Noodles are so bendy they can be anything which makes them great for open-ended, pretend play! Pasta is an easy to chew mechanical soft food that's often a childhood favorite whether it's in the form of plain noodles (with some combination of oil, butter or parmesan cheese) or classic mac 'n cheese. Noodles are also a great food to expand on in food play because there are so many different shapes and kinds of pasta!Your child may only eat their pasta in a very specific way, but they will probably be more open to play with new shapes and kinds of pasta. Then, once they're comfortable touching the new pasta and can see and feel that it's very much like what they already like, they might be ready to try it!This kind of food chaining is a great way to expand kids' diets while working from their comfort zone.Activity:Sing a song like 5 Green And Speckled Frogs  You could make a pool by making a circle with a noodle and make a log out of a pretzel stick or a piece of bread or anything, really. Then add some little raisin (or any small bits of nuts or bread etc...) flies to the scene. You could coil up five noodles on the log and have the noodle-frogs eat 'flies' and spring into your pool  as you sing the song.Or you could 'jump' your noodle-frogs all over your plate or tray. Or have them play leap-frog.Anything goes, really. It's just like playing with toys!Language and Senses: Create a repetitive phrase or routine for the frogs like 'jump up, ribbit' or 'jump over' or anything that makes it silly and fun. Or follow your child's lead and repeat a fun phrase they say while playing.Give your noodles a silly name like 'froggie-noodle' or give all of the froggie-noodles proper names of their own. Using silly language and playing with food creates a fun, relaxed environment around food.So, have fun and get silly! Happy food play!