My plan
Fun Littles

Fun and easy kids activities

Paint with Spaghetti Brooms

Aug 29, 201268,831 views
Art Projects
Art Activities for kids: Paint with spaghetti brooms Save
spaghetti broom painting n Save
sensory painting Save
blue paint with spaghetti Save
spag painting collage Save
Paint with Spaghetti Brooms Save
final product Save

by TurkeyMom in Art Projects

Ages2–6 yrs
Prep30 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Tie a bundle of spaghetti with a rubber band, cook it, and use the floppy 'broom' to swish, splat and drag paint across big paper. It's a less messy way to paint without brushes, good for kids who don't like paint on their hands.

⚠️ Safety first

  • An adult does the cooking and handles the boiling water and hot pot.
  • Let the cooked spaghetti brooms cool for a few minutes before handing them to kids.
  • Use a tie that won't melt or burn during cooking (the author used a regular rubber band).
  • Rubber bands and bits of spaghetti are small parts. Supervise toddlers closely, especially once the bands come off.
  • Spaghetti covered in paint is not food. Don't let kids eat it.
  • Spaghetti contains wheat/gluten. Check for wheat allergies in a group.

Before the kids arrive

  • Tie bundles of dry spaghetti with a rubber band about 1/4 of the way from the bottom.
  • Adult: cook the bundles as usual with a bit of oil, drain, and let them cool for a few minutes.

Steps

  1. Gather a bundle of dry spaghetti and tie a rubber band around it about 1/4 of the way from the bottom.

  2. Adult: cook the bundles like you usually cook spaghetti, with a bit of oil in the water.

  3. Adult: drain the brooms and let them cool for a few minutes.

  4. Tape a big sheet of paper to the table and put a few paint colors on paper plates.

  5. Let each child pick their colors and dip a spaghetti broom in the paint.

  6. Swish, splatter and drag the broom across the paper.

  7. Try different strokes: swirl in circles, splat it down, or tap it like a drum.

  8. Pick up an uncooked spaghetti string and write letters or numbers in the wet paint.

  9. Let the painting dry and hang it up.

Tips

  • I had to sell the deal to them: it's a spaghetti brush, so don't separate the strings. Otherwise they'll pull the band off and have a ball with the colored spaghetti. Take your pictures first!from the author
  • With a younger toddler around, limit the number of paints out. Kids are always free to swap colors.from the author
  • Let the kids pick the colors. Big A was big on orange and pink for the day.from the author
  • Drumming with the brooms makes great splatters.from the author
  • Big A started writing on the painting with an uncooked spaghetti string all by herself. It's perfect for practicing letters and numbers.from the author
  • Great for kids who are weird about paint on their hands.from readers

Make it your own

  • Take the bands off and do spaghetti painting the messy way.
  • Spell out names with cooked spaghetti strings, let them dry on the paper, paint over them, then slowly peel them off for resist art.
  • Write letters and numbers in the wet paint with an uncooked spaghetti string.

Questions readers asked

What do I tie the spaghetti with?

A regular rubber band. An earlier version of the post said 'story band', which was a typo. Make sure your tie won't melt or burn while cooking.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · August 2012
Art Activities for kids: Paint with spaghetti brooms
For those who don't want to get messy, tie a rubber band around the spaghetti about 1/4 of the way from the bottom and cook them with a bit of oil.
1 / 8

Paint with Spaghetti Brooms: the original post

This art activity will be a good change when you want to paint without conventional brushes but don’t want to get truly messy. For other activities where we have painted without brushes visit our art activities category page. A good example is our squirt painting and our throw ball painting. The idea for this art activity is pretty straight forward. During a paint activity, where you “paint” without the brushes, spaghetti comes in handy. We have seen many spaghetti painting projects out there, but they are all truly messy and did I mention FUN! Both my kids love messy, sensory play but there are some who don’t want to get their hands truly dirty.

