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25 Pasta Play Ideas for Toddlers

April 10, 2015 Mary Malcolm

1.3K shares

As the famous saying goes, “Start them young”. These pasta play ideas are so fun and crafty, your toddlers are going to flip their noodles!

Check out these 25 fun ways to harness your toddlers creativity and work on their fine motor skills. Not only will pasta play activities keep your toddlers busy, you’ll only have little to no mess to worry about.

25 Pasta Play Ideas Blog Image

Toddlers love to put things in their mouths…they can’t help it! That’s why pasta play is so fun for those busy little kiddos. Make use of the pasta inventory that’s been sitting too long in your cupboard so they’re not completely going to waste!

Stack ’em, string ’em, eat ’em, no matter how you serve them, these 25 Pasta Play Ideas for Toddlers are sure to please.

Fun Pasta Play Ideas For Your Toddlers to Enjoy

1. Build Cute Houses with Pasta and Playdough

Your toddler engineer can make impressive structures using this pasta and playdough play idea by Kids Play Box. Just you watch your toddler engineers go! Not to mention all that vibrant colors at play. A pasta-built structure has never been this cute!

building with pasta for toddlers - image showing pasta to make a little house
Super crafty pasta house in the making!

2. Felt Lasagna to the Rescue

This felt lasagna by And Next Comes L is fun cooking play without the mess! Your soon-to-be chef will have the best sensory play experience possible by assembling pasta-shaped lasagna ingredients with just some colored felt as materials.

felt lasagna recipe - image showing materials to make lasagna using felt
Let’s play with some felt lasagna!

3. Use Felt to Make Tortellini for Pasta Playtime

Felt tortellini by Best Toys For Toddler is perfect pasta fun for those gluten-free toddlers. Besides, if thinking outside the box can be learned at a very early age, I don’t see why not! Also, it’s amazing what felt can do, right?

felt tortillini
I felt that. Pun intended!

4. Count with Pasta

Noodle counting by Cheap Crafty Mama (unavailable) is as easy as 1-2-3. In fact, counting is the idea. Just grab a piece of paper and add in the numbers for your toddler to match with some bow-tie pasta.

noodle counting - boy using numbers on paper as guide for knowing how many pasta pieces to put
Math whiz toddler in the making!

5. Noodle Pasta Bath

Splish, splash! I want to get in on this pasta bath by Growing a Jeweled Rose (unavailable)! Such a great toddler activity involving pasta play with little to no effort. Just dye and cook and your little one will be enjoying in no time.

ocean sensory bath - image showing toddler having a bath and playing with blue and green pasta noodles
Sensory bath with pasta noodles is sooo fun!

6. 3D Pasta and Paper Collage

This pasta and paper collage by No Time For Flashcards is floaty, 3D fun! The best part is, the sky is the limit. Paper and pasta can do wonders when imagination is at play. Grab your construction paper in different colors, bow tie pasta, markers, glue, and you’re all set!

pasta and paper collage - image showing collage materials in different shapes and sizes and butterfly-inspired pasta
Look at those pretty butterfly looking Farfalle!

7. Develop Fine Motor Skills With Pasta

Stack beads on pasta sticks courtesy of Happy Hooligans with this fun fine motor development play. Apart from your discarded pasta sticks being upcycled, you’ll be sure they never feel so dull again. Just watch your toddler make magic!

pasta and playdough stacking fine motor fun- image showing uncooked pasta sticks and beads stacked on top
Such a fun way to develop fine motor skills!

8. Learn to Measure with Pasta Shells

Measure your fun in shells with this pasta bin by Mumma Made It. Just scoop, pour and repeat! Make sure to notice their efforts. Little spillage is a milestone!

pasta bin - image showing colorful pasta shells in a measuring cup
There’s no way a toddler would miss a pasta activity like this!

9. Colorful Bracelet Made of Pasta

Your toddlers are going to love making this pasta bracelet by Kiwi Crate (unavailable)! It’s everything you need and more. No bracelet shall ever be dull in your eyes and your toddlers’ cute little hands.

pasta bracelet - showing ziti pasta made into a fun toddler bracelet
This pasta bracelet is all the rage!

10. Count with Pasta on a Stick

These pasta counting sticks by The Mommy Talks (unavailable) are the kind of fun your toddlers can count on. There’s much to be done with pasta and popsicle as far as basic counting is involved.

pasta counting sticks - mommy talks image showing colorful bow tie pasta in counting sticks for your toddlers
Bow tie pasta on popsicle sticks never looked so magical or should I say, numerical?

11. Paleontology Lesson With Dinosaur Pasta

Build your own pasta dinosaur skeletons courtesy of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. No excavation required, just a whole lot of fun and learning about dinosaurs and pasta!

pasta dinosaur - dinosaur toys on top of paper with pasta forming a dinosaur skeleton
Out of this world? Nope! Just fun pasta play with dinosaurs!

12. Pasta Play Picture Frames

Pasta picture frames by Ceres Childcare are a right of passage for every toddler…and toddler parent. Who doesn’t want to upcycle pasta as a design element on a popsicle stick picture frame?

pasta frame - pasta decorated popsicle stick frames
Ditch your old picture frames. We have a winner!

