Rainbows

I say it every year, but rainbows are my favorite thing to explore with young kids. They are great for reviewing colors, sorting, ordering, science concepts, and all the colors together are just so happy. Here are a few of the rainbow activities we tried this year.

Rainbow Order

This year I used Kwik Stix to teach about the order of rainbow colors. Ordering is a math skill that goes hand in hand with counting, so it's fun to integrate it into the colors of the rainbow as well. We do a group art activity to draw a rainbow in color order, and Kwik Stix were the perfect art tool to make taking turns with each color go by smoothly. 

 We added cotton balls to the top so that we could add the next process to this project.

On another day we let it "rain" on our rainbows with some drip painting. 

Collaborative Rainbow

We also explored color mixing with this fun and messy :) collaborative art project, inspired by the book Beautiful Hands. 

We made on row of the rainbow at a time using only primary colors, so for the secondary colors we did a little hands-on color mixing. 

Rainbows

I guess if I had to pick a favorite study topic in preschool, it might be rainbows. There are so many fun ways to explore rainbows, and there is something so visually "happy" to me when all the colors are organized together.

Rainbow Loose Parts

I gathered up some colored objects from our Math Bags collection to create this tray of rainbow loose parts. 

Rainbow Art

Controlling curved lines is part of the early stages of writing and handwriting, and it's fun to watch students feel successful in creating their own rainbows. 

The kids wanted to keep painting rainbows after our tinfoil canvases were used up, so we brought out more paper.

And a few kids couldn't resist using their own hands as a canvas... :)

We displayed our rainbows with the "raining clouds" we created earlier this month. 

Rainbow Order

An invitation to practice ordering, an important early mathematical skill, using the rainbow colors. 

Rain + Sun = Rainbow

The afternoon class was especially interested in the idea that rainbows need both light and water to form. One student told me that the "sun needs to reflect once in the rain to make a rainbow, and twice in the rain to make two raindrops." This concept showed up in other work they engaged in around the classroom. 

Light Box Writing Tray

I put colored tissue paper under this tray on the light box, and it was a popular activity. It gave us some good opportunities for taking turns and respecting space, besides the fine motor and sensory experience it offered.

Rainbow Bowling
We played this game along with our St. Patrick's Day celebration. Bowling is a fun way to practice counting and build number sense.

St. Patrick's Day Fun in Preschool

I always like to incorporate rainbows during this time of year, because #1- they are just so happy and #2- it's a fun way to connect with St. Patrick's Day. 

Rainbow Table

I'll do another post about our other rainbow activities, but one that I like to do every year for the holiday is build a big rainbow on the table out of objects we find in the classroom. This is a classic sorting activity, but I usually add in some sort of twist with Leprechauns. This year, I actually found a book where a Leprechaun loses his rainbow and needs colored objects to build it again, so I was able to connect it to literature instead of making something up on my own. :) 

It's always fun to see what objects the children find to add to the table. (I usually have certain objects out on purpose for this activity, but they usually come up with other items as well) 

 I think the end result is fun to look at, and can be used for counting or playing "I Spy" for some extra math connections. 

Leprechaun Traps and Homes

This year, I extended an invitation to build a leprechaun trap, which has become a popular activity for this holiday. Several kids were really invested in this idea, and one decided to make a home instead of a trap. 

They told me they put books in their trap so "the leprechaun could have something to read and not get bored." :) 

These rainbow colors were placed to lure the Leprechaun to their traip.

This student created a trail of green objects to lead the Leprechaun to the home she created. 

Making Green

Another Leprechaun challenge was creating the color green. This simple color mixing activity allowed for experimentation with different materials, and we ended up with a lot of beautiful green shades in the end. 

The Lucky Letter Game

This is a simple letter recognition game, where you try to find the lucky shamrock that matches the letter on the whiteboard. 

Magic Rainbow Trick

The kids were really hoping to catch a leprechaun in their traps, but he was just too tricky.

 He did leave us a magic rainbow trick to try out though.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!