I’m so excited to share this post on How To Dye Easter Eggs With Rice. I love, love, love this technique. Little kids could totally do this, and big kids will absolutely have a ton of fun. Come on in and I’ll show you my super “over the top detailed” how to on using rice to dye Easter eggs.
Dyeing Eggs with Rice is so much fun to do, and requires so little cleanup. That last part is a huge bonus.
Here’s a little video tutorial to help get you started on Using Rice to Dye Easter Eggs…
(I’ll show you how to combine the rice colors to make a multi-colored Easter Egg in the next Video – below)
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Here’s What You’ll Need To Dye Easter Eggs With Rice:
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- (uncooked) dry rice – about 1-2 cups per bag – get a big box. You’re going to want to do a lot of different colors
- food coloring – I used gel which I think is probably the best form of colorant for this particular craft idea. Liquid food coloring would most likely be absorbed almost immediately.
- several bags to bounce the egg around in (paper lunch bags or 1 gallon-sized plastic zip-tight bags work great) *Plastic zip-tight is my new preferred way {you could also use plastic containers with lids}
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- (dry) hard-boiled eggs
- *optional – something to stir the gel coloring with – Straws are easy to use and disposable
- (optional) gloves to keep your hand free of the food dye
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Instructions on How to Dye Eggs with Rice in a Gallon Sized Zip-Tight Plastic Bag…
- You’ll need (dry) boiled eggs, food coloring, and dry rice. You’ll also need gallon size zip-tight bags.
- Place about 1 cup of dry rice into the plastic bag
- squeeze a liberal amount – 3 drops or more of food coloring. I used gel colors and usually ended up with a few globs that wouldn’t mix in. That’s fine if you don’t mind more vibrant and larger areas of color. If you want true specks then use a straw or spoon to really transfer the color around so you don’t have more in one area than others on the rice.
- Mix the gel color so it coats the rice
- Place a hardboiled egg on the colored rice
- Zip the bag up and have fun shaking it around – just be sure not to crack the egg against a hard surface. Bounce it in the air
- You can do several colors. Just follow the above instructions per color
- *Note – you may notice the color gets less vibrant each time you use the same bag. If the color stops transferring, that means the rice has absorbed the colorant. Just add a drop or two of food coloring and mix it into the rice
Now, onto a multi-colored egg with rice…
Here’s a short video on how I made a Multi-Colored Egg with all of my colored rice
- Place some of the colored rice from each color into one bag
- *Remember – if you’ve used the rice several times, the color may stop transferring. If you notice some of the colors are not showing on your egg – you may need to add some new drops of food coloring.
- Place an egg in the bag and shake it around the rice. Give it several good shakes
How Many Times Can You Use the Same Bag of Rice to Dye the Eggs?
- The bottom row is red-colored rice from the first egg to egg number 6 in the same bag – (Going from left to right). The color gets less vibrant each time, but it’s still pretty. I actually kind of like the less intense colored eggs
- As you can see, we’ve gotten a little carried away with egg decorating. The kids are having too much fun. I see some deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, and whatever else I can whip up with boiled eggs in our future.
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*Note – if the rice stops transferring color onto the eggs, then the dye has dried or it’s being absorbed into the rice. This might happen after 1/2 dozen egg colorings or so. Just add fresh food coloring and stir into the rice. You’re good to go again
Can you Store the colored boiled eggs?
- You can store boiled eggs in the refrigerator for up to one week.
What should I do with all of that leftover colored rice?
- One reader suggested placing the rice in glass containers for a table decoration. Layering it and adding some flowers would be another way to do display the beautiful rice
Paper Bag Method of Dying Easter Eggs with Rice
Instructions on How to Dye Easter Eggs with Rice with a Paper Bag
(This is my old way of shaking the egg in rice. I have updated the post to show you how to use zip-tight bags above, but I’m leaving the instructions for the paper bag too – just in case you want it)
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*(a good *substitute for paper bags would be Gallon size zip-tight plastic baggies) – we used gallon baggies the last time we tried this technique and it made life so much easier.
For Paper Bag Users…
- If you use paper bags…Just because you’re working with kids and we all know how unpredictable that can be…a safe bet would be to double your bags for added strength. I only used 1 bag and it was fine, but better safe than sorry, right? After 1/2 dozen uses, you’ll want to switch out to a new bag. The seams start giving out in the bottom and some grains of rice sneak out
Here’s a quick video on using a Paper Bag to Dye Easter Eggs with Rice…
Tips and Tricks:
- Another (more carefree) alternative to paper bags is a disposable zip-tight baggie (Instructions for plastic baggies are posted above)
- One more note – It’s a good idea to have extra bags. If the rice starts to leak out can just transfer your colorful rice into a new bag. Voila’
Instructions:
- Pour about 1 cup of uncooked rice into the bottom of a paper or plastic bag
- *For paper bag users – I actually think that it’s better if you don’t fold the bag over like I did in the photograph. The egg needs to have room to bounce around in there so it can turn around and get coated. Just experiment with it and do what works best for you and your kiddos
- squeeze a liberal amount of food coloring onto the rice. I squeezed 4 to 5 drops of the gel onto the rice
- and use a straw or spoon to stir the color – coating the rice. It’s ok if it’s not evenly dispersed and the gel has a few clumpy patches. That actually makes for a better pattern
- place the egg onto the rice in your bag
- Do you see how the bag has some space between my hand and where the egg is probably sitting? You want some room for the egg to bounce around. My kids had a tendency to choke down on the egg. Try to give the egg room to bounce around
- Put one hand under the bag, close the bag up. Hold the top with your other hand and shake – bouncing the egg around on top of the rice. The longer you shake the egg around the more color you’ll transfer onto the egg. You can control it. Shake less for a speckled egg, more for an all-over color.
- Open the bag and see your creation!
- You’ll have some rice to pick off of the egg, and you might get a little food coloring on your fingertips
- The dye will still be wet at first. Use your fingertips to pick the eggs up as I show in the pictures above. You don’t want to smudge your creation. Put the egg back into the carton to dry before you handle them.
- Also, when you’re done admiring your fun eggs and are ready to eat them, rinse them before peeling. There will be some excess dye that will wash off. The eggs actually take on another cool design when rinsed.
- *THE instructions ON making A MULTI-COLORED EGG is below…
- When you’re done, just throw the bags in the trash, or find a fun use for colorful rice – you could place it in glass vases for a spring decoration
- Now…I’ll share the how-to on making the multi-colored egg
Here’s a quick video to show you how to easily combine the colored rice and make beautiful Multi-Colored Speckled Eggs…
- I first made several bags all with one different color of rice per bag
- I loved getting the speckled look from each color, but I thought it would be really fun if you could get a multi-colored egg, too
- So…I took an extra bag, and I poured a little bit of rice from each of the single colored rice bags into one. Does that make any sense at all? I hope so
- I shook the egg around just as I did with the previous eggs
- You could mix and match colored rice all day long. I know my Ella Bella would love to pair purple with pink, and the boys might even do superhero colors together, like black and yellow. The possibilities are whatever you can imagine.
- For kicks and giggles…After some of our eggs sat in the fridge for a couple of days we rinsed them. The designs were fun that way, too. They took on a more polished look
Happy Easter Everyone! Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you’ll have as much fun as we did with this new dye Easter Eggs with Rice technique.
~Melissa – Kid Friendly Things To Do
Love this idea! This year I am in charge of coloring eggs with the kids and with an age range (12yrs to 4yrs) this might be a great multi age method. I compiled a list of ten great egg coloring ideas on my blog and will be including yours!!
Thank you so much for including me in your post! You’ll have to let me know how the egg coloring fun goes with that range of ages. I also wanted to share that I just uploaded a couple of videos on my “how to” to help the kids (and us caretakers) with a better visual. You know…in case the kids need it.
After the eggs are done is the due set or will it come off onto your hand if you try to peel it a day later to eat it? My kids like to dye but they love to eat the eggs too!
Thanks.
It isn’t set right away. You’ll definitely want to let the color dry. Pick them up with your fingertips so you don’t smudge your creations and set them down back into the egg carton to dry. I would give it a day and then enjoy eating them. I will go and add a note to the post. Thank you for commenting.
This looks amazing. can I ask what you do with your eggs do u eat them?
how long do they last if they are not eaten. thanks
Hi Katie!
Yes! You can eat them. Store eggs in the refrigerator up to a week before eating. Peel and eat the boiled eggs in your favorite egg recipe. 🙂
Have you cooked your colored rice after? Got a colorful treat?
No. I haven’t really thought about what to do with all of that beautiful rice, just yet. There is definitely potential there. Have you ever made colored cooked rice or something similar?
I am going to put the colored rice in a clear bottle as a sensory toy for my son!
That is perfect! Eventually, I will have to do a follow up project for all of the colored rice. It’s a shame to let it all go to waste. 🙂
You could also put it in a deep tub as a sensory toy. Put hidden treasures in the rice…let your child run their hands thru it to find the toys…there could be some dye transfer, but it would be fun!
Yes! The kids would love that! I was thinking that one of those I Spy bottles would be fun too! Place little trinkets in a bottle, fill with rice and look for treasures as you turn the bottle. You all are so clever. I’m going to have to do a follow up post with all of these awesome ideas.
I was thinking you could probably use it to make mosaic pictures
I love this idea! That would be beautiful. So clever!
This is a wonderful project! I did this with my daycare kids and they were completely engaged and excited. The eggs turned out being vibrant and beautiful!!! Thank you for your great idea!!!
Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you. I always worry about what I publish and hope everything turns out. I am so happy that your daycare kids had such a fun time. (Yay!) It makes my day to hear feedback like this. I hope you have a wonderful and happy Easter. Thanks again ~ Melissa
Hi. I was wondering if you think this would work on the plastic craft eggs?
You know…I actually haven’t worked with the plastic craft eggs. I just did a search on them and found some on Oriental Trading. The description says that you can use markers or paint to decorate them. If the marker and paint transfers to the plastic eggs, I don’t see why this method wouldn’t work. The food coloring is a lot like a marker transfer from the rice to the egg. I’ve actually seen people use food coloring to paint with before. I did test it out with some decorative plastic egg that I had out for Easter. It transferred just fine. I don’t know how well the craft eggs will absorb the colorant. They may stay wet to the touch a bit longer than a natural eggshell. You’ll just want to be extra careful while handling your decorated eggs until they dry. If you give it a try, come back and let us know how it went. I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Hi. I used the plastic crafting eggs and it worked out wonderfully!! Only used 1/4 cup of rice in a plastic baggy and a drop of gel food coloring. My oldest enjoyed shaking the bag, we are going to do it has a fun Spring activity with his classmates. Thanks for a fun and creative way to decorate eggs!!
That’s great news! It’s so nice to have a version of this activity to take into the classroom. Thank you for coming back to tell us. 🙂
We are dying eggs tomorrow! Might have to try out the rice idea.
I’m so glad to hear that you are thinking about using this method. Have fun, tomorrow. Happy Easter!