A Macaroni Necklace For Your Sweetheart

 

With Valentine’s Day only a few days away, it was time for the boys and I to start working on some gifts.  I needed something a little more exciting than the usual finger painting – my boys need to move as much as possible these days.  So, I thought about what I would really like for Valentine’s Day (hint, hint Hubby if you’re reading), and jewelry of course was the answer!  Good old fashioned macaroni necklaces were on our to-do list today and I was grateful to not have to trek out to the store in the snow because we had all the ingredients at home!

This was a two part activity because once you colored the macaroni, you had to let it dry.  This worked out well for me because our mornings tend to fly by and time seems to stand still after naps.  This gave us something to do in the AM, then something to look forward to in the afternoon.

Here’s what you need for Part 1:

Tube macaroni/pasta (preferably wide so it will be easier to string later)

Food coloring (red for Valentine’s Day is great!)

Rubbing alcohol

Container with a lid (we used a mason jar and a square Tupperware)

 

I told the boys that we were going to color some macaroni and we got right to work.  I dumped all the macaroni out on the table and let them put it in the jar and Tupperware.  They actually had fun just doing this and poured the macaroni back and forth between the two jars.  I continued working on Michael’s combining two words – “macaroni in!!!!” – but I really wanted to talk with him about the color “red.”  See, Michael can say many of the color words but everything is “blue” to him.  He actually becomes very upset when you tell him something is not in fact, blue.  I mean, it can become a full out tantrum.  So, in the context and fun of coloring our macaroni we broached the subject.  Luckily, he was so into what we were doing, he forgot all about his favorite color, “blue.”

 

We mixed 2 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 teaspoon of red food coloring in a bowl.  I divided the macaroni evenly in the jar and Tupperware and poured the mixture in each. 

I gave each of the boys a container and told them to shake!!!  They loved this!  We shook it UP, we shook it DOWN, we shook it ALL AROUND.  We shook it LEFT, we shook it RIGHT, and we shook it in the CENTER.  We shook it FRONT and we shook it BACK!  We laughed a lot and then somehow we broke out in a parade.  They loved the sound the macaroni made banging around in the containers and how everything inside turned “red.”  We even got Michael chanting, “red, red, red, red!”  If you noticed, during our shaking, we also touched upon some spatial concepts or location words – always great language skills to target.  Anthony, especially is learning his RIGHT from his LEFT.

Next, we had to pour the red macaroni out on a cookie sheet so it could dry.  I like my bling to sparkle, so at the last second I grabbed some glitter glue and squeezed it in, which only led to more shaking!  We spread the sparkling macaroni out on a cookie sheet and left it outside to dry. 

 Part 2:

After nap time, we were ready to make our necklaces.  The boys were super excited about how the macaroni turned out and enjoyed just picking it up and spilling it out for a while. 

 

Here’s what additional supplies we needed:

String

Pipe cleaners

Wood block (you could substitute almost anything for this)

I wrapped one end of the pipe cleaner around the wood block so that the pipe cleaner was sticking straight up.  I thought it would be easier, especially for Michael, to not have to hold either the pipe cleaner or string while placing the macaroni on there.  The boys liked that the macaroni stacked on top of each other like a tower.  We used more spatial concepts – THROUGH and ON TOP.  Once they filled the pipe cleaner with macaroni, I tied a string to each end and viola!  Beautiful red macaroni necklaces – the perfect Valentine’s gifts for moms and grandmas everywhere!

 

Love & Language

Marisa