This week we’ve been exploring coloured spaghetti.
I’d made a batch for the Childminding Group but kept a little back for mine to explore. I coloured the spaghetti with food colouring from a local cake shop. I added this to the water I cooked the spaghetti in and rinsed well after. I also added a little oil to the spaghetti once cooked to try to reduce its stickiness. The children didn’t have a huge amount of spaghetti to explore but this didn’t seem to bother them.
I thought the spaghetti would provide a good opportunity for J to practise his scissor skills and with this in mind, placed a spool in the tray to make cutting the spaghetti a bit easier. However this wasn’t the direction the children chose to take the activity.
J became fascinated with the hole in the centre of the spool….
…and set about filling it with spaghetti. First filling one piece at a time…
…and then trying several in one go! J found this method was less successful as the spaghetti tended to jam up the hole.
Looking to see where the spaghetti had gone.
J’s actions were being closely observed by the younger children who quickly decided to join in with this play.
The children explored the feel and texture of the spaghetti….
…again selecting both handfuls and individual pieces.
The children filled the various containers with the spaghetti, sometimes sorting according to colour….
…and sometimes not!
Exploring the spaghetti with all our senses.
The children were so engrossed in their play that I never got round to introducing the scissors.
