When the holiday season was approaching, my kids were constantly asking me when we will see snow. Here in North Carolina, we don't get tons of snow, but we do manage to get 1-2 snow falls each winter, with just enough accumulation to do some sledding. So, today we thought up a snowflake craft to nurture our winter-time mood!
This craft requires some uncooked Acini di Pepe from our Italian Wedding Soup recipe. Just remember to put some aside before cooking. You can also easily substitute this pasta for any other small pasta, grain or rice, like orzo, quinoa or couscous.
While crafting, you and your kids might want to take a moment to learn some fun facts about this meal's featured ingredient:
🥣Acini di Pepe🥣
- Acini di Pepe is a very small pasta, about the size of couscous. The name is Italian for "pepper berries."
- Acini di Pepe is usually cooked in broths, soups, and pasta salads.
- The pasta is made from semolina flour, a yellow-colored flour made from wheat.
- Acini di Pepe is rich in carbohydrates, which give our body energy.
After the holidays my kids were bummed that all the decorations went down and everything looked kind of lackluster. We came up with the idea to cheer up the house a bit with these snowflakes, and the decorating made the kids pretty happy. Simply punch a hole at the top of your snowflake and thread a small piece of yarn through the hole to form a loop. Tie the ends together and your snowflake will be ready to hang!
💡Overview💡
Ingredient: Acini di Pepe
Corresponding Recipe: Italian Wedding Soup
Skills supported: Fine motor (coloring, cutting), following instructions
✂supplies✂
- 1/4 cup uncooked Acini di Pepe
- Scissors (kid-friendly scissors)
- Colored paper or card stock
- Foam paint brushes
- Glue (Elmer's Glue worked great)
- A plate (to catch excess pasta)
📝instructions📝
Consider setting up the craft before cooking so that your kids can get to work right away.
- Cut out 4 strips of paper.*
- Form a "t" with two strips and glue the pair together where it intersects. Form an "x" with the other two strips and glue the pair where it intersects.
- Lay the "x" on top of the "t" and glue the pairs together where they intersect to form your snowflake.
- Use a paintbrush to paint the snowflake with glue.
- Place your snowflake on a plate and sprinkle with Acini di Pepe so that glue is covered with the pasta. Once covered with pasta, turn over snowflake to remove excess pasta.
- Make as many snowflakes as you'd like and consider hanging them on the fridge, windows, or walls!
Note: *For toddlers especially, these tasks may require adult supervision and/or assistance.
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