Colored Pasta Rainbow Craft

We got inspiration from Katherine Marie Photography and Brilliant Beginnings to make our own version of the colored pasta rainbow {mostly because it looked like too much fun to pass up!}. This is a fantastic craft for early learners - it offers a great opportunity to brush up on colors, strengthen fine motor coordination, and introduce sequencing/ordering. [NOTE: We tailored this to fit into the lesson for our church preschool class, adding the focus bible verse at the top of the page, but you can certainly use this however you please!]

Supplies You'll Need

• Heavy card stock
• Assorted dry pasta
• Food coloring
• Rubbing alcohol
• Craft glue
• Construction paper in assorted colors {optional}

The Process

1. Begin by dyeing the pasta. Brilliant beginnings offers a brilliant tutorial on this. We'd never done it before and were surprised at how easy it was! Apparently, other tutorials call for water and it becomes a hassle trying to remove the pasta from the colored water before it gets soggy. The rubbing alcohol takes this out of the equation. However, remember to complete the process in a well ventilated room! [NOTE: Ms. Morgan of Brilliant Beginnings has her kiddos help her out with the process and they love it! Just something to keep in mind...]
2. Provide each student with a piece of heavy card stock and the dyed pasta noodles. We knew our preschoolers might need a little help 'shaping' their rainbow, so we printed a rainbow template {found at About.com} onto the card stock.
3. Have your kiddos squeeze a line of glue on the first section of the rainbow, then begin placing the red pasta noodles on the template. They'll complete this same process with each new color/section of the rainbow until the entire template is covered.
4. Mount the rainbow crafts onto pieces of colorful construction paper {optional}.