With everyone staying in and homeschooling their kids, parents are really looking for things to do. This coronavirus has really thrown everyone through a loop! This post is for those parents that want to get their kids’ minds going and away from the screen.
Rainbow pasta has so many pasta-bilities (see what I did there?) It’s cheap to buy, it’s easy to make, and it’ll last you for years. Hopefully your grocery store isn’t completely sold out of pasta like mine is. I made this last year for Grady and threw it in his bin because well, it’s getting closer to spring and we’re all about rainbows and warmer weather.
I made sure I picked a variety of shapes and sizes and divided the boxes into a variety of rainbow colors. This particular day, I just gave Grady some scoops and bowls and he was perfectly content with just playing around with his fine motor skills.
Coloring the pasta is easy:
- 1 cup of pasta to 1 cup vinegar, shake in a ziplock bag
- Add as much food coloring as you want (the more you add, the more saturated)
- Lay out to dry on tissue
But what if you want to make it more educational? You can give them colored bowls and have them sort the pasta by color. Give them a scoop or tongs to pull the pasta and you have added fine motor/life skills practice.
Sorting by shape is a higher order skill, but important for students to master so they see attributes other than color.
Threading is a great skill to work the hand muscles. I found some rubber thread that’s easier for the little hands to work with. I just taped a piece to the table and Grady had to sort through which pasta could be threaded (because not all of it can).
If you have a higher learner, they can practice making patterns while threading the pasta.
Add some play dough and let them make sculptures or imprints. Give them a picture and have them recreate it using the pasta and/or play dough.
Hopefully this is enough to get you through a few days!
~Ashley