Rainbows

There is something magical about finding a rainbow after a storm.

We have some ideas of how to extend this excitement and add some learning as well!

Sidewalk Chalk

You know you have some in the garage somewhere! Make a game of it by either taking turns drawing things that are well known for being RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, and PURPLE. It's harder than you might think!

Or you can just have fun being artistic and creating lots of different rainbows!

Blow Bubbles
You've probably blown bubbles A LOT. But have you ever encouraged your child to look for how the bubbles catch the sunlight and show colors of the rainbow?? It's wonderful how paying attention to even small things encourages learning!

You can see the bubble rainbow colors on {E}'s white shirt! That could be fun to retry!

Paint
You can break out the watercolors, acrylics, or whatever type of paint you have! Just make sure you have at least 6 of the 7 colors of the rainbow.

Because my little one is quite messy, I didn't want to have to worry about her getting paint EVERYWHERE.  So I cut down a piece of card stock so it would fit inside a gallon size ziploc bag. I made the outline of the rainbow, slipped it inside the bag, and then let her "finger" paint!

It looked so cute in the bag when she was done! The hard part was getting it out. Once it totally dried it still looked sweet {and like it was done by a 1 year old...which it was!}.


Make a Rainbow
For this quick science experiment you need a glass of water, masking tape, a flashlight, a tall object to set the glass of water on, and a white piece of paper.

Cover most of the flashlight opening with masking tape.  Set the glass of water on top of a tall object {we used a can of gatorade..that is probably expired}. Place the piece of paper to one side of the can and shine the flashlight through the water from the opposite side.

It will probably take a minute or more of maneuvering the flashlight before your rainbow will appear! {HELPFUL HINT! The bigger the flashlight, the bigger the rainbow} It's also easier to see in a dark space {like my laundry room aka the dungeon}. So find your own dark space or wait until the sun has gone down and turn off all the lights!

If you want to explain what's going on, that will add to the science learning! You can find some helpful instruction here.

Sing or Dance to Rainbow Songs
There are quite a few popular songs that have the word RAINBOW in them.

Go on a Rainbow Hunt

Have your child make a rainbow flip book like the one below {or DIY}. 

Go over the colors and then walk around the house, the block, the store,  a museum, ANYWHERE. Your little ones will love to match the colors to things in real life! 

BONUS if you can find something that has ALL the rainbow colors!

{Natalie}