After, spread it out on wax paper to dry. With the warm summer weather, an hour in the sun or overnight works well! Our first batch we did last night (forgot to get pictures) and left outside overnight to dry. Some did clump together but when broken apart, it still kept the color and didn't crumble! If you want bright colors, be sure to add lots of paint!
So, what am I going to do with all this? Sensory play with my autism, preschool, and maybe Kindergarten first comes to mind. Then again, I might bring it out for my older students. I learned this year that it doesn't always have to be the exciting, hard makerspace stations for the older ones. My fifth grade library helpers saw the playdough and accessories I had for my Junior Makerspace (grades K/1) and begged me to make it one of their stations. It was a pretty big hit!
The tiny shell pasta turned out really cool, looking like coral, so I will probably find a use for it for our first summer session, which is "Under the Sea."
So my lesson in all of this? I have seen this idea a lot of times and because we are the "autism school" for the district, I am always looking for sensory ideas. I always hesitate though - I am not an artistic person. However, this was easy and actually fun! My next project includes dying rice in the same manner. I also saw a neat post on using scotchguard (or another waterproof sealer) on sand to make that underwater sand that stays dry, so after buying a 50 lb bag of sand at Toys R Us (it was $4.44 with tax since they're closing!) I need to figure out 1) how to make it different colors and 2) waterproof it! Hope to post more soon!
