Pasta Pasta- homemade pasta making

I absolutely love when I find the opportunity to turn a chore or fun activity into a science lesson.  I was making some homemade pasta at a cooking class when I the light bulb in my head went off.  This is the perfect lesson for the kids! We had a cooking class, math lesson and science lesson rolled into one. My two older children ages 3 and 6 eagerly went to work on this cooking (science… haha they didn’t realize!) project.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
splash of olive oil
pinch of salt
measuring cups/spoons
optional food coloring

Directions:

First the kids and I gathered the ingredients. As we did we spoke about the state of matter of each item. Although there are actually five states I stuck with the three that are most often taught in school. We measured out each ingredient then they had to tell me if it was a solid, liquid, or gas.  Powdery items such as flour and salt seemed to confuse them at first.

They thought it was astounding (or magic, as my 3 year old stated) when all the items were kneaded together into a dough. They watched in amazement as the individual ingredients disappeared before their eyes and transformed into something completely new.

Next we used the pasta maker to flatten and cut the pasta. They loved watching the rollers slowly flatten the dough and get closer together as we adjusted the settings.

Educational Connections:

• Science: Determine whether each ingredient is a solid, liquid, or gas.
• Mathematics: Measure each ingredient carefully.
• Art:  Break the dough into small sections. Add and mix food coloring into the dough.  Take note of what colors form. (Note: you can use beet juice, spinach, and other natural items instead of food coloring)