As I've mentioned several times, I am always on the lookout for play ideas which are edible, because Isabelle loves popping things in to her mouth. I had been meaning to get around to some spaghetti play for ages, but even when I was sent home with the leftover spaghetti from a family meal at my parents, I never got round to it. Finally, after spaghetti and meatballs for tea, we had a little left over and Isabelle got to have some fun!She isn't the hugest fan of eating spaghetti - she prefers pasta - but she always enjoys picking it up and flinging it round in her high chair, so I knew she'd love this activity. As with all my sensory play activities, I have started out really simply with this one - literally just some spaghetti and a baby fork. It was plenty to keep her occupied for 20 minutes though! She dug right in to the tray of spaghetti and, as predicted, picked up up and waved it manically. I spent the entire time retrieving spaghetti from across the room, but despite this I was surprised at how 'un-messy' the whole thing was.
Isabelle loved shaking the spaghetti about, and seeing how far she could throw it. She picked handfuls up and manipulated them in her fingers, dropped some, threw some, tore some into smaller pieces, waved some, and then went back for more. I showed her how to use the fork to scoop some spaghetti up, and she imitated it perfectly, using her fork for a few moments, before she figured out it was more fun just to use her hands. It was great for her fine motor skills, and watching the spaghetti flail about was also a workout for her eye-tracking. This is a really tactile activity, as cooked spaghetti has a pretty unusual texture! When Isabelle was finished playing, she had a little munch, and that was us finished. The dogs cleared up any stray spaghetti, so it was a winner all round!
Since I just used leftover spaghetti, we didn't have a huge amount in the tray, but it actually turned out to be plenty. In future, I plan on using food colouring to make coloured, and rainbow, spaghetti, and as Isabelle's motor skills develop I can include different tools for her to use to pick the spaghetti up.
A really simple activity to set up for your little one, just make sure you haven't given them any spaghetti with bolognese on it!
