Rain~Bro's an Irish Brothers Playdate



This colorful playdate was inspired by St. Patrick's Day and the fact that I'd be spending a morning with four little Irishmen which also happen to be brothers! When I think about St. Patrick's Day from my childhood it always included rainbows the idea of following one all the way to the end to find the Leprechauns pot of gold.  Being a mom is so magical and this playdate captured that butterfly feeling that as mother we experience with the excitement, wonder, joy and active imaginations of the little people in our lives.

This playdate can be recreated for less than $20.00 using the supplies you have from around the house.  For this playdate you will need the following supplies:

Rainbow Pasta Craft Supplies:

Several pieces of card stock for rainbow arch

Large sharpie pen for outlining

Two boxes of pinwheel pasta

One bottle of white vinegar

Classic elmers glue

Food coloring

Rainbow Dessert:

Milk

Vanilla pudding mix

Plastic cups to mix with different colors

Jumbo craft popcicle sticks

Food Coloring



Guess what this is pasta :) I know so magical and easy to do! I love this variation to the "fruit loop" rainbows that many mamas are doing right now.  Since my little person loves to get them I though this would be a great alternative. Not to mention it saves time because you don't have to sort the colors. 

 I just used the mini pinwheel pasta that was on sale and added one tablespoon of white vinegar into the plastic zip lock bags and shook them so all of the pasted was saturated. Then as you see below I just added my desired rainbow colors using a variation of standard and neon food colors.  Let your pasta dry on paper towels before use.  I dyed and dried mine the night before then reused my colored bags for storage.

Here is my dyed pasta I would recommend letting them sit in the bags for several minutes so they can absorb the colors.  A few tips on coloring for my red I blended the primary red and pink together from the neon coloring so it would have a friendly red look :) I also combined the pink from the neon color and primary yellow to make a more cheery orange.  My yellow, lime green, aqua blue, and purple "indigo" are also a result of blending the primary and neon colors together.

On standard white card stock I outlined the colors of the rainbow arch for each one of my play date attendees in advance.  I cut the rainbows and helped the kiddos with the rainbow arch glue so they could fill in their rainbows with the colored pasta by following the glue arch.  We only used one color at a time and used fruit loops as an incentive for finishing each rainbow arch color.

Here is our finished products we of course added cotton ball white puffy clouds and continued the theme and idea with our additional green shamrocks and extra colored pasta.

At everyone of my playdates I also like to include a recipe and this was a wonderful dessert that helped teach not only the colors of the rainbow but also the blending of colors.  I first started with my popsicle sticks and labeled them with the colors.  Each boy would then have the opportunity to mix the pudding and the food coloring together to make each part of the rainbow.

As I poured in the pudding I asked the boys to make predictions and observations with what was going to happen to the pudding.  Even though it was a toddler crowd they were over the moon to explain what they thought was going to happen to each color.  I personally love adding those elements of discovery in all of my playdates and it is those moments that make memories for our little people through learning.

Here is the puddling and the colors being added so the boys could mix them. I chose popcile sticks in advance because I knew I wanted to label each cup for an additional learning opportunity plus they were great stirring sticks that could be enjoyed as an extra bonus for all of their hard work.

The boys were delighted with this yummy extra treat! Sometimes its the simple things....I know you remember getting that egg beater as a child :) Always loved watching my mom bake in hopes that I'd be the choosen one for that extra surprise.

Putting them into a desired cup is super easy. I chose to use just some simple plastic cups I had left over from a previous playdate since the boys would be taking them home to share with their family. Hope you enjoyed our Rain~Bro Playdate!