The Best Dyed Pasta for Sensory Play

Dyed pasta is so fun! It’s extremely easy to make and perfect for sensory play. You only need a few ingredients and it’s so versitile.

I LOVE dying pasta! My kids just absolutely love playing with it. When I was making this batch, my son kept coming to the kitchen every few minutes to check to see if it was ready. He couldn’t wait to play with it!

While I was assembling the pasta in this baking dish, my kids were asking which toys they should get to add to it. I told them to grab whichever toys they’d like! That’s the beauty of pasta sensory bins. You can add anything to them you’d like. Today, my son chose astronauts, and my daughter chose fairies.

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This recipe uses acrylic paint and hand sanitizer. If you don’t have either of those, this recipe uses food coloring and vinegar.

Table of Contents

How to Dye Pasta with Acrylic Paint Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups dry pasta of your choice

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One squirt of acrylic paint in any color you’d like

One squirt of clear hand sanitizer

Ziplock bag

Directions:

Put dry pasta into a ziplock bag.
Add a squirt of acrylic paint. You may need to add more to get the vibrancy you’d like.
Add a squirt of hand sanitizer.
Zip the bag closed and shake! It’s easier to get the pasta completely covered if you leave air in the bag. Don’t squeeze it all out!
Lay the pasta onto a cookie sheet or parchment paper.
Let it dry for about half an hour. Enjoy!

I hand-painted flowers on the white Rigatoni pasta just for fun! It only took a few extra minutes, and my kids loved it.