Munchkins and Moms: Starry Night Inspired Sensory Bin

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I am no art major. I took a few art appreciation classes in college and enjoy going to art museums (when my husband agrees to accompany me!) When I do appreciate art, I try to be specific about the elements of the art that I particularly like (the elements of art are shape, form, value, line, color, space and texture). Of all the elements, I find texture the most intriguing. Whether it be true texture or implied texture, I always want to run my hand across the canvas and feel the piece, as a blind person might feel braille to read it. I want to be able to interpret the art with my sense of touch. But alas, that is a BIG no-no! I think that's why I enjoy this sensory bin so much- It is so textural and hands on! And I think my boys made some truly awesome Starry Night (inspired) art from it!

Supplies:

White rice
Pastina (star shaped) pasta
Penne pasta
Manicotti Noodles
Food coloring, Ziplock bags, and vinegar to dye the pasta (see my tutorial here)

I didn't get a picture of me actually dyeing the pasta, but it's really a simple procedure I explain in this post. My oldest son, Cannon, had been watching me and asking a TON of questions about what I was doing, so while the pasta dried I sat with him and we looked at art on the tablet. That's when I introduced him to Starry Night. Unfortunately, it was just on the tablet screen. No way he could appreciate the texture of the art from there! We just talked about the colors and content of the picture at this point. Once the rice was dry, though, we were ready to get some hands on experience with some texture!

I didn't even get a chance to snap a picture of the set-up of the materials! My boys can't resist digging their hands right into a sensory bin!

Here's the gist of what the set-up looked like. The blue rice was already in our white container, while the other pasta was in a smaller baking dish. The yellow star pasta was a big hit! We sprinkled stars across the blue sky, made a tower of green cypress tress with penne pasta, and added buildings below (made with broken and dyed pieces of manicotti pasta). I loved the finished product...