Rainbow Unit / Theme
by: TEACHING HEART

Spring is a great time to study weather. Children think
rainbows are magical things. They will love learning about rainbows and
working on related activities. Below you will find some of my favorite activities,
great books to match this unit, printables, and much more.
Now put down your umbrella
and enjoy the "rainbow" of ideas found on this page!!!

Updated - March 2013

 

My Favorite Rainbow Activities

Let's Start with Many Teaching Heart Rainbow Free Printables...

Rainbow Adding Center -
Perfect for reviewing addition or introducing it. Includes a center sheet for student to complete following center.

Here’s my little Kinder working with counting bears to complete the center…

Watch The Rainbow Center in Action With Counting Bears

Download the Rainbow Center and Center Sheet by Clicking Here!

You need a few raindrops to make a RAINBOW... I have 2 GREAT free printables below...
The first one below is a printable dice game that asks the students to take turns rolling a dice and covering up the sum of the three dice. The second game is a roll and draw a rainbow game. Students take turns rolling a dice and coloring in a part of the rainbow. First person to color in all the colors of their rainbow wins. This actvity is also super for practice reading color words.

Click rainrollandcoverteachingheart to download the three dice game.

Click rainbowrollteachingheart to download the roll a rainbow game.

Fruit Loops Craft

Video of learning going on...

Just use Elmer’s glue to glue down each color of Fruit Loops. I drew the line of glue and they put down the color on the line. We used mini marshmallows for the clouds.

As they were laying to dry, I started asking my daughter and her friend how many reds were in their rainbows. They were amazed that the answers for each rainbow was not the same. My daughter had 22 reds and her friend had 19. Then of course I had to ask who had the most purples. They estimated before they counted and they were right, my daughter had 1 more. Hmmm…. This would make a great activity sheet says the teacher in me… Thus the sheet below was born for you to download free.

Feel free to download and use at home or at school – rainbowfruitloopmath2

HAVE A RAINBOW RACE

A free printable from Teaching Heart – Have a Rainbow Race!!! Click here to print the printable!
You supply a dice with six colors (you can buy a wooden cube at a craft store and color each side).
Your students roll the dice and place an x in the correct column. They play till a color wins.

or

Grab a pack of Rainbow Goldfish and these printables for some fun functional math activities.

Click here to download all these awesome activities. HAVE A COLORFUL SPLASH Learning with these!

And go check out...
the
Raining Cats and Dogs Printable!!!

Free Rainbow Colors Flip Book!

image

A coloring book with the colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Each page contains a picture that should be colored according to the given color. Just print, cut, and staple together to form a little color book for your rainbow unit or to review colors.

Click to download Rainbow Colors Flip Book!

Rainbow Counting Puzzle

The puzzle sheet above was made with Graphics from Johnston Kindergarten Korner !
Click to download the rainbow puzzle!

The snacks below are from Target. They are in the shape and colors of; red lady bug, orange flower, yellow duck, green frog, and purple umbrella! Below are a free sorting sheet and graph to use.

Spring Fruit Snack Sort and Graph – Click to Download PDF!

Be sure to visit our Spring Index by clicking here - many more free ideas and printables for so many spring themes!!!

Like our printables? Buy some at http://www.teachingheart.net/primaryteachertimesaver.html
You may be interested in our
WOW WEATHER PACK! - For grades 1-2
If you teach Preschool or Kindergarten, be sure to get out rainbow mini pack! -
Click here!

Rainbow Mini Packet for Kindergarten and Preschool... Includes:

Teaching Heart's Rainbow Themed Math and Reading Mini-Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten Classrooms! Wonderful resource for review fun, spring centers, St. Patrick's Day, or a weather unit! Files are as stated below!

Rainbow Centers and Activities for Math and Literacy Fun!

1.) Rainbow Shape Match Center—You can use this as a take it to your seat center or you can just print both sheets and have your students cut and glue the shapes to page 2.  I laminated and used Velcro to attach the pictures.  Student  matches the shapes.

2.) Rainbow Puzzle Game—A Counting Game that is easy to play and set-up.  Great for counting review or to use during a class party or with a parent helper.

3.) RAINBOW HAT CRAFT - This file contains the printable for the rainbow hat below.  A few pages of SURPRISE bonus treats are included in this file.

4.) Printables to make a ROY G. BIV

5.) Letter sound puzzles in a rainbow theme a-z

6.) Roll Say Keep Rainbow Themed Number Recognition Game.

$6.00

Click here to order!

RAINBOW ARCS
Remove the wrappers from rainbow-colored crayons: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Let your students use the sides of the crayons to draw rainbow arcs on paper. Or, if the weather is good, invite them to make rainbows on a sidewalk with colored chalk. Another idea is to,
tape six different colored crayons in a straight line. Show your students how to draw a rainbow with one stroke.

RAINBOW PASTA GAMES
Dye stringable pasta in batches of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Let your children use the pieces for activitie such as:
*Glue on white paper to make a rainbow.
*Sort and count the pasta pieces by color.
*Place or glue the pieces on matching colored paper.

MAKING RAINBOWS
On a sunny day, place a small mirror in a glass bowl of water so that the mirror rests against the side of the bowl. Set the bowl in direct sunlight.
You can find a prism at many science stores or teachers store. Show your child the prism, and how to see all the colors of a rainbow in the prism.


RAINBOW JELLO

Make rainbow jell-o. Begin with red and pour into a large bowl. Each day add a new color until you have all the rainbow colors.
Click Here to see a Demo of how to do this!

MILK RAINBOWS

Click here for details! - these are ones you can drink!

Provide every child with a shallow container of milk.
Place a couple drops of different food coloring in the milk.
Next have the child dip a toothpick into a little dish soap and then dip it into the milk.
What happens? Try it again!

Watch this how to video!

TASTE A RAINBOW
Provide three identical jars with pre-counted Skittles of 20, 50, and 80.
Label these jars 20, 50 and 80. Place 65 (Shh!!! Keep this a secret) Skittles in a fourth identical jar.
Allow the children to examine all four jars before they guess how many is in the fourth jar.
Record the children's approximations. |Discuss with the class how they came up with their numbers.
For instance, Johny may say: "I guessed 60 because this jar had more than the jar of 50 and less than the jar of 80."
Count the Skittles. The students love this and you will be happy to hear them think aloud about math problem solving!!!!


Rainbow Cakes!!!

(See my post about this here.)

Watch this cute how to video!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Hungry for a Rainbow?

image

Mmmm… Rainbow Cupcakes. There is a Rainbow on the outside and when you bite the inside you see many colors of the rainbow

Look at some of the RAINBOW fun found in our weather packet