When X was quite small, S and I decided to make some rainbow spaghetti. To make your own, cook the spaghetti as usual. Once it is cooked, rinse it with cool water. If you are using it for infant play, I would recommend cooking it and presenting it plain. Though food coloring is "safe", it's not recommended for babies to consume, so plain uncolored spaghetti would be best for babies who are still apt to mouth things.
For older children who are beyond mouthing, you can either use food coloring, or you can use Liquid Watercolors as we did here. Having used both, I feel like you get much more vibrant colors with fewer drops if you use liquid watercolors so that's what we use for most of our colored activities. Additionally food coloring can stain your hands, whereas liquid watercolors are washable. :) Just add a quantity of cooked pasta and several drops of whatever coloring you're using to a ziploc bag - seal and shake! The shaking is a good job for an older child. I was able to use just one ziploc bag by rinsing it out quickly between each color.
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After smooshing around in it a bit, we brought out S's scissors for some cutting practice.
It later became a play world with some of her plastic "guys".
And after that, we used it to make art on paper (I didn't remember to take any pictures of that part, though, oops!). The natural stickiness of the wet pasta helps it adhere to the paper without using glue (though you could also use glue!). We made waves and spirals and left them out to dry. S had fun playing with the dried pasta shapes the next day and enjoyed snapping them.
I have also seen people add cooked spaghetti to baths, though I bet you'd need to give your tub a good scrub afterwards to get off any residue. Seems like it could otherwise be fun to take a "worm" bath!
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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.
I think I could bookmark every single one of your posts to try!!
ReplyDeletePlease do! And then take even prettier pictures of them! :)
DeleteSuch a beautiful photo! I can see I'm going to have some fun on your blog Pinning away!!
ReplyDeleteRainbow Noodle Love = FUN!
Warmly,
Pink and Green Mama
MaryLea
Thank you! And pinning = awesome. :)
DeleteLooks like sooo much fun, and I absolutely love the first photo!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Bella! It was awesome and so bright and rainbow-y!!! :)
Deletei wonder how long you can keep it???
ReplyDeleteMaybe a day in the fridge? Not too long because it's perishable...
DeleteI am a new mom to a boy and all of these things are amazingly fun. I'm an older mom too so all of these "new, hip" play ideas and learning techniques are awesome. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYay!!! So glad you found us! Hope you and your little guy have a blast! :) Thank you!!! :)
DeleteWhat a great idea!!! must get some liquid watercolours x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Leanne! And YES! Liquid watercolors are awesome!!!!
DeleteHi
DeleteI have an 8 month old and wondered it both the spaghetti play and foam play was suitable for him? What age can you add colour to either?
Also, how long can you keep the spaghetti?
Grateful for your response
THanks
Emma
That would depend on how much he's putting his hands in his mouth/eyes as he plays. If he's not very mouthy, you could definitely do both so long as you were supervising and had him in your lap and were ready to stop him from eating the foam/rubbing it in his eyes. Every kiddo is SO different! You can add colour at any point, it's just not a great thing for littles to be eating, so I'd wait until he's not interested in putting any in his mouth. The spaghetti would probably keep for around 24 hours if refrigerated when you're not using it. Hope that helps!!!! :)
Delete