In all seriousness. Shame on me for thinking that Mr. A was too old for a sensory bin. He had loads of fun filling up a dollar store tub with some leftover rice from our last colored rice project. We got out the measuring cups and some plastic containers and before you know it he was using the measuring cups to figure out how much volume each of the various containers held. He had fun with this as he LOVES math problems. He used the measuring cups in different ways to figure out how much each container held. For example, instead of using the 1c scoop to pour rice into the pint jar, I had him try it with the 1/3 cup or the 1/2 cup in order to get him to practice adding fractions. He could literally SEE how many times 1/3c went into 1 cup. In the end he filled up all the measuring cups in order to figure out how many cups of rice we had total. This was a great visual tool for adding fractions. He liked it so much we left it out and he played with it the next morning.
Delightful photos. Making coloured rice has moved a notch up my to-do list now thanks to your post. Following your blog now. Debs 🙂
Thank you Debs! Thanks for following. Have fun! We are loving colored rice over here 🙂 Following you back!
Love the pool noodle idea!
Thanks MaryAnne, that was all his idea 🙂
What a fun way to explore fractions! Love the pool noodle as a funnel!
Thanks Rebekah! He definitely had fun and he actual cut the pool noodle up into different lengths so he had multiple pieces and (sizes) of pool noodle to work with!
This look so fun I want to dig in too! Lovely photos and great learning activity 🙂
Thank you!
Looks like fun and that is some wonderful photography!
Lori @ Cachey Mama’s Classroom
Thank you 🙂
Very good hands-on way to demonstrate fractions using measuring cups! I think we’ll do the same!
Thanks Tricia! A really did enjoy this. The visual was very helpful.
Oh how happy I am you realized he wasn’t too old for a sensory bin! I’m sure that’s the only reason I understand measurements:) Luckily, there is no age limit to learning! So just cause you tried it, they’ll be lots more older kids having fun learning fractions! Cool post:)
Thanks for you kind words Deborah 🙂
This is a great idea! I have never colored rice before…how do you do it?
Thank you! I just put a couple or three good size handfuls of rice in a ziplock bag and add a couple of pumps of hand sanitizer and a few drops of food coloring. I talk about it more here http://www.plainvanillamom.com/2012/04/colored-rice-bottle-art.html if you are interested.
I LOVE this! Great idea, and what a wonderful way to teach different ages at the same time. I’m pinning to do with my boys.
Thanks Allison 🙂 I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Awesome post! I love how you reused the rice, too! I’m always amazed at how happily my preschoolers and toddlers play in sensory bins! And if I take too long to make a new one, it’s my preschooler who reminds me, lol! Thanks for sharing this at Teach Me Tuesday!!
Thanks Carla 🙂