How to Dye Pasta and Use with Children's Activities

I like to dye pasta of all shapes and sizes to make fun kid’s projects. The best part about colored pasta is it is cheap and easy to make. All you need are a few things you probably already have around the house.

Materials

• Different Shaped Pasta (I used Rigatoni, kid’s shaped pasta, and 2 different types of Elbow macaroni)
• Rubbing alcohol
• Food Coloring
• Paper towels
• Craft tray or cookie tray
• Zipper-close plastic bags

Layer your tray with paper towels. Add 1 Tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and 4-5 drops of desired food coloring to a zipper close plastic bag. Then place your dry pasta into the bag. Close your bag completely. Shake the pasta in the bag and swirl it around until the pasta is completely coated with the food coloring and alcohol mixture. Drop the pasta onto the paper towels to dry. Use a toothpick to spread out the pasta for drying. Repeat with different colors in separate bags. Mix food coloring to make additional colors. Make sure the pasta is completely dry before handling again.

Using Your Colored Pasta With Children

There are endless uses for colored pasta. My kids enjoy making arts and crafts, gluing them, making jewelry, counting, sorting, patterning, building, and making different shapes out of the pasta. Work on fine motors skills when you string and make necklaces and bracelets from the colored pasta. We will use our jewelry when learning more about Native Americans this Thanksgiving season. Colored pasta works wonders in your sensory bins, too. Let the children mix, scoop, and play with them.

Make Crafts and Jewelry

Practice math skills like counting, sorting, and patterning. 

Use in Sensory Bins

Follow these easy steps to make your own colored pasta and use them for all your favorite projects, too!