Pasta Pets Craft
Make a mini-menagerie out of pasta and paint!
Submitted by
Kayla Chong
Kayla Chong
Kid keep begging for a puppy? Be a hero and give her the whole pet store! Before you panic, we're talking animals that don't shed, eat or bark. (Sounds perfect, huh?) Have your kid craft a collection of wacky, wild animals out of noodles! They may not be as cute as a newborn puppy, but at least they won't pee on the carpet!
- Pasta:Pick up all different shapes and sizes: rigatoni, rotini, gemelli, macaroni and any other shapes you can find.
- Tacky Glue:Tacky as in sticky, not like your mother-in-law's bejeweled sweatshirt. Aleene's is one of our favorite brands.
- String and Pipe Cleaners:To make the animals' "spines."
- Acrylic Paint and Paintbrush
- Paper Plates and Paper Towels:Cheers to mom for keeping the paper goods industry afloat!
- Cotton Swabs
Set up the craft station. Lay down some newspaper and spread out the supplies and all of the different pasta noodles.
Have your child take a pipe cleaner or piece of string and smear a little tacky glue on it with a cotton swab.
Next, have her string the noodles onto the sticky pipe cleaner or string to create her animals. A few ideas:- a. To make a ladybug, have her cut a pipe cleaner about 3 inches long. She can string on a jumbo shell (typically used for stuffed shells, yum!) for the body and a little mac-and-cheese shell for the head. Then have her paint it red and dab on some black dots! Ta-da! A ladybug!
- b. To make a snake, have her take a long piece of string and thread on a pasta shell for the head. She can make the body by looping various pieces of penne, manicotti and rigatoni together. Have her paint it a funky, sinister color and voilà—a snake!
When she's finished stringing the noodles together, encourage her to paint her creations with brightly colored acrylic paint.
Let the animals dry. When they're finished, she can place them in shoebox "cages" and play zookeeper or stick them in the yard and take her younger sibling on a safari. Don't forget to grab the camera!
- For younger children, pour a little paint onto paper plates and have them roll the noodles in the paint before assembling the animals. You'll have better results with this craft if you forgo the whole paintbrush step.
Submit!
