Spaghetti Sensory Play

We had some friends over the other day and I wanted to do something with the little ones that would be fun, entertaining, and educational as well. Colton is at the perfect age to really start increasing his sensory play. He is experimenting with more of the different ideas I offer to him. He is also developing more of his independent play. More and more he is going off on his own to play with his toys. I am not suggesting toys to play with as often as I use to. Even with his sensory play, I am beginning to be able to set it up as an invitation and let him go to town. Before I would set it up and let him play, but of course was right next to him for guidance, and making sure certain items were not going into his mouth etc. It's been so fun watching this progression take place. He is growing up too fast.
 His cutie pie friend Jordan is a few month older than Colton, so I knew the spaghetti would be perfect for the two of them to experiment with. All I did was boil and cook two boxes of spaghetti noodles. I used food coloring to give them a little bit of color. Next time I think we will skip the food coloring. I put all of the spaghetti in a plastic tub, put out some kitchen utensils such as spoons, spatulas, ladles etc, and an extra large tub and let them go to town. They LOVED it!! They ate it, squished it, stepped on it, sat on it, put it in hair, put it on each other, used the empty tub to transfer the spaghetti. They used the spoons to mix it, and move it to different locations. It was so much fun watching them. They played with it the entire playdate. Jordan was so cute, she could not get enough of the noodles. She constantly had a mouth full of them the whole time. She left with a big green mouth. Colton loved stepping on it and the bottom of his feet had an entire layed of spaghetti on them.This sensory activity is so easy, yet such a hit with the kiddos.
Benefits of Spaghetti Sensory Play:
*Use of imagination and creativity
*Good for motor skills- gripping, squeezing, transferring, grabbing
*Helps guide independent play when doing the activity alone
*Helps guide interactive play when doing the activity with more than one child
*Explores senses-Touch the spaghetti find out what it feels like, Taste a little bit of it, how does it taste?, Smell can you describe the smell, See what it looks like or what color it is, Hear the sound it makes when you squish it in your hands
Here are the kiddos having a blast!!