Let your kids get stuck into this fun sensory activity. Not quite as messy as most messy play, this is a good option if you don’t want to have to clean paint splatters off your walls and the end of the day! All you need is a package (or more) of spaghetti, some food colouring, and possibly a few drops of oil.
Boil your spaghetti as normal, but remove it from the heat a couple of minutes early, so it’s still firmer than how you would typically eat it. Run it under cold water to stop the cooking and remove the excess starch.
Separate out handfuls of spaghetti into a bowl or zip seal bag for each colour you plan to make. Add some food colouring and shake the bag (or stir the bowl) until you’ve achieved your desired colour. If you find that the spaghetti is sticking together a lot, then add a bit of oil at this point.
Leave the spaghetti sitting out for about an hour, so the food colouring has a chance to dry, or refrigerate it if you want to make it to play with on another day.
When it’s time for your kids to get stuck in, dump all the spaghetti worms onto a wipe-clean table, or put them in a big plastic bin/bucket. You may want to hide small toys in the spaghetti for your children to dig through and find, or give them toy gardening or kitchen utensils to use such as spades, spoons, tongs, etc.
Photo courtesy of parentingchaos.com