Unconventional art activities with spaghetti- how to

For those who don’t want to get messy, tie a regular rubber band around the spaghetti around 1/4 of the way from the bottom and cook them like you usually do with a bit of oil. Once done, set it out to a cool for a few minutes. Now you have your own spaghetti brooms to paint. Make sure your tying material doesn’t’ melt/burn during the cooking process. sensory painting WE LOVED our brooms! The girls were thrilled and I did talk them into not separating the strings. It is a spaghetti brush- I had to sell the deal to them else, they would have removed the band and had a ball with the colored spaghetti which eventually did happen-Thankfully not before I took pictures of their painting The girls pick out the colors in all our art activities and I try to bring those out. Since I have younger toddler around I try to limit the number of paints out there. They are always free to swap colors. Big A was big on orange and pink for the day.. Baby asked (demanded) for some pink and green ( blue and yellow actually- her colors are WAY off, it is funny (for her Big Sis)) They swished, splattered, dragged their brooms soaked with paint. Watching your kids engage in open ended art activities is such a joy! They tried playing drums with their “brushes” and ended up splattering paint. They tried many different strokes for their painting. We were a bit heavy on the orange-green combo and Big A was on a mission to cover up the entire paper by just splatting the broom.

spag painting collage

spag paint coll

We used a bit of blue and yellow too.

blue paint with spaghetti

Two tiny hands painting in unison! I know corny- But I’m their mom and I love their tiny hands and feet pictures.

spaghetti broom painting n

Big A loved writing on the painting with a uncooked spaghetti string- WITHOUT any prompts like “ Do you want to try writing?” She picked up the string and started writing all by herself. Perfect for practicing letters, numbers..

Eventually the tension was too much and the bands came off and we did the good ol’ spaghetti painting the MESSY way. Here is our final product hanging on our kitchen wall.

final product Pretty sweet I think. Next time I’m gonna spell out their names with some cooked spaghetti strings and let them dry. Slowly peel out for some tape resist art.

Thank you for reading!

Happy Sharing!

Take a moment to comment.

Other open ended art activities in our art projects category page

What readers say

💬 12 comments ✍️ 3 answered by the author 🍎 tried with 2 classes or groups

Answered by the author

“What's a "story band"?” · librarybonanza

Author A typo — it is simply a rubber band, tied around the spaghetti bundle.

🍎 In the classroom

Planned for a toddler craft program

A librarian is planning to use spaghetti brooms in a craft program for 2-year-olds and checked what ties the bundles (a plain rubber band).

“I'm thinking of doing it for my 2-year-old craft program.”
librarybonanza, Apr 2013

🎉 Worked for us

Good fit for paint-averse kids

A parent whose son dislikes paint on his hands thinks the tied spaghetti brooms would be perfect for him.

“My little guy can be weird about paint on his hands, this would be perfect!”
Rachel, Aug 2012

🍎 In the classroom

Teacher asks about cooking ahead

A teacher wanting to use the idea with her class asked whether brooms cooked a couple of hours early still work. No answer was posted.

“Can you cook the spaghetti broom a couple hours early and have them still work?”
Tjpsjk, Feb 2015

Tried it?

Reviewed before it appears. No links, and please no children's names.

Read all 12 comments

  1. Tjpsjk · Feb 2015

    Can you cook the spaghetti broom a couple hours early and have them still work? I want to use this idea for my class.

  2. librarybonanza · Apr 2013

    This is great and I'm thinking of doing it for my 2-year-old craft program. One question: What's a story band?

  3. TurkeyMomAuthor · Apr 2013 · replying to librarybonanza

    ahh! That was some serious typo on my part. Apologies, it is simply a rubber band :)

  4. Lory · Apr 2013

    BELLISSIMA IDEA! DA PROVARE! LORY

  5. TurkeyMomAuthor · Sep 2012 · replying to Ali @ At home with Ali

    Thank you very much. Should pop on over for your small world ideas. They are great!

  6. cheeriosandlattes1 · Sep 2012

    I love it! Thank you so much for posting on Saturday Show and Tell. I hope you'll be back this week to link up some more great ideas! Have a great rest of the week! -Mackenzie

  7. TurkeyMomAuthor · Aug 2012 · replying to Allyson @ A Heart for Home

    We did. You have a lovely family!

  8. Rachel · Aug 2012

    My little guy can be weird about paint on his hands, this would be perfect! We're linking you up today here-

  9. The Sexy Single Mommy · Aug 2012

    WOW!! Who would have thought! That is a great idea. I found you on Mommy Bloggers and glad that I did. Your blog is really cute and I am new follower. Come on over and say hello.

  10. Veena · Aug 2012

    TurkeyMom Rocks!!!!!Amazing work !! love to be with kids around!!great ideas, creativity at their infinity....Love you darlings :-) Cheers VeenaKannan

Similar activities

Fizzing Apple Art

40 min3–7 yrs

Fork Tulip Painting

30 min2–6 yrs

Pumpkin Fizzy Art

40 min3–8 yrs

How to Dye Pasta

40 min3–8 yrs
🛒 Materials