Sensory Play

How to Dye Chickpeas for Sensory Play

July 14, 2025

Learn how to dye chickpeas with liquid watercolors for colorful sensory material that is easy, vibrant, and perfect for little hands!

We’ve tried just about every sensory material under the sun, but this was a new one for us. Dyeing chickpeas is super easy and works the same way as dyeing rice or pasta.

Dyed chickpeas are a little heavier than other sensory bin materials, which makes them extra fun to scoop, pour, and run your hands through. And the colors turn out super bright when you use liquid watercolors. This was a fun way to switch things up, and my kids immediately wanted to play with them!

The best part is that once they’re dry, you can use them over and over again; just store them in an airtight container for the next time.

Here’s how to dye chickpeas for all kinds of fun sensory play!

How to Dye Chickpeas for Sensory Play

MATERIALS

Dried chickpeas
Liquid watercolors
Gallon ziplock bags
A tray or cookie sheet for drying

INSTRUCTIONS

Add your chickpeas to a bag
Pour your chickpeas into a gallon baggie. We did about 1.5 cups of dried chickpeas per color; you can do more or less depending on how much you want of each color.
Add color
Add several squirts of liquid watercolor to the chickpeas. Start with about 1 teaspoon per cup of chickpeas and adjust depending on how vibrant you want the color to be.
Shake it up!
Seal the baggie and shake the chickpeas vigorously until the chickpeas are coated in color.
Let dry
Pour the colored chickpeas out onto a shallow tray or cookie sheet and let them dry completely, about 1-2 hours.
Play!
Once dry, your chickpeas are ready to go! Use them in sensory bins, sorting trays, scooping stations, or add them to small world setups. When playtime is over, store them in a lidded container or baggie to use again.

That’s all there is to it! Super easy, super colorful, and super fun to play with! We’re definitely adding this to our sensory play rotation.

rainbow chickpeas with scoops — Photo by Andrea Martelle

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Andrea Martelle

Andrea lives in Cumberland, Maine with her family. Previous to working at the Artful Parent, she taught Kindergarten for many years, working with English Language Learners and she also spent time teaching at a local children’s art studio. These days you can find her editing blog posts for the Artful Parent, helping run our Kids Art Spot and doing art projects with her own two children. Andrea enjoys hand-lettering, watercolor painting, and selling vintage kitchenware.

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How to Dye Chickpeas for Sensory Play