Macaroni Animals are a fun and easy craft for kids of all ages to make, specifically children of preschool age. The different kinds of Macaroni Animals you can make are as broad as your imagination. Any kind of pasta can be used, just make sure the pasta is hollow in the middle so it can be strung onto the pipe cleaner. Pipe cleaner is another ingredient, besides pasta, that is needed to make Macaroni Animals. Pipe cleaners can be found at any craft store and they are available in an assortment of colors. Another item you will need to make your Macaroni Animals is scissors.
If you would like to color your pasta, washable markers work well and are simple to work with. If you don’t already have markers, you may get them at any craft store or office supply store. You will want to color your pasta to match the animal you are making. For example pink for a pig, green for a frog or brown for a bear.
The next thing you will need to do is decide which animal you want to make. An idea would be to make an animal that goes hand in hand with the current season or holiday. For example, Halloween is associated with black cats. For this I would use rigatoni for the body, legs and tail and macaroni for his head and ears. If you want a round, fat bellied cat, use wagon wheels for his torso. You will want to choose the appropriate color of pipe cleaner for your animal. In this case, making a cat, using black pipe cleaner would be best.
If you want to color your pasta black you can do it before you assemble your cat. Or it may be easy to color after your Macaroni Animal is made. Leaving your pasta in its natural color is ok.
The first step in assembling your Macaroni Animal is, choosing a pipe cleaner and deciding the length you want your cat to be. A four inch long body is a good length. That way there will be enough room to twist the other parts on, described in upcoming steps. String your rigatoni, or other desired pasta, onto your black pipe cleaner.
The second step would be to attach the legs and tail. Using a shorter piece of pipe cleaner for each leg, twist the four legs onto the torso leaving space to string on the pasta. Once your pasta has been strung, bend the ends of the pipe cleaner, where his feet would be, so the rigatoni will stay in place. Next, twist a piece of pipe cleaner on for the tail. Then string on more pasta, bending the end so the pasta will stay on. After you have made your cat’s tail and attached it, it would be fun to curve it and the cat’s back so it looks spookier for Halloween.
Step three is the cat’s head. String macaroni onto a piece of pipe cleaner then make a circle. Next attach a small piece of pipe cleaner from the bottom of the circle to the top leaving room on the top to put macaroni on for the ears. Then bend the top of the pipe cleaner around the top of the circle making an ear shape. Do this for each ear.
Once you have completely assembled your cat, you may add details with markers and re-shape it so it looks just like you want. Your cat is easy to bend into different shapes and you can even bend it so it can sit on your table for decoration.