Pasta Tube Snake
What you need
- a handful of big dry pasta tubes, like penne or rigatoni
- one pipe cleaner with both ends folded over
How to do it
- Bend one end of the pipe cleaner into a small hook so the pasta cannot slide off.
- Sit together and put a few big pasta tubes in a bowl between you.
- Hold the hooked end, push one tube on, and say "A snake needs a long body."
- Hand them the straight end and let them push the next tube on, one at a time.
- When the snake is long, wiggle it along the floor and give it a name.
Why it matters
A stiff pipe cleaner stays straight on its own, so they can find the hole and push without a floppy lace getting in the way.
What they're learning
- Threading
- Lining the end up with the hole in the tube and pushing it through.
- Two hands together
- One hand holds the tube while the other pushes.
- Making something
- Watching the snake get longer with every tube.
What to look for
Watch for one hand holding the tube steady while the other pushes.
A tip
Stay beside them the whole time: dry pasta fits in a mouth, so count the tubes out and back in. Keep the pipe cleaner ends folded over, and pack it all away together afterwards.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: hold each pasta tube still while they push the pipe cleaner in
Harder: swap the pipe cleaner for a short shoelace with tape wrapped round the tip
