Those poor pipe cleaners....

I got together with some other moms this past spring and one mom showed us how to play with pipe cleaners and a strainer (the kind you would use after cooking pasta).  At the time, I thought that it was a clever idea, but in all of our usual busyness, I quickly forgot about it. It wasn't until recently that I remembered as I was trying to figure out something for Mia to do while I was working on some household and bugdgetting things. I got out the pipe cleaners, strainer, and of course my camera, and sat down with her on the floor. I started poking the pipe cleaners through the holes at random, and watched a big smile spread across her face. She caught on quickly and has spent a lot of time working her way through the holes with no complaints.

It doesn't look like it in the picture, but Mia actually had nearly 20 pipecleaners out at one point. 

For those of you with toddlers or pre-schoolers, have you tried this? Did it work for you? Do you have any tips or hints to share?