It’s Pride Month and I couldn’t think of a better time to explore Rainbows with my son. Also last week we went to Michaels (Art Store) for some art material and it was filled with everything Rainbow! So the first thing we did was make our own rainbows with Prism! It was so much fun for my son. He went to each window in the house that was filled with sunlight, to reflect a rainbow on the wall across from it. You can even start your sprinklers in the sun and let the kids enjoy catching the rainbow!
Activity 1: Make Rainbow Unicorns
Best for (2 years and up) fine motor skills, color mixing.
Material Needed: Thick Paper (grab your Free Template at the end of the post), Paint, Water, Paint brush, Dropper, Scissor, Single Hole Punch, Multi-colored Yarn.
I have yet to come across a toddler who doesn’t love Unicorns. So this Rainbow Week had to start off with Unicorns! Whether you believe in Unicorns or not; your kid does and they are going to love this activity.
You will need a thick (cardstock) paper for this activity. Splatter the rainbow colors with a brush on the paper. You can choose to go random or in order. We sang the rainbow color song while doing this. It’s super catchy (yes it was stuck in my head all day after that) and kids can learn and remember the colors of the rainbow! Next we took water and a dropper and made it rain on the paper. The colors mixed beautifully! Feel free to use a brush if your color splatters feel dry or you just want to mix some colors in a certain way. Using the dropper is a great way to practice fine motor skills. Once colors are all merged, let the paper dry. We let it dry overnight since my son had soaked the paper completely!
Once dry, turn the paper backside up and draw a unicorn or just download and use the free template shared with this post. Now cut the unicorns and punch some holes with the single hole punch all along the neck of the unicorn. Cut up some colorful yarn and let your kid practice some threading and tying a knot.
Threading is a great activity to help children develop fine motor skills essential to develop eye-hand coordination and concentration skills. Tying a knot helps develop bilateral coordination (working both hands together in a coordinated manner).
This activity was a great start to our Rainbow Week! Stay tuned for more activities. Oh and don’t forget your Free Unicorn Template!
Activity 2: No Mess Sensory Rainbow!
Best for (6 months to 6 years) fine motor skills, color mixing, writing, drawing.
Material Needed: Flour, Water, Bowls, Paints or Food Colors, Clear Plastic Sleeve, Tape.
This activity has been one of my favorite! No, not because its mess free! But because this activity has so many variations. A child from 6 months to 6 years can enjoy this. It’s a great sensory activity for the young kids but also fun and engaging for the older kids. Okay yes its also a ‘No Mess’ activity and after a long week I definitely do not want to clean up after my kids art activity. So this is a ‘win win’ situation.
Measure 1 cup of flour (white flour) for 2 plastic sleeves. Add this to a bowl and pour 1.5 cups of warm water. Mix it thoroughly, so that there are no lumps. This should be pasty (not runny or solid). Pour this equally in 7 bowls or just use a muffin pan like me. Now mix in the 7 rainbow colors; one color for each bowl. You can use paint or food color. For pastels use less color and for brights use more color.
Now this is the only messy part to this activity, I promise. You have to add each color to the bottom of the plastic sleeve, one at a time. Use a spoon or a piping bag, whatever works for you. And it is okay if the color mixes a little. Once you have the 7 colors all tucked in nicely in the plastic sleeve, it’s time to tape it up. Use your tape to seal the opening or even add another fold to the sleeve and then tape it again.
Your kid will love mixing the rainbow colors! You can even stick the sleeve to the table. Make sure to use white paper/cloth underneath (to save your surface from any accident and also it makes the colors look nice and bright). After they are done mixing and playing with it, ask them to draw shapes with their finger or write alphabets; older kids can even make words. For the second sleeve you can add yet another sensory element. We used beads! See below how we used it. The best part is you can store this in the fridge for up to a week and remove it whenever you want to use it. Time to sit back and relax!
Activity 3: Over, Under and Through the Rainbow
Best for (2 years and up) gross motor skills, spacial awareness and balance.
Material needed: Crepe Paper Streamers in Rainbow colors, Tape, Furniture, Gold Coins and a Pot (optional).
They say that there is a pot of Gold at the end of every Rainbow. This activity is a literal translation of this idiom (would have been perfect for St. Patrick’s Day). We started off by moving our furniture around (mostly chairs) and lined them up. We weaved the colors of the rainbow out of the streamers, taping them to the wall, chairs, etc. We placed the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow and invited our son to go over or under the rainbow streamers to reach the pot of gold. Our son was a little hesitant in the start as he stepped over or under (sometimes doing both) the streamers. But as soon as he reached the end of the rainbow and got hold of his pot of gold, there was no stopping him. He went several times from one end to the other of the rainbow. My husband and me joined in as well! We had so much fun with this activity, we forgot about the pot of gold (or that lunch time was past two hours back)!
Kids will enjoy this activity and it will sharpen their gross motor skills. This is a wonderful exercise for kids and adults too as it involves strategic thinking, spacial awareness, body control and balance. After all the concentration and being careful not to tear up our rainbow, we had to call it a day as our stomachs were grumbling much too loudly out of hunger. So to end this on a high note and as a reward for all the balancing, bending and crawling our son did, we asked him to run through the rainbow. He did not want to break his rainbow but he did it nevertheless and loved it!