Mannnn this was fun. I actually had a lot of fun dyeing the pasta - Jon and I both agreed that we need to dye our pasta for spag bol from now on in!

Ok so we've done a lot of sensory activities but not a whole lot of messy play. Messy play is really important for childrens' development as it helps build neural connections in the brain to support thought, learning and creativity. I figured this was an easy start - August is just tipping into the 'world of categories' leap so we're very much into talking about colours. He enjoyed feeling the pasta in his hands, alternating between grabbing big clumps of it or picking up just one strand. He did some transferring of it in and out of a container, and we experimented with the feel of it against our skin. He seemed more than happy with it on his head! I talked to him about the colours, the texture and where we were putting it - and showed him how I use a pasta spoon and bowl. There's pasta all over my lounge! I'm going to pack it all up and put it in the fridge for another experience tomorrow - I might put him in the bath with it with a little bit of water as that will make it feel different again! 

How to:
🍝get a pack of spaghetti pasta.
🍝get food colouring in primary colours.
🍝 split the packet of pasta into 6 portions.
🍝 cook one portion at a time with one capful of food colouring. Strain, and put in a container.
🍝 mix food colouring to create all the colours of the rainbow.

Click here to see more of how August engaged with this messy rainbow play.

Because who doesn't love some multi-use play, we added the pasta to a bath!

So fishing bits of rainbow pasta out of my bath is not my idea of a fun evening but it was TOTALLY worth it to take the rainbow pasta play to the next level!

Cooked pasta is SLIMY and August had a blast squishing it between his hands, feeling it on his toes and watching it move as he splashed the couple of centimetres of water I put in. After a while, the colours all merged together and many of the strands broke apart - which looked really interesting and vibrant. Needless to say - I had to drag him out of the bath! 

This was such a great way to extend the rainbow pasta activity - different environment, different texture, different movement, different visually. It was rewarding for me to see him enjoy it so much too. The water barely changed colour and August didn't either - so it's good to know that the food colouring pretty much locks onto the pasta. We'll have to do this again for sure..