My love for recycling yogurt containers in play based learning continues to grow and grow. It makes such good sense. It gives extended life to single use plastic. It cuts down on the additional plastic of which many store bought toys and learning materials are made. They’re not an eyesore. And they’re free! If your little one is expressing interest in color recognition and sorting, this activity is a super simple one to add to your learning times.
(To make this activity even more simple, you could also replace the painted pasta with pom poms or other loose parts for sorting.)
MATERIALS
- Assorted Dry Pasta
- Assorted Colors of Acrylic Paint
- Paint Chips in Same Colors as Acrylic Paint
- Ziplock Bags (Gallon)
- Aluminum Foil or Parchment Paper
- Recycled Chobani Containers (You might be very well be able to use other yogurt cups, but I have a post about why I love Chobani specifically for reuse purposes.)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pour dry pasta into Ziplock bags and add a generous amount of paint. Close the seal, shake, and squish until the pasta is well covered. Add additional paint as needed.
- Spread painted pasta out on aluminum foil or parchment paper in a single layer to dry.
- Trace the bottom of the yogurt cup on the paint chip and cut out.
- Glue into the inside of the yogurt cup.
- Ready for sorting! Cups and pasta can be stored inside a larger yogurt container.
ACTIVITIES
- Color Sorting—Encourage the child or work alongside them to sort the pasta into the appropriate yogurt cup. (Tip: I tended to have more success when I put a few in each cup to get things started.)
- Pouring Practice—This was probably the favorite activity. The boys loved pouring from cup to cup or stirring and scooping from a large mixing bowl.
- Threading—The pasta can be used to make necklaces or threaded onto pipe cleaners for encouraging the development of fine motor skills.
- Counting—The pasta can also be used with yogurt counting cups. We would draw a number card and then practice counting out the correct number.
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