Fine Motor Wednesday!

Lets make pasta necklaces today! Not only is this a fun art project, but it helps with developing fine motor skills.

Materials Needed:

Pour some pasta into a bag (as much as you want to dye a certain color)
Add a few squirts of hand sanitizer (this helps make the color stick to the pasta)
Add a few drops of food dye
Optional: sprinkle in some glitter
Close bag and mix well until all pasta is the desired color
Lay out cling wrap flat on counter top.
Spread pasta flat over cling wrap to dry.
Leave to dry overnight.
Repeat as many times are you like with various colors of food-dye.
Children can help with the preparation of this activity. Ask them what colors they would like the pasta to be or what color you are using.

Put all the dry colored pasta into a large bowl. (Your child may enjoy doing the pouring or just putting their hands through the pasta as a sensory activity.)
Take a length of string and cut to desired length (for use as a bracelet/necklace/crown). Remember that once string has pasta on it, it will become a bit shorter.
Ask your child to choose a piece of pasta and thread onto string. Wrap the string around the first piece of pasta and knot it to create a stopper, so the other pieces do not fall off the string.
Ask your child to thread the string through the pasta until the thread is full. As your child does this, take the opportunity to ask them about:
- How many pieces of pasta they think they will need and then count the pieces at the end to see how close they were.
- Talk about the colors of pasta they are using and in what order – discuss patterns.
- If you are using different types of pasta, take the opportunity to discuss the shapes of e.g. macaroni vs penne pasta – what do they resemble in real life?
Tie a knot between the two ends of the string to create a necklace/bracelet.