We turned The Imagination Tree’s bug slime spaghetti [eww!] into a sensory activity especially for Halloween!
I simply cooked up a package of spaghetti noodles, drained them and rinsed it with cold water to cool it down quickly.
Divide the spaghetti and add food coloring of your choice. [I chose orange, purple and black for Halloween.] If you’d like, let the kids mix up the colors. I chose to do it myself since I was just playing with George.
Add a little vegetable oil, too, to keep the noodles slimy for great sensory play!
[I added oil both before and after I colored it, but I think the color would take even better if didn't add the oil beforehand, though it was still pretty vibrant!]
I set them outside in containers for George to explore. And he did…
Surprisingly, he was actually very hesitant to touch it with his hands.
Along with the colored spaghetti, I set out measuring spoons and cups, a soup ladle, a funnel and a large bucket.
Once George got the courage to touch the slimy spaghetti, he mostly liked to see if he could pull it apart. Over and over. [There were lots of little tiny pieces!]
I tried my best to sit back and watch, and let him explore entirely on his own. But this colored spaghetti was so enticing, I had to join in!
I thought the funnel would add a nice effect. I thought it would be easy to pull the spaghetti through the hole.
Maybe I put too much in, because it was hard for even me to pull out of it!
George attempted it, too. Breaking the pieces into even smaller pieces than he was doing before!
Finally, the bucket was discovered. The colored spaghetti became a potion in the cauldron for Halloween.
Potions were mixed and mixed, in and out of the cauldron!
All parts explored the spaghetti’s slimy texture. Fingers…. mouths… hair… ears…
A sensory sliminess and ooey gooey good time.
And boy was it messy. [So glad we took this one outside!]
Our hands did stain a little from the food coloring, but it came off in the bath that night. If you do it inside, maybe throw down a vinyl tablecloth on the floor before starting.
A slimy mess is worth the sensory fun, right?
This one of the 50 Activities Just for your Toddler!
George is 1 year old.
About Jamie Reimer
Fantastic colours! I'm so glad to have inspired you
I love the feeling of the oily spaghetti- wonderful!
I HAVE to do this with my daughter! Or even my older kids too! Thanks for sharing with us!!!
Ooo, fun!
Awesome post! Now you have to paint with spaghetti like we did!
How fun! I bet my 2 year old would love that.
OMG, we MUST do this!
Ohhh that looks like so much fun. I think I could even do it with T (7months) as it's all edible and won't matter if she eats anything.
Oh, I love it!! I don't think I'm brave enough to do it with my pre-k class, but I'd definitely do it at home with my twin 3-year-olds and my 2-year-old.
That looks like awesome fun!!!!! Beautiful pics!
I'm sure my daughter will love this. We will play with this in her outdoor kitchen this week. I love that my daughter loves getting her hands dirty so this will be right up her alley.
they make purple and black food coloring?? where can i get some…i have two preschool boys that would love this
What great fun! I'm certain that both my 3yo and my 6yo would love this. And our chickens would gobble up the mess afterward!
That is AWESOME!! It looks like SO much fun!! Thanks for sharing!!
I would love for you to link up http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/search/label/Linkey%20Parties
~Beth
That is really beautiful! And it really does look enticing and sort of creepy. Yet still beautiful! I adore this! And I'm pinning.
It is worth the mess, isn't it?
And that's so great that you played too. I probably couldn't have resisted playing with it either. So awesome.
Sooooooooooo fun!! I am going to try this too. I found you at Living Life Intentionally Linky Party.
I LOVE this idea! It's such a great exploratory experience for so many ages! I'm going to share it on FB, if that's okay! If it's not okay, let me know and I'll take it down.
Carla @ Whole Child Creative Curriculum
My 3 year old saw these pictures and exclaimed that she wanted to make this today. I guess we'll be covering the floor with vinyl
So fun and SO messy =)
Love the colors!
That looks brilliant!!! Definitely one we will try. xx
The mess is totally worth the fun! I am going to do that with my twins this week! Thanks for linking up!
I am thrilled to come across this website. I look forward to new adventures. Since I work with toddlers I know I will be here to make use of the activities. Thank you so much for sharing.
So I own a inhome daycare I havent really done crafts.do to prob aly finding the time.so I decided to look up crafts since the kids are now toddler snd preschool age an thought it was important. So I did this one with one 3 year he was a a little scared at first he thought they were worms then said it was fun cutting up dead worms .the next day another 3 year old came and he showed him tand told about the worms well the other 3 year old freaked out and. Screamed. An the parents got mad even though I told him they were fake they were noodles I even ate some in front of him an said look yummy noodles oh well I had fun an so did 10 other kids I did it with and the other parents though t it was cute and funny