Rice Pouring Station

Since rice is a staple food for over half of the world’s population, it provided a wonderful and relatable medium for exploration during Master Chef Week. We set up the tuff tray station with rice, bowls, measuring cups, pitchers, food dispensers, and sensory food stones representing fruits, vegetables, breads, foods of the world, and multicultural foods. The children loved imagining, creating, mixing, measuring, and “cooking” their favorite recipes.

Pouring stations offer endless opportunities for engagement and learning. As children pour, scoop, and transfer materials from one container to another, they naturally develop an understanding of capacity while exploring concepts such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, and greater than/less than. This activity also strengthens cognitive skills through cause and effect, while supporting hand-eye coordination as children carefully maneuver the materials.

Children begin grasping measurement concepts as early as infancy, often without formal instruction. Their minds naturally apply measurement in daily activities. By building on these early, intuitive understandings—both formally and informally—we help them expand vocabulary and deepen comprehension of measurement and comparison through hands-on exploration. Experiences like this lay a strong foundation for mathematics at a young age, because children are free to experiment and learn in their own way.

Hands-on activities engage multiple senses and learning styles, leading to better retention of new concepts and stronger mathematical thinking. Play like this activates and strengthens neural pathways as children use and develop multiple skill sets. That’s why we say play builds brains—providing open-ended, playful opportunities fosters curiosity, creativity, and higher-level thinking in young children.