Colored Pasta

This was such a fun activity for the girls and pretty simple for me too! I'll give you the instructions on coloring the pasta first -

1) Cook your pasta according to directions, then strain and give a rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. {I used an entire box for two kids, but probably could have used less}

2) Gather enough ziplock bags for as many colors as you want to make.

3) Add food coloring to the bags {I did about 15-20 drops per color, even if I mixed two colors I still used 15-20 drops of each color}

4) Add about a tablespoon of water to each bag

5) Add pasta to each bag {I tried to keep equal portions in each bag}

6) Close and shake each bag until the pasta is fully coated. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

7) Rinse in strainer until no color is coming off pasta. 

8) This is where I got a little OCD and dried my pasta before putting it back in the bags. Next time I'll add a tiny bit of oil to it instead.

9) Play!

Super simple. Making 6 colors took me about 20-30 minutes tops including cooking time. {Note: to save time, mix bags of color while pasta cooks!}

At first they were slightly hesitant about pulling the pasta out and playing with it. They'd pull some and then drop it back in. So, I took the entire {huge} bowl and dumped it onto the ground. We used our picnic blanket/tarp/floor protector that we got from Babies R Us so I wasn't worried about any staining or damaging the carpet. Once I dumped it, the real fun began.

As they played, we talked about how it was sticky, what each color was, how some pieces were long and some were short, how many colors there were, how it was squishy, etc. I also encouraged them to use not just their hands, but their feet as well!

They really enjoyed playing with the pasta and it took up a good solid half hour to 45 minutes of our day. Next time, I'll be sure to add some oil so it's not sticky again (then we can talk about how it's slippery) and I'd love to see how neon food coloring works out too. We will definitely be doing this activity again!