitchen window.

Colored rice in a bottle in place of sand.

How to make sand art in a bottle with colored rice

To get started you will need:

White Rice, Salt, Baggies, and Food Coloring

Coloring Rice.

To make sand art with rice:

Place dry rice in a Ziploc bag.
Squeeze in 3-4 drops of food coloring. 
We used NEON colors.
Add some rice and a little salt to brighten the color.
Shake, then use hands to mix any rice that doesn't take color right away.

Purple colored rice.

Knead the rice to mix in the color.

Now you are ready to create beautiful sand-art designs with rice. Grab a funnel and have fun. Want to make an intricate pattern? Use the end of a paint brush to tap rice down. You can make flowers easily. Give it a try and show us your skill in the comment section, "Tell us your two cents" below.

Making rice art with a funnel.

We used Play-doh as a cork. Make a little ball and tap it in with a finger.

Leftover, colored salt crystals.

"Hey, Mommy is food coloring edible?  Wait, I know it is because it says food.  Can I have some?"

"I love salt!  Rice, not so much."

Recommended Reading:

Everybody Cooks Rice

Bottle Crafts with old, decorative bottles

Art Activities for Preschoolers

Easy Preschool Art Activities

Preschool art activities don't have to be all finger painting and paper plate crafts. We've collected some art activities for preschoolers that include sensory fun. Read on for easy preschool art activities that are destined to become mini masterpieces.

This post contains affiliate links.

Art activities for preschoolers.

Bubble Painting is a fun, sensory way to introduce your preschooler to art. They can experiment with color mixing, layering, and layout. Scoot on over to Kelly Noel's Living the Dream blog for more details.

Bubble Painting Preschool Art Activity from Living the Dream.

Another fun way for preschoolers to experience sensory art activities is to let them play with food coloring and shaving cream. Skip over to our post on how to paint with shaving cream. 

Coffee Filter Mobiles. All preschool teachers adore coffee filter crafts. Remember the days of the milk carton crafts? Wonder what we'll all switch to when coffee filters become a thing of the past? These coffee filter and cardboard paper towel tube painted mobiles are self-explanatory. We found them posted here but are sure they originated somewhere else. Please leave a comment if you know the original source.

Coffee Filter Mobile Preschool Art Activity.

Art, like sensory play, develops critical thinking skills and hand eye coordination. Click here to learn about how art can aid in brain development.

Handprint and footprint art is a staple in the world of preschool. Introduce your preschoolers to Pointillism with these beautiful fall handprint trees from Arty Crafty Kids.

Handprint Tree Preschool Activity from Arty Crafty Kids.

The Jammy Jigsaw offers up an art activity for preschoolers that serves double duty as a science project. This salt dough bone necklace is the perfect companion art project for a lesson on dinosaurs.

Salt Dough Bone Necklace Art Activity for Preschoolers from The Jammy Jigsaw.

Looking for more art activities for preschoolers? Visit our Pinterest Board, Preschool Scavenger Hunt.

Recommended:

Homeschool and Preschool Companion Book Activities

For activities and games to play with preschoolers check out our Circle Time Handbook on Amazon.

Circle Activities for Teens Middle School Age Youth

Circle Games and Activities for Youth: Camp Songs and More

Camp Songs always bring back the best memories! Circle Time isn't just for preschoolers! Circle Activities and Games are fun for teens too. If you're planning activities for an after school program, summer camp, scouts, or youth group, these school-aged circle camp activities make nice icebreakers. We've used these group circle games and songs to welcome kids to camp, introduce each other, and as a way to make attendance and head counts fun.