Yesterday, I told you all about how I had created a rainbow lunch for Rosie. We had quite a lot of rainbow colored pasta left over, and had a lot of fun playing and exploring with it later that day.
Rosie loves the texture of pasta, and we use it during sensory play quite often. We are always coming up with new ways to incorporate it into our messy play activities. I had just made Rosie a hunting for treasure sensory bin which she loved, and I thought, why not put the two together!
To do this, I simply took the left over pasta, mixed it up, and placed in in a clear plastic container. Then I took the treasure coins from Rosie's hunting for treasure sensory bin, and hid them throughout the colored pasta. It only makes sense to find lots of treasure at the bottom/end of a rainbow, right?
I set out some tongs and a scooper. At first, Rosie opted to use both!
That only lasted a moment though. Rosie just couldn't resist digging her hands into the colorful noodles.
"Look mommy, I found one!"
hunting for more
I wanted Jewel to get to partake in the fun too, so I set out a little bit of the colored pasta on a plate, and let her explore.
Closely inspecting
Jewel really loved exploring the texture of the pasta, and it was a very colorful experience for her.
Jewel did not put any of the pasta in her mouth, but was closely monitored while playing to ensure safety. Cooked pasta is a soft material so makes a great first sensory experience for baby. However, close supervision is still required. Use your own judgement as a parent, and decide whether or not you feel comfortable before letting your own baby play in this way.
Once Rosie and Jewel had both tired of playing in the rainbow pasta, I sought to use the pasta once more. I always try to extend play and utilize materials as much as possible. I asked Rosie if she wanted to paint a rainbow, and of course she said yes! Painting is one of Rosie's favorite activities!
We have painted with spaghetti several times. As I said , Rosie loves both painting and exploring with pasta, so we combine them often. I have seen this done several different ways, but was initially inspired to paint with spaghetti from this post by The Chocolate Muffin Tree. If you are unfamiliar, The Chocolate Muffin Tree is a fantastic site full of creative children's activities!
Painting with RAINBOW Pasta
I set up for this activity the same way I had set up to paint with water beads. I placed a piece of white construction paper in a shallow box. I then put each color pasta in a clear plastic cup, and added the corresponding tempera paint color to each cup. As I added the paint, Rosie and I talked about the colors.
Then she helped mix the paint into the pasta using tongs.
When we painted using the water beads, Rosie chose to dump the cups. However, this time, she decided to use her hands.
While Rosie manipulated the box some, she enjoyed slap painting with the noodles. She giggled with delight as the paint flung from the pasta.
She loved the texture of the wet noodles
squishing it
After a while, she began using the tongs to move the pasta around in the box. She has just recently gotten the hang of the tongs, and delights in picking things up with them.
Back to the hands
Rosie painted with the pasta for quite a while. She absolutely loves this activity!
We share fun kids activities several times a week!
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