If you’re looking for a fun interactive craft you have come to the right place! This is a very easy and simple way to spark your child’s creativity, and only requires a few simple supplies. It’s also a wonderful sensory activity too! There are many things you can do with dried color pasta noodles, keep reading to learn more!
Let’s start by gathering our supplies!
Colorful Painted Pasta Activity Supplies:
- One Box Mostaccioli Pasta 16 oz (Rigatoni will work too, must have a hole through the center if you plan on stringing)
- Ziploc Sandwich Bags (One bag for each color)
- Paint – Acrylic or Washable (Any will work)
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper or Wax Paper
Step One:
I chose to use four different colors. You can choose to do more, it is entirely up to you how colorful you would like your noodle selection to be!
However many colors you choose, you must divide the noodles up evenly by the amount of colors. So in my case I went with the basic colors: Yellow, Blue, Red and Green (Just to keep it simple).
First step is to divide your Mostaccioli pasta into four different Ziploc bags.
Step Two:
Open your paint and pour a different color into each bag. Start with a minimal amount and slowly add more paint as you see fit. Remember, we are just trying to coat each noodle, so you don’t want to add too much.
Next, seal up the Ziploc bag securely and slowly start to shake and “massage” the pasta around the bag to ensure an even paint coating to each noodle.
Step Three:
Get your baking sheet and line it with parchment paper or wax paper. Start to pour out your pasta on the baking sheet one color at a time. Spread out the noodles so they aren’t touching, this will let them dry properly so they aren’t stuck together.
You may want to give each color its own baking sheet. You want to try and keep the different colors from touching so the paint doesn’t blend together and your color stays the same.
These started to dry rather quickly, but I left mine out to dry over night for safe measures. It was fully dry and ready to use by morning.
Different Ways to Create:
The first way my toddler played with these colored noodles was by sorting! We sorted by colors and he told me each color as he was putting it into the tray. This was a great exercise in learning colors! I used a muffin tin to help in the sorting process.
If you don’t have a muffin tin, you could use matching colors of construction paper and have your child match the noodles on top of each colored construction paper!
Another way we used the colored noodles was by stringing them to make pasta necklaces. This is a classic use for dried pasta, I remember doing that when I was a small child too! My two older boys even left their video games to come make one as well!
All you will need is string. I tied one piece of pasta to the bottom of the string, so the others could string on nicely without falling off. Once all your pieces are strung on, you can tie the two ends together.
Conclusion:
This is a great sensory activity to do with your children. It is a wonderful way to learn colors and practice their fine motor skills by stringing. There are many different ways these colored pasta noodles can be used, such as sorting and stringing necklaces.
This is a bright and colorful activity that is easy to create. It only requires simple supplies that you probably already have around the house!
This activity is fun for all ages and can keep your kids busy for hours! I hope you enjoy this fun simple idea and give it a try.
*Watch young children around the pasta closely and make sure they do not put it in their mouths. Dried pasta can be a choking hazard to young children.
Have Fun Creating!
-Jo
