How to Make Edible Rainbow Sand for Kids (Froot Loop Sand)


Published: February 7, 2023 · Updated: December 24, 2023 by Sacha — This post may contain affiliate links. Read our full disclosure.

Does your child try to eat every sensory activity you put in front of them? Use Froot Loops to make some edible rainbow sand for them to play with! This easy taste-safe sand recipe is perfect for babies and toddlers and only requires ONE simple ingredient that you may already have in your pantry.


Do you have a baby or toddler at home who likes to put everything in their mouth?

I totally get it. In fact, my five-year-old never fully grew out of that phase, so it isn’t just her younger siblings I have to worry about when setting up activities at home.

That’s why taste-safe sensory activities are so popular in our house.

Not only do they allow our younger kids to participate in their older siblings’ activities, but they also allow me to be certain that none of them will accidentally ingest something they’re not supposed to.

The Edible Beach Sand we made recently was a huge hit with my kids… and because rainbow colors make everything better, I thought it would be fun to make a more colorful version, too!

This edible rainbow play sand is my attempt at doing just that—and my toddlers definitely approved of the results.

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Required Supplies

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own colorful sand for your child play with:

Bowl of Froot Loops.
  • Froot Loops (was anyone else surprised when they realized that it wasn’t spelled “Fruit Loops”?)
  • Blender or food processor

How crazy is it that you can make baby-safe play sand using nothing but cereal?!

How to Make Taste-Safe Rainbow Sand (Step-by-Step)

1. Sort Froot Loops by Color

The first thing you’ll need to do in order to make edible rainbow sand for your baby or toddler to play with is separate the Froot Loops according to their color. This will allow you to make several colors of homemade sand.

5 small bowls each containing a different colour of Froot Loops.

We grabbed a few bowls and used each one to hold a different color of cereal. The quantity isn’t really important as you can always just add more if needed.

If your child is not an infant and is capable of differentiating colors, definitely get them involved in doing this step—it should keep them busy for a while and will allow you to add a learning component to this sensory activity!

2. Place Froot Loops in Blender

Once the color sorting is done, pour a single color of Froot Loops into the bowl of your food processor or blender.

Small blender bowl containing pink Froot Loops.

I decided to use my Baby Bullet for this because I love it and it’s super easy to clean, but a regular food processor or blender will work just fine if that’s what you have. 

That being said, if you do have a Baby Bullet, I definitely recommend that you use it. Its size is perfect for this because unlike with the Cheerio Sand I shared a few days ago, there won’t be that much cereal in each batch once the colors have been separated.

I used the milling blade of my Baby Bullet since it’s specifically designed for cereal, but the regular blade should work if that’s what you have.

Hand holding up milling blade of a Baby Bullet.

3. Run Blender or Food Processor

Once you’ve added all your Froot Loops to the bowl of your blender or food processor, turn it on and run it until the cereal has been processed into a fine powder. (Its volume will reduce significantly.)

Small blender bowl containing pink dust made from ground up Froot Loops.

If you’re using a Baby Bullet, you may have to shake it around a bit in order to break up all the pieces of Froot Loop.

4. Repeat for Every Color

When your first color of cereal has been reduced to powder, pour the resulting fake sand into a sensory tray or container and repeat the blending process with the next color of Froot Loops.

Keep doing this until all the colors have been reduced to a fine powder.

Tray filled with rainbow sand.

Once all the colors are done, your kid-safe sand is ready to play with! I poured all the colors next to each other in a shallow tray to finish up our edible sensory bin, then let my three-year-old have at it.

Child's hand on top of a tray of rainbow sand.

This play sand recipe was SO fun and easy to make.

There were definitely Froot Loops eaten in the process, but that’s totally OK—any activity that allows my kids to be involved in the prep work is a win!

Note: You could probably store any leftover sand in a container, but I found that the rainbow sand eventually got sticky when left out—probably due to the sugar content in the Froot Loops. If you’re looking for something that won’t get sticky, you can try this Edible Cheerio Sand, which felt just as soft the next day!

Child's hands on top of a tray of rainbow sand.

Edible Rainbow Sand with Froot Loops

Sacha
Do your kids have a tendency to put everything in their mouths? Whip up some edible rainbow sand for them to play with using just one simple ingredient!
No ratings yet
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Sensory Bin
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • blender or food processor

Ingredients
  

  • Froot Loops as needed

Instructions
 

  • Sort Froot Loops by color, keeping each color separate from the others.
  • Place one color of Froot Loops in the bowl of your blender or food processor.
  • Turn on your blender or food processor and run it until the Froot Loops have been ground into a fine powder.
  • Repeat for each color of Froot Loops, pouring each color of sand into a sensory tray or bin as it's ready. Use immediately.
Have you tried this?Mention @thecraftathomefamily or tag #thecraftathomefamily to let us know how it went!

Related Taste-Safe Sensory Bin Ideas

Looking for more child-friendly sensory bin ideas? Check out these articles:

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