While the Noodles Boil
The children are finally at an age (the youngest is now 2 1/2) where the idea of them using glue and small uncooked noodles (with out me hovering) doesn’t frighten me. The children climbed up to the kitchen bar and were anxiously waiting for some food. As I was breaking down the macaroni and cheese box, instead of recycling it, I cut-out the two biggest pieces of cardboard and set it in front of them, “We’re doing a project” I cheerily announced! I grabbed a handful of the elbow macaroni and some Elmer’s glue. I then grabbed some uncooked rice, popcorn, split peas and some “Space Needle” noodles out of the cupboard. They quietly glued (mostly) while I (very) happily stirred the boiling noodles.
The time for the project was perfect for the 10 minutes of boiling and prep. After the noodles were done cooking, we discussed uncooked noodles vs. cooked noodles and compared the size of cooked/uncooked noodles.
They loved the project and have engaged in it since. It is a great fine motor skill builder (squeezing the small glue bottle, picking up the small pieces). The natural colors of the popcorn and noodles glued onto the brown cardboard looked great for the week they were on display in the kitchen!
