Learning with Dyed Alphabet Pasta

Grab a box of alphabet noodles for a fun multisensory learning activity that builds skills in many areas. We used letters pasta to create a sensory bin that incorporates fine motor skills and a letter learning activity.

alphabet letter pasta activity

Alphabet Noodles

You might remember eating alphabet noodles as a child in soup. But if you have a box of letter noodles on hand, it’s easy to create a sensory play activity that builds skills.

This easy dyed pasta activity combines learning with fine motor development.  From the scooping to the neat pincer grasp activity, this is a great way to build many skills!  Younger children can use scoops and spoons to develop coordination needed to scoop and pour while gaining exposure to letters.  What a fun way to build so many areas!


alphabet pasta
 
This was such a fun activity!  I found a bag of alphabet pasta at a local grocery store on sale for a dollar and couldn’t pass it up!  We used a little from the bag and used the rest in wedding soup.  (Little Guy’s most often request and favorite meal!)  Because the only thing that makes wedding soup even more awesome is fun shaped noodles 🙂
 
 

How to dye alphabet Pasta

 
 
We dyed the pasta in a baggie…added a few drops of red food coloring and 2 Tbsp of vinegar.  We dyed this batch back in May and the color is still going strong.  The vinegar doesn’t leave an odor when playing with the pasta, but helps the coloring to “stick” to the pasta.
 
Have the kids shake the bag (or use a lidded plastic container for a fun auditory component!) and get their wiggles out.
 
alphabet pasta
 
I put up a few strips of masking tape on our easel and put out the bowl of pasta.  Baby Girl had the job of scooping letters from the bowl onto a plate.  She loved using my measuring spoons to scoop.  Toddlers seem to love scooping any little bits…peas/beans/rice/sand…and it’s such a great fine motor task for them. 
 
Pinching those little letters was a fun fine motor exercise for working on their tripod grasp and pincer grasp. 
 
I  positioned the tape strips high up on the easel to encourage an extended wrist.  This wrist position allows for efficient use of the fingers in such a small motor activity.  
 
Big Sister worked on locating letters as I told her how to spell words.
 
…Baby Girl couldn’t let her big sister do something and NOT get involved…
 
We also used the alphabet letter pasta to work on a little reading/spelling activity: I stuck on the -AT letters and asked Big Sister to find the letter we needed to spell different rhyming words.  Fun!
 

Alphabet letter pasta can be used in many ways! How do you use this sensory activity to learn and play?

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