Looking for an easy sensory bin idea that you can prep in advance and take out when you need it? These rainbow dyed corn kernels are low-mess, super colorful, and lots of fun to play with. Dye them once and reuse them again and again!

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Hand pressing down on a small bin filled with dyed corn kernels, laid out in rainbow order.

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It’s always a good idea to have some sensory materials on hand for days when you don’t have time to prep activities. And if you’re not sure what to make, these rainbow dyed corn kernels are a great place to start.

Rainbow corn is super vibrant, fun to play with and can be prepped once and reused for months. We like to keep ours in large freezer bags when not in use.

It’s also less messy that some of the other activities your child may like, since it is a dry material that can easily be swept up with a broom. I hope your kids enjoy it as much as ours do!

(P.S. Do you have a baby or young toddler at home? Corn kernels can be a choking hazard, but you may want to try these Rainbow Dyed Oats instead!)

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Required Materials

Here’s what you’ll need to make rainbow dyed corn for your toddler or preschooler:

Supplies needed to make rainbow corn kernels.

Popcorn kernels (I used ½ cup of corn kernels per color, but you can make larger quantities if you like)
Small Ziploc bags
White vinegar
Liquid food coloring (you can also use gel food coloring, but you’ll need to adjust the quantities)

Note: We chose to dye our corn kernels with vinegar because it makes the color brighter and helps the dye set. That being said, if you don’t like the smell of vinegar, or if you don’t happen to have any vinegar on hand, you can replace it with a generous squirt of hand sanitizer.

How to Dye Corn Kernels for Sensory Bins (Step-by-Step)

1. Pour Corn into Ziploc Bag

To make rainbow corn, start by pouring ½ cup of corn into 6 zip-top sandwich bags (one for each color).

2. Combine Food Coloring and Vinegar

Pour 1 tablespoon of vinegar into a small bowl and add 20-25 drops of food coloring. Feel free to mix several colors of food coloring to create the exact shade you want.

Hand putting red food colouring in a small glass bowl with vinegar.

Note: The exact quantity of food coloring you’ll need will depend on the brand of food coloring you use. Feel free to experiment with adding a little less to start with—you can always add more if needed.

3. Pour Colored Vinegar into Ziploc Bag

Pour the colored vinegar into the bag of corn kernels. The vinegar will roll off the corn kernels and sink to the bottom of the bag, which is perfectly normal.

Bag filled with corn kernels and red vinegar.

4. Spread Food Coloring Throughout

Seal the Ziploc bag and move the corn kernels around with your fingers in order to spread out the food coloring. This task can definitely be done by your kids!

Note: If you see that the color is too light, you can add more drops of food coloring straight into the bag. But it is normal for the colors to be less vibrant during this step, so you probably won’t need to add a huge amount.

5. Let Dye Set

When we made Rainbow Dyed Chickpeas, the chickpeas took in the color immediately and I was able to lay them out on a baking sheet to dry right away. But with the corn kernels, the dyeing process took a bit longer.

In order to help the corn absorb the dye, I left them in the sealed Ziploc bags for a couple hours, occasionally turning over the bags to help the vinegar fully coat the corn kernels.

Collage showing bags filled with colourful corn kernels in every colour of the rainbow.

Once the kernels looked nice and vibrant, I was able to move on to the next step.

6. Let Corn Dry

When you are happy with the color of your corn kernels, lay them out on a plate or a baking sheet to dry. If it’s sunny outside, you can leave them out in the sun to make them dry faster.

If you’re letting all of the kernels dry on the same baking sheet, make sure you keep the colors separate to prevent staining. I put mine on the same baking sheet to save space, but gathered each color into a separate pile.

Rainbow dyed corn kernels, drying in small piles on a baking sheet.

Then, once they were relatively dry and I didn’t think the food coloring would mix, I spread them out to give them a chance to dry properly. The corn kernels actually dried pretty fast compared to the chickpeas.

Rainbow dyed corn kernels, spread out on a baking sheet to dry.

When the kernels are done drying, they’re ready to play with! I was worried that they wouldn’t take to the dye very well because of their natural yellow color, but they turned out absolutely gorgeous.

Hands holding up colourful dyed corn kernels, on top of a bin filled with dyed corn kernels.

We’ve previously dyed oats, rice and chickpeas, but the popcorn kernels were my favorite. They are super vibrant and have such a fun, smooth texture that makes them really satisfying to play with.

Bin filled with rainbow dyed corn kernels, all colours combined.

How to Play with Rainbow Dyed Corn

These rainbow corn kernels make a great sensory bin filler. Our kids loved touching them with their hands, feeling their smooth texture and hearing the sounds they made when they were spread around.

You can also use the corn kernels for fine motor practice. When I offered them to my kids, they immediately grabbed some bowls, cups and spoons and started to scoop and transfer the kernels from one bowl to another.

Color sorting activities are a possibility, too. And because these dyed corn kernels make fun sounds when shaken, you can even throw them into a sensory bottle on days when your child is tired of sensory bins!