Baby Play – Pasta

It’s over to T again and this time some more fine motor skill development but instead of using rice krispies to transfer we’ve been using some dyed pasta.

Baby Play - developing fine motor skills and exploration with dried pastaYou maybe wondering why it’s dyed – well it’s dyed for some crafts with J but T has found the coloured pasta so much fun that I’ve had to make some more for J to use.

It’s really easy to dye pasta – I used some liquid food colouring – around 1/2 a teaspoon in a ziplock bag and then I added the pasta. J and I furiously shook the bags to cover them with the colouring – he loved it as they made a sound when we shock them and then I left them in the bag to dry which they did overnight – I guess food colouring must have some form of alcohol in them.

Discovery Box from dried pasta with toys hidden inside
T hunting for her favourite characters

Back to T though – I placed the pasta in a plastic tub and we sat on the lounge floor – inside the tub I had also hidden some of the characters she is familiar with from our bedtime TV show. We first went through shuffling the pasta around making a noise and then she discovered one of the characters – which she held up to me – cue lots of praise that she had found it and claps and asking her if she could find a different one – which she promptly did.

Fine motor skills development with dried pasta
T showing her ability to pick up individual pasta and hide them

T got bored of the hunt the character game and instead poured out all of the pasta and characters on the floor. You can see that we were using a mix of blue and green pasta here clearer than in the previous picture. She picked up the pasta using a really good pincer grip and then proceeded to hide it in her pocket – you would be amazed what I find in her pockets now that she has discovered them.

Although this is so simple T has really enjoyed playing with her pasta. We have the box at a level that she can get to and she will go and get it and shake it furiously during the day to play with.

Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

3 Comments

  1. Like the activity but am very glad I only died half of the pasta. Although the blue pasta was dry the die started coming off on his hands as soon as the pasta reached his mouth -i.e. immediately! This was followed by me playing swift game of pick out the blue pasta before the cream carpet turned blue.

  2. Hey there Kids Co-op friend! I love the colours you got with the dyed pasta – adds a nice extra dimension.

  3. Kim @ Little Stories says:

    I absolutely LOVE the pasta in her pocket. That makes me so happy! You know I always love these Baby Play activities for language. Here’s some language I would overlay onto this activity, “Wheeerrrreeeee’s ________________?”, “THERE he/she is!” And for the pasta picking, “pinch it, pinch it, pinch the pasta.”

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