Spaghetti and Marshmallows

by Sara Thankfully this is not a cooking post!

The idea to build structures out of marshmallows and spaghetti came from our wonderful mother's helper, Liz, who spends one day a week with us.  I provided the materials and the pictures while she and my 5 year old firefighter came up with a masterful creation!

All you need is large marshmallows (you can incorporate small ones too but they're probably best for older kids as their size makes them harder to slide pasta through) and pasta.  Liz suggested linguini noodles because they're thicker than spaghetti but still slide into the marshmallows easily.  I do reccommend white pasta over whole wheat as its tougher and less likely to snap. 

Its a sticky process but kids are only limited by their imagination.  The firefighter designed the tall tower and then decided to attach a garage (see the above image).  The small creation inside the garage is the car he built. 

As you can see from the image above, the creations tend to collapse easily so they need a lot of supporting 'beams' to hold them upright. 

Preschool children might find it easiest to make simple shapes or people and animals while kindergarten kids (with assistance) can build towers or buildings.  School-aged children might appreciate the challenge of trying to replicate the different types of bridges using marshmallows and pasta. 

Have you ever built anything out of marshmallows and pasta?

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.