It is rare but refreshing to see a rainbow painted in the sky as the sun shines over a wet, clean earth. Bring some of that excitement to your home or classroom by doing a unit study on rainbows. Look at the photo album at the bottom of the page for images of rainbow crafts and activity ideas.
- The ideal activity, of course, is to actually look for a real rainbow. Wait for a day when there is lots of moisture in the air (such as directly after a rain) and the sun is shining bright. Look for a rainbow in the sky opposite the position of the sun. Increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time by going on a rainy day nature hike.
- If the weather does not allow you to see a real rainbow, make one with the hose pipe. Turn it on to a fine mist and let the sun shine through it. If it is too cold to go outdoors, place a glass of water or prism in a sunny window. At night, shine a flashlight on the back of a CD to reflect rainbow colors.
- Learn about rainbows through lapbooking. See Lapbooking 101 and watch the embedded video on creating a rainbow lapbook.
- Various cultures throughout the world share the story of a great flood and the first rainbow. See crafts and activities to go along with that story at Religious Education.
- Explore color. Do a food coloring mixing experiment, learn simple color theory through a leaf rubbing project and see History and science of color to find out about making natural dyes.
- This is a perfect opportunity to learn some foreign language color words.
- Grab some art supplies and go on a color walk.
- See rainbow songs, finger plays and nursery rhymes at Child's Play.
- Make rainbow cookies.
- Freeze colored water into letter shapes by using Sillycone trays. For instance, make the R red, the B blue and so on. Drop different combinations of ice shapes into containers to see what colors they make as they melt.
- Make rainbow glitter crayons. Take old crayons and lay them side-by-side in a muffin tin. Sprinkle glitter on top and melt in the oven just long enough to soften. Allow to cool.
- Make a rainbow pipe cleaner basket. Follow instructions for making an Ojo de Dios except use two large pipe cleaners instead of sticks and then use multicolored pipe cleaners instead of yarn. Once you have the design you want, curl it into a basket shape and add handles. See the photo album for an example.
- Make a rainbow sand painting. You can also use colored sugar or salt instead of sand.
- Make a rainbow on your driveway. Follow this cheap and easy recipe for sidewalk paint.
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