Colored Pasta Projects

Colored Pasta Projects for Kids

Hands on Fun with Colored Pasta. Create 3-D pictures, necklaces, and collages...great fun for all ages. Using brightly colored pasta, create many craft projects...just let the kids use their imagination! This will help promote fine motor skills and you also can reinforce colors. You can purchase Colorful Pasta at craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby or online stores like Amazon. However, you can easily make your own for a lot cheaper and it will yield a larger amount. See our directions on making Colored Pasta Here. Be sure to read all of our tips and suggestions for best results. We found when storing in an airtight container in a cool location out of the sun to prevent fading, the pasta can easily last 2 years or more.

Getting Creative with Pasta

Some children prefer to create their own picture. This is always fun to see what they come up with. I was impressed with some of the 3 dimensional inspirations they created. Some children may prefer creating a collage.

Materials

• 1 Sheet Construction Paper, cardstock or xerox paper.
• Pencil
• Craft Glue recommended especially if they are building 3 dimensionally.
• Colored Pasta of various shapes and colors

Other Items

• Line the work area with paper.
• Muffin Tins or small dishes to sort pasta.

Steps

• Have your child sort into muffin tins either by color or by type of pasta. For young toddlers sort by color and pick only two or three colors to work with.
• Discuss shapes and how you could use them to make trees, flowers, butterflies etc.
• Other ideas might be their name, free form design or patterns.
• Help your child place glue directly on the pasta if he/she requires.
• Create pictures and let dry completely.

Other Ideas

• Create their Name
• Collage
• Create a design with the colored pasta
• Patterns

Stringing Colored Pasta Necklaces

Materials

• Braiding Cord like Waxed Polyester Cord for Jewelry Making works very well. This is the type of string Pura Vida uses for bracelets. It is easy to work with, colorful and strong. You could also use yarn but would need a plastic large eye yarn needle.
• Colored Pasta (See our recipe link above if you are interested in making your own.)

Other Materials

• Scissors
• Craft Glue to seal the knot. Fabri-tac works well and dries pretty quick.
• Trays or plates to hold the pasta. Muffin tins work well if you are sorting the pasta
• Styrofoam Meat Trays, paper plates or dish towels are handy for laying out patterns when planning your bracelet or necklace. This helps keep the pieces off of the floor. Once they are dyed they are not edible and you don't want your pets ingesting them either.

Steps

• Have your child sort into muffin tins either by color or by type of pasta.
• Lay out a pattern to string or have your child pick freely.
• To keep the pasta from slipping off of the string, put a piece of painters or masking tape on the end. This is also a good place to write their initials. If you don't have tape, select a piece of pasta and tie a knot around it. Be sure to leave enough room to tie your two ends together.
• Tie in a double knot when finished. Put a tiny drop of craft glue like Fabric-tac on the knot. This will keep the knot from slipping.

Building Fine Motor Skills

• For fine motor skill practice, use pipe cleaners. Bend pipe cleaner in a L shape at the bottom to keep pasta from slipping off. If you have a center based classroom, this could be one of the activities in the Math Center.

Making Pictures with Colored Pasta

Materials for Making Pictures

• 1 Sheet Construction Paper, cardstock or xerox paper. Draw or print a simple picture on your paper.
• Pencil
• Elmers or craft glue
• Colored Pasta

Steps

• Sort your pasta by shapes or colors into muffin tins. For very young children, it may be easier to sort by color and pick only two or three colors to work with at a time.
• Print out a picture or draw a simple one with large basic shapes. We printed out a picture on Xerox paper.
• Talk about the different shapes and how to fill each area with pasta. Explain how filling each shape will give you a picture at the end.
• Put glue on a section at a time. Place pasta on glue. Let dry flat.

Educational Note

This is a perfect opportunity to discuss colors, sort shapes, learn about patterns, develop fine motor skills. Colored Pasta can be perfect for sensory play or as small activities in a center based classroom. In a Math center we share some ideas on our other page. See our Math Activities Using Colored Pasta