Pool Noodle Crafts for the Kiddos

Now that summer is upon us, it’s time to break out the pool noodles!  At my place, pool noodles get a lot of . . . love.  Which usually means that some of the pool noodles end up broken or split after a while.  This doesn’t mean the fun has to end, though!  Below are two pool noodle crafts I’ve done with kiddos, just using the broken ones.

One of my favorite parts about using pool noodles outside of the pool is watching the kids!  It’s always fun to use materials in ways the children aren’t used to.  It makes the activities more of a novelty, keeps the kids engaged longer, and helps the children think outside the box.  These two activities kept the kiddos busy for over an hour.  I bet they would have played with the pool noodles even longer if we hadn’t had to move onto another activity!

Painting with Pool Noodles
Using cut up pieces of a pool noodle to paint with was a blast!  The children were very focused while they painted.  Most of them just wanted to explore the process of pool noodle painting, although a few did attempt to create specific pictures with the noodles.  It got a little messy, as paint is wont to do, but having baby wipes on hand helped with that!

Building with Pool Noodles
I enjoy giving children different materials to use while building, so I thought pool noodles would be a ton of fun!  I saw Time for Play’s “Pool Noodles and Golf Tees” idea a while back, so I decided to try it out (be sure to check out her post for more fun ideas).  I set out pool noodles and golf tees, then told the children they could use the materials to stack, build, or create whatever they wanted to.  The kiddos did a few different things here.  Some made aliens and robots.  Some created different designs with the noodles and tees.  Others tried to see how many golf tees would fit into a pool noodle piece!

What are some ways you use pool noodles with kiddos?  I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!

I wanted to update this post to include more pool noodle ideas from sites I love (be sure to check them out):

POOL NOODLE TRAIN TRACKS {Play Trains!}

POOL NOODLE ABACUS {Happy Hooligans}