Pasta Pouring!
Giving young children ample opportunities for sensory activities is more important than most parents realize, yes they can be messy but get the Dust buster on standby and let your child explore.
- Gather your materials. This activity is what you make it. All you need is some uncooked pasta, a container and something to scoop with.
- Pour the pasta into the container and make a big deal about it pouring into the container and NOT onto the floor. I was really surprised by how careful my son was this morning doing this. When a piece would fall onto the floor he would exclaim ” Uh Oh” then pick it up and pop it back in. I was shocked , but happy.
- Introduce different things to scoop and pour with. We used different sized containers and a measuring cup.
- Interact with your child while they are pouring, use words like “fill” “pour” ” empty” and “full” with preschoolers ask them how many scoops it will take to fill a cup , then count it out, grab another container, take bets and repeat!
- When you notice that the pasta starts making it on the floor more and more often, it’s time for the dust buster, Don’t wait too long, sensory activities go from fun to disaster fast, so stay on your toes, the learning a is worth it!
Andrea says
Don’t try Ditalini – it hurts when you step on it!! I used to do this to get any cooking or cleaning done in the kitchen. It only takes a minute to sweep up and they loved it.
Allie says
Thanks for the tip!
Sharon says
Thank you!
I’ve been looking for more ideas to use with my almost-3yo. He will get a kick out of this one, and we have a ton of pasta on hand because it was just on sale. 😉
.-= Sharon´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
Ashleigh says
This looks great! Love your site. My daughter is 11 months, and if I did the pasta thing with her, I know she’d try to eat it. How’d you avoid this issue?
admin says
It’s trial and error , close ( like sometimes I sit her on my lap the whole time) and different kids are different. My son when he teethed h=just wanted to nurse , my daughter eats EVERYTHING. So I don’t do these when she is in the throws of teething. Also if you use small pastas, rice or quinoa they will try to eat it realize it tastes yucky and spit it out.
Did you see our Baby’s First Sensory Tub? https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/12/babys-1st-sensory-tub.html