# Build with Pasta
> Kids engineer houses, towers, trucks and more from rainbow-dyed pasta in different shapes, using playdough as the "mortar" that holds the pieces together. A simple open-ended building activity about balance and choosing the right material for each part.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/engineering-for-kids-build-with-pasta/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: low
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: engineering, balance, fine-motor, problem-solving, planning, creativity
- Cautions: wheat-gluten, food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 piece Rainbow playdough (Play-Doh Rainbow Starter Pack)
- Penne pasta, dyed
- Rotini pasta, dyed
- Farfalle (bow-tie) pasta, dyed
- Rotelle (wheel) pasta, dyed
- AmeriColor food color
- 1 piece Paper plates or trays for the pasta (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of playdough: Homemade playdough (The author usually uses her homemade playdough and only took a break from it for this activity.)

## Safety
- Dyed pasta and playdough are for building, not eating. Dry pasta pieces are small and hard, so watch closely for kids who still mouth materials.
- Pasta and most playdough contain wheat. Check for wheat or gluten allergies before play.
- Food color stains hands and surfaces. An adult should handle dyeing the pasta ahead of time.
- Supervise play at all times.

## Before you start
- Dye the pasta in rainbow colors with food color and let it dry. Follow the author's tutorial: /how-to-dye-pasta-for-art-projects/
- Set out the dyed pasta on a plate next to the rainbow playdough as an invitation to build.

## Steps
1. Set out a plate of colored pasta (penne, rotini, bow-ties and wheels) and the rainbow playdough.
2. Let kids explore the materials first and build whatever they see, like penne balanced on wheel pasta.
3. Pinch off small bits of playdough to use as "mortar" that joins the pasta pieces.
4. Build a nice, sturdy square base by joining four pasta pieces at the corners with playdough.
5. Talk about which pasta to use for each part, then add walls on top of the base.
6. Finish the house with a roof and a big bow-tie bow on top.
7. Try a truck or a bike. Look at a picture first if it's hard to imagine the shape.
8. Stack bow-ties and playdough into a tower, and notice what happens when the top gets bigger than the bottom.
9. Line up all the finished structures and talk about what each one is.

## Tips
- Let them lead. Before I talked to the kids about the project, my 4 year old was off building. It doesn't have to have any rhyme or reason.
- Tall structures get tricky. My 4 year old needed help balancing hers, but the vision was hers.
- A built-in lesson: you can't build a higher part bigger than the one below without it toppling down.
- Choosing the materials is a wonderful exercise in balance and structural engineering. We talked about the sturdier rotini for the base and penne or rotini for the walls.
- When a child has trouble getting the image in their mind into the actual structure, show them a picture. iPhones are there for this exact purpose!
- Playdough can be a building part too. The bike body was all playdough, with pasta for the handlebars and wheels.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2015)

Engineering for kids can simply be a kids activity that is as simple as colorful pasta combined with rainbow playdough.

Materials

- **[Play-Doh Rainbow Starter Pack](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IGNX226/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[Penne Pasta](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DRA8KGQ/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[Rotini Pasta](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IB1D0IO/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[Farfelle Pasta](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DRA8KCA/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[Rotelle Pasta](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LJW744/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[AmeriColor food color](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029YDR82/?tag=blmemo-20)**

What can I say, the invitation to play and build was pretty vibrant, hopping and exciting as it is. Well, all [rainbow activities for kids](https://www.funlittles.com/tag/rainbow/) are and we have done plenty of them. Following our [rainbow marshmallow toothpick structures](https://theimaginationtree.com/rainbow-marshmallow-toothpick-structures/) we tried building with pasta.

Here is the tutorial for [**dying pasta.**](https://www.funlittles.com/how-to-dye-pasta-for-art-projects/)

{I colored all the pasta we used in this activity with our favorite **[AmeriColor food color](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029YDR82/?tag=blmemo-20).}**

I picked up this rainbow playdough starter pack { taking a break from our favorite [homemade playdough](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-play-dough-recipe-spring-and-easter-theme/)} and this has been wonderful for both my kids. { Our fine motor [playdough pasta rainbows](https://www.funlittles.com/fine-motor-activities-rainbow-pasta-playdough/) were a hit}

It has been a while since we really played with playdough. What's better than pairing it with some cool engineering activity?  The idea is to engineer a structure using a variety of pasta { in varying weight , size and shapes} and use playdough as a "mortar" of sorts. Before I talked to the kids about the project, my 4 year was off building and creating with the materials. Her take on any art project or any kids activity for that matter has always been very abstract and enjoying the materials as they are. She went straight to the wheel pasta and started balancing the penne over them. Big sis 6 had to chime in with her " you know if you place the wheel pasta over the line pasta you can actually make a tree". But the 4 year old decisively said that she does not want to make a tree. Thta's what we want right? What do they see when an invitation is set up? What do they want to build? It doesn't have to have any rhyme or reason.  Here is another one she made. Her idea is to explore every single material laid out there. Her intention was to use up the bow-tie pasta and she went for it. This one was a little tricky though. She did need help balancing the structure but the vision was hers. She also learned that she couldn't build a higher structure than the one below without it toppling down.  And then we have our 6 year old who has a plan before attempting a project. She wanted to build a house, a truck/car, a bike and a person who lives in that house. That's exactly what she did. I showed her that the base can be a nice, sturdy square. { Does anyone feel this looks like that **Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube?**}  With the 6 year old, we talked about the choice of pasta for various parts of the structure.  She chose the sturdier rotini pasta for the base and ended up using both the penne and the rotini for the walls. The decision making process of choosing the materials was a wonderful exercise in understanding balance and structural engineering.



Well a house is not complete with a big giant bow on top!  Then she went onto visualize a truck. When she has trouble getting the image in her mind and translating into the actual structure, it helps to show an image. { iPhones are there for this exact purpose!!}  We did the same with a bike. She chose to use the play dough for the body of the bike and stuck with pasta for the handle bars and the wheels.



Someone has to live in that house! She created a person who is holding 2 houses together.  All our structures that come out of this colorful engineering activity for kids.  My favorite because we did this together! 

Thanks for reading