Pasta Play With Children

“Don’t play with your food, eat it.” Hands up who has said it to their child? I know I have numerous times both at home and when I was working.

Today we are breaking all the rules and having a Teddy bears picnic with coloured pasta.

What you need:

Dry pasta (we are using 3 different types – Penne, Spaghetti & Conchiglie)

Food colouring (We have used Blue, Red and Yellow)
Saucepan (1 for each colour of food colouring you are using)
Cooking oil
Water
Strainer

Bring the water to the boil in the saucepan with a few drops of cooking oil (this will stop the pasta sticking). Put in a few drops of food colouring and a small handful of pasta, as cook as per instructions on the packet.

Once cooked, strain and pour boiling water over the pasta to remove the oil (your child will probably eat the pasta when playing – I know Emmy tried some, but it’s fine its only cooked pasta and a very little colouring!) I then run cold water over the pasta to remove any left over food colouring (Don’t forget food colouring can stain clothes), I did this for 5 minutes just to be sure. This also cools the pasta down so they can play straight away – after all who wants to wait.

We set a picnic rug up on the kitchen floor with our plastic picnic set (or child’s tea set) and had lots and lots of fun.