2 Ways to Play with Rainbow Rigatoni

I know, this is the second post about rainbow colored pasta I've done in the last little while, but this one is totally different and has been so much fun!
I used the instructions from here to dye my pasta (which I got for $1/box, so this is a cheap activity) and then used the noodles to do two different but simultaneous activities with Erik and Paisley.

Erik got to thread the noodles onto a piece of string to make necklaces (I know, boys don't usually wear necklaces, but  he was having SO much fun!). As suggested by the original blogger, I taped the end of a string with some masking tape (I probably taped 4-5 inches of the string so that when you put a noodle on it you could easily grab both ends of the masking tape) to make it easier to manipulate, and tied a noodle to the other end. I then showed him how to thread the noodles onto the string and he was hooked. He didn't want to leave the noodles on, but instead would put one or two on and then pull them off and start over. This means we didn't ever end up with a wearable necklace, but who cares?

 Paisley got to play with and explore the pan full of noodles as a sensory bin. She loved to scoop up handfuls of the noodles and throw them back into the metal pan; they made a great noise! She played with the noodles for quite a while, and seemed a bit miffed when I eventually put them away.

I saved these noodles and we've pulled them out several times since our first trial run with them. Each time they are a big hit, and never fail to keep the little ones entertained for a several minutes (long enough to fix lunch perhaps?)