Spaghetti Snip Tray
What you need
- boiled spaghetti or other long pasta, cooled
- child's safety scissors with rounded ends
- a tray
- a few small toys to hide, each too big to fit through a toilet roll tube
How to do it
- Put the tray in front of them with the scissors beside it.
- Show them how to lift a strand, hold it out and snip it into pieces.
- Let them snip and dig until they find each hidden toy.
- When the toys are out, see who can snip the smallest piece.
Why it matters
Slippery strands are easy to cut and fun to squish, so the scissors get lots of goes without anyone counting.
What they're learning
- Using scissors
- Soft pasta gives way easily, so every squeeze ends in a snip.
- Feeling textures
- Cold, slippery and squishy all at once, in their hands.
- Searching
- Digging for a hidden toy keeps them going.
What to look for
Notice them holding a strand still with one hand while they snip with the other.
A tip
Sit beside them the whole time, do this on a wipe-clean surface, and put the scissors away as soon as you finish. Children's safety scissors with rounded ends only.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: let them pull the strands apart with their fingers first, then snip a few
Harder: ask them to snip one strand into exactly five pieces
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Sensory activities · Activities for 2 year olds · Toddler activities with a tray