There is something truly magical about rainbow crafts and activities for kids.
Rainbows are a fun way for young kids to learn their colors. And they make a great first drawing/painting that kids can easily master.
But beyond that, they are scientifically fascinating. They really are one of the most joyful things to create and play with.
Here are some of our favorite ways to explore and enjoy rainbows.
Rainbow Crafts and Art
Cardboard Rainbows
Have your child draw a rainbow on cardboard and then cut it out and let them paint it. Minimal prep and so fun!
We kept ours pretty simple, but here’s a recycled rainbow tutorialif you want ideas for how to embellish your rainbows even more.
We used some random paint and these beautiful tempera cakes from Blick Art to make our rainbows.
Tempera cakes are fun because they are vibrant and less messy than regular paint. And since you need water to paint with them, they add another fun watercolor-like step to the process.
Watercolor and Salt Rainbows
This is a unique way to play with watercolors that kids love. Let your kid go wild with rainbow paints and lots of water. Then give them salt to sprinkle on top.
The salt creates a magical, snow-like effect. It’s really fun and so satisfying to see the salt absorb water and some of the color.
I buy a big container of salt from the grocery store just for art. Sometimes I put it in recycled spice shakers and other times we put it in cups for the kids the sprinkle with their fingers (or dump everywhere).
This art project is so fun, and very messy. I recommend doing it outside.
Also, when working with watercolors, watercolor or mixed media paper makes a big difference!
Brown Paper Bag Rainbows
Save those brown paper bags! They make a wonderful, recycled canvas. On this particular day, we painted a bunch of small rainbows on brown paper and then cut them out to use for a later project.
These beautiful rainbows would also make a really pretty wrapping paper!
Rainbow Nature Chalk Art
Rainbows are easy to draw with chalk and fun to decorate with items found in nature! We do a lot of these lovely nature chalk art drawings.
Rainbow Flower Collages
Go for a nature walk to collect flowers in every color of the rainbow.
Then create these gorgeous rainbow flower collages!
This is an amazing all ages activity (even toddlers love it). It’s fun to squeeze glue and there’s no way to screw up the rainbows. They look beautiful, no matter where the petals are placed.
Here’s a blog post with more nature collage ideas if you enjoy this type of art project.
Rainbow Activities
Make a Rainbow Snack
Nothing fancy or complicated, just a bunch of fruits and veggies cut up and arranged into a rainbow.
The kids love helping create and eat these!
For this particular rainbow we used strawberries, tomatoes, oranges, carrots, cucumber, galia melon, blueberries and blackberries.
We’ve made this a few times and just use whatever colorful fresh fruit and veggies we have on hand. The purple cabbage and spinach leaves weren’t a hit, but never hurts to try.
I used this same idea to decorate my daughter’s birthday cake when she turned one. A simple vanilla cake with simple vanilla frosting and a fruit rainbow on top was beautiful and delicious.
If you’re into rainbow sprinkle treats, be sure to check out my recipe for Peanut Butter Rainbow Popcorn too. It’s delicious and really fun!
Listen to a Rainbow Playlist
Sometimes, it’s things like music that can more joy to a rainbow session. Here’s a playlist I recently made that features a few fun rainbow tracks.
Catching Rainbows
My grandmother kept a prism in her kitchen window and it was always special to see rainbows there on sunny days.
I wanted to pass along the tradition with my kids, but we decided to hang prisms in their bedroom windows.
Now in the mornings, they try to catch or hop on the rainbows in their rooms. It’s a sweet and fun way to start the day.
I’d recommend shopping at your local Metaphysical store to pick up a prism. My favorite shop is called L.E.A.F in Carlsbad, CA. They do phone orders if you’re not local, just give them a call.
Dance with Rainbow Silks
We have these beautiful rainbow silks and the kids love dancing with them. They are buttery soft and move so gracefully. We play dress up with them and use them as baby doll blankets too.
Create a Rainbow Bookshelf
One of my favorite things to do with books is to use our forward facing bookshelf to create a themed display for holidays and to match the kids’ current interests.
Since we’ve been on a rainbow kick lately, I checked out a bunch of rainbow books from the library. Then I went through our home library collection and found our rainbow/rain/colorful books to create this fun display.
Check out this blog post for more reading activities and ideas to inspire a love of reading.
Have a Rainbow Day
The other day, I got a wild idea to have a “Rainbow Day” with my kids.
Often my most successful mom-facilitated art/activity experiences are the ones where I don’t do too much planning or prep, and see where the day takes us.
In the morning I offered the “Rainbow Day” idea and the kids loved it.
I had them help draw cardboard rainbows (I cut them out), we all painted, and listened to a few rainbow songs. Then we made a rainbow snack together and read some rainbow-theme books.
They had the idea to get our colorful play tents out and setup a reading tent and a snack tent.
It was cute how into it they were. Rainbow snack in one tent, rainbow books in the other. No exceptions!
Later we painted brown paper bag rainbows and did chalk drawings.
The whole day was special and fun with minimal sibling fighting. But just as important, it was easy for me and I found it enjoyable too.
What Will You Create?
These are a few of our favorite rainbow crafts and activities for kids. I hope you enjoy exploring all the colors of the rainbow with your little ones!