13. Pasta Necklace With Matching Bracelet

This pasta necklace and matching bracelet by Reasons To Skip The Housework are perfect for toddlers who accessorize everything. Imagine all the creative juices flowing. And those colors are divine…perfect for matching outfits!

pasta jewelry - dyed elbow macaroni pasta stringed together to form a necklace and bracelet
“Accessorize in style”, said the elbow macaroni pasta!

14. Play with Pasta in a Bottle

Shake, shake, shake up your pasta courtesy of In The Playroom! Get your toddler to enjoy home-made musical shakes for speech and language development. All you need is a bottle and some pasta shells.

pasta musical shaker - toddler shaking plastic bottle with pasta shells inside
Shake it till you hear the music!

15. Use Curly Pasta for Drawings

This pasta princess by Always Something to Learn (unavailable) is perfect for your precious princess toddlers. With a simple doodle on a piece of paper, toddlers can create another dimension with some curly pasta.

pasta princess - drawing of a princess or girl with curly pasta hair
Love those curls!

16. Sea Explorer Mode Using Pasta

Explore this sea of pasta by Growing a Jeweled Rose (unavailable) to find all sorts of fun treasures! Dyed cooked noodles in true ocean fashion is a great way to set the exploration scene and get those sensory skills to work.

pasta sea exploration - ocean animal toys in a sea of dyed noddle pasta
Look at those cute creatures in all that sea of pasta!

17. Sort Colors and Sizes With Pasta

Pasta sorting and stringing by The Rigneys can teach color and shape recognition. By the looks of it, this pasta play idea could encourage organizational skills that could later on be helpful in your toddlers’ developmental stages.

pasta sorting and stringing - colorful pasta in different shapes and sizes being sorted
So fun to see all those pasta shapes and sizes being sorted!

18. Thread Some Colorful Pasta

Make shapes right out of a book with this fun pasta threading by The Connection We Share (unavailable) where all you need are a few sticks, a Styrofoam as base and different colors and shapes of pasta to thread.

pasta threading - toddler threading colorful pasta in different shapes and sizes
What cool and fun way to stack some pasta!

19. Rainbow-Inspired Pasta Craft

This colorful pasta rainbow by Teaching Mama is sure to brighten your day with varied shapes of pasta glued on a construction paper and fluffs of cotton on each end of the rainbow. Very few ingredients for lotsa pasta playtime fun!

rainbow pasta craft - different colors and shapes of pasta forming a rainbow with cotton on each end
What a pasta-lovin’ rainbow!

20. Pasta Play in Penne Necklace Fashion

Toddlers can work on their fine motor skills while they make this beautiful pasta necklace by Nurture Store using bright and happy rainbow pattern penne pasta.

rainbow pasta necklace - dyed penne pasta stringed together into a toddler-size necklace
Dyed penne pasta really makes a statement, doesn’t it?

21. Spelling Bee The Pasta Play Way

Know what cooked spaghetti spells? F-U-N. I Can Teach My Child‘s cooked spaghetti play activity (unavailable) shows spelling as an easy and interactive feat with cooked spaghetti. Start with your toddlers’ names and work your way up!

spaghetti spelling - toddler name spelled using noodle pasta
Spelling bee champion in the making!

22. Spaghetti Pasta Towers

Reach for the sky with these spaghetti towers by Pre-School Play using playdough as base for uncooked spaghetti as a frame for toddler-friendly pasta towers. Watch your toddlers go as high as possible!

spaghetti towers - uncooled spaghetti mounted on playdough to create a tower effect
Pasta towers, anyone? Such a fun toddler play idea!

23. Learn Threading Through Pasta

Keep little hands busy by threading pasta courtesy of Kidspot. Threading pasta is a sure-fire way to put those motor skills to work while you sit back and enjoy the progress your toddlers are making!

threading pasta - toddler threading penne pasta
Look at this toddler go!

24. Pasta in Tin Foil

Tin foil pasta by Lessons Learnt Journal is snazzy, fun pasta play and a great alternative to dyeing with no drying time required!

tin foil pasta - penne pasta wrapped in tin foil
Who says dyeing is the only way to have fun with pasta?

25. Under The Sea With Squid Pasta

After all that pasta play, kids will be excited to sit down to this squid lunch by Ever Never Again complete with squid dogs sporting noodle tentacles, and some ketchup and mustard to complete the scene!

squid lunch - cut hotdogs with spaghetti as quid tentacles and ketchup and mustard to complete the look
So creative it will inspire great imaginations!

More Fun Toddler Activities From Play Ideas

  • Check out how to turn an old shirt into a toddler shirt.
  • Why not go crazy on 80 of the best activities for 2 year olds.
  • Look at all the cute handprint craft for toddlers.
  • Or these 25 cereal craft ideas!
  • These 25 healthy toddler lunch recipes are sooo yum!
  • The sensory bottle experience is great too!
  • And who can forget these easy hand-eye coordination ideas?
25 Pasta Play Ideas Pinnable

Which pasta play idea do you think you’ll toddler will enjoy?

Food and Drink, Kid's Crafts, toddlers pasta, play, toddlers

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