Home educating during the lockdown has been tough – and yes we do normally home educate but we actually get out a lot, see friends, go on outings, take part in sessions and workshops, we are never house bound like this.

Before the lockdown was announced I started thinking of ways to try and help my youngest cope – I knew he was going to struggle being cooped up so much – so I ordered a few extra nets to go pond dipping in the pond just around the corner from our house and I ordered a pasta roller – yip a pasta roller (Marcato Atlas 150 pasta machine Chrome, Silver Wellness). Sounds strange I know. But my son is very tactile and making your own pasta is actually quite a tactile activity so I hoped it would be something extra that we could do (plus he did once make pasta with his Godmother when he was younger and loved it).

Our first batch did not turn out the best – mainly because I cooked it for too long. But we have kept making our own pasta week after week and every time I suggest it my youngest is happy to do it. He really enjoys it (I always sit with him so it is quite a social time as he likes to chat while he is working in the kitchen).

And I must admit I was a bit surprised because when you roll out the pasta you need to keep changing the settings and keep rolling it so it thins out nicely. I did worry in the beginning that he might get a bit bored.

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But he sticks with it, he starts creating the small lumps of pasta dough and then he rolls out each one, making sure he sprinkles the flour on so they don’t stick and eventually when they are thin enough he puts them through the cutter section and we have our pasta.

Our pasta roller has actually turned out to be a really good addition to our lockdown life.  This lockdown has been hard and it is still going to be tough on the kids until life gets more normal again so it has been helpful to find a few new activities that we can do at home to break the monotony of lockdown life

Admin – this is NOT an add.  We bought the pasta roller.

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