Rainbow Craft Noodles + Fun Ideas On How To Use Them
A few weeks ago I shared on our Instagram Stories that we had made our own rainbow colored noodles to use for crafts and learning activities. A lot of you reached out asking how we made them, so we are sharing that here today! I actually made a giant batch of these rainbow noodles to keep on hand in our craft supplies. Mila and I have made bracelets, necklaces, noodle art, and just recently started using them for counting exercises. Find out how to make them below and let me know how your family has fun with their rainbow noodles!
Rainbow Craft Noodles
What you Need; A fun variety of pasta noodles (be sure to include some that have holes so you can string them & include noodles of all sizes), rubbing alcohol, food color, plastic zip top bags, a large bowl, two thick dish towels/old clothes that you won’t mind dying with color.
What You Do
-Start by gathering all your ingredients and plan a space where your noodles can hang out for a few hours and they lay out to dry overnight.
-Cover your counter top with an old cloth in case drops of food color escape.
-Add about 1 cup of *uncooked noodles into the zip top bags.
-Pour in 3-4 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol into each bag. *Using rubber alcohol helps distribute the color to each noodle but doesn’t dilute the color like water would. Plus the alcohol mostly evaporates leaving a bright colored noodle!
-Add about 10-15 drops of food color into each bag.
-Secure the bags closed and gently move the noodles around so the color coats all the noodles.
-Once you’ve added the alcohol + color into each bag and the colors have coated all the noodles. Place them in a large bowl (to keep the color contained if any bags start to leak) and let them sit for a few hours. I’ve even let them sit overnight, but a few hours works!
-Take a look in a few hours and your noodles should be brightly colored.
-Next lay out your colored noodles onto an old dishtowel or cloth to dry out. I usually leave them overnight night so the alcohol smell fully dissipates. Toss the bags they were colored in!
-I store these in air tight containers and keep the colors separated with little silicon cupcake liners. Or you can store all of them together in a large zip top bag or air tight container.
Rainbow Noodle Activities
Our favorite way to use our rainbow noodles are with glue art. I take thick white paper and draw out letters, shapes, or designs for Mila to then glue noodles on. This has also helped Mila learn how to use glue properly which has been huge! ;)
Every parent deserves noodle jewelry! We’ve made each other bracelets, necklaces, and have made some pieces to send to our family! If your child has older siblings this is a great one to set out and let the family get creative with each other!
We’ve also started learning about addition and using the noodles has helped Mila actually see how adding numbers works. Let us know how you get creative with your rainbow noodles!
This is our craft wall. I have three strings attached to the wall and use mini clothespins to attach artwork. The top string is dedicated to all of Ryan’s artwork. The rest is all Mila until Maya starts getting creative!