On a recent rainy day my three year old son and I made rainbow macaroni beads. It was fun from start to finish and whenever he sees the beads, he asks if we can play with them. They were very easy to make:
- Mix 2 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol and about 6 drops of food coloring (more if you want deeper color) in a Ziploc bag.
- Add in 1 cup of uncooked macaroni (I liked the flowers and small 1/4 tubes the best).
- Zip the bag closed and then put the bag into a second bag (I found that when we only used one bag there were leaks...double bagging did the trick) and squeeze the macaroni around in the alcohol for about 2 minutes until it’s evenly colored.
- Cover a cookie sheet with two layers of paper towels and spread the colored macaroni out to let it dry. It should take about 20-30 minutes to dry.
Don't be discouraged about the color of your beads when you are making them. They look quite muddy and dull until the dry completely.
My son made necklaces for his grandmas:
And I got a little carried away with mine (and actually wore it to work the next day!):
One important trick I found (especially if you are going to do this project with small kids)...feeding the flimsy string through the macaroni can be tricky, so if you dip the first inch or so of the string in glue and allow it to dry before beading, you will have a nice firm tip which is much easier for little ones to work with.
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