Last week we talked about the importance of knowing and
using color words. This is necessary for both expressive (saying) and receptive
(hearing) preschool language skills. There are so many meaningful and fun
activities you can do with colored macaroni that we thought it important to
share our favorite techniques with you. Remember,
this isn’t just about you, as the adult, making a cheap manipulative, but it’s
about modeling for children that we don’t always need expensive tools. We can
make them!
Parents can take children to the grocery store to look at
the boxes of pasta. Discuss the different shapes. Teachers can cut out
advertisements showing various pasta shapes and bring these in to show the
class. Discuss the shapes children find interesting and tell them you will try
to buy them. You can even make a list together, a great interactive writing
lesson that shows children the power of writing!
Be sure to add white vinegar, food coloring, and zip-loc
bags to your list. Bring all the
ingredients and show children just how these simple household supplies can
create meaningful learning tools.
Pour about 3 tablespoons of white vinegar into a baggie. Then have your young helpers decide on a
color. We suggest guiding them to the primary colors first. Then using
information and activities from last week’s activity, encourage children to mix
the primary colors to create green, orange, and purple.
Ask children to help you find various macaroni shapes.
Shake the bags and
allow to dry a bit.
Then place the contents of each bag on wax paper to air
dry.
When finished, show children the wonderful and easy learning
tools they helped create!
Check back next week for macaroni lessons!
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