That'll be the pasta

How many times have you had to wipe the bolognese sauce off their cheeks? You might not have since thought of pasta in a different way. But pasta shapes are one of the most versatile ingredients you can find in your kitchen. Who knew penne, farfalle or any other kind can be so entertaining for little hands? Homemade pasta crafts are great ways to engage with both younger and older children and help to improve the eye and hand coordination from a very early age on.

Our aim was to create a mighty lion and so we used macaroni and spaghetti for this 'recipe'. Of course you can choose to make other animals or shapes, this time we opted for a decent-looking mane for our furry friend.

To follow our theme on and help our lovely babies and toddlers engage with the animal theme, we sang quite a handful of songs about wild animals. We took a boat rowing ('Row, row, row your boat') and went 'Down in the jungle' but also got to know the noises the animals make when 'We went to visit the zoo today' and found that 'The snake was very slithery' so we used some flashcards to make the session even louder with hissing, roaring and squawking throughout.

With younger toddlers you can also try pasta threading which we had lots of fun with at the session. All you need is a bit of play dough, straws for stability, larger sized pasta and you can get started. It's very simple and such good fun but at the same time it helps them concentrate and achieve threading as many pasta shapes onto the straw (poked into the play dough in front of them).

Do you know of an interesting way of using pasta for little hands? If so, let me know via email at 'rhymeandcraft@gmail.com'.

Until next time Keep on Rhyming and Crafting!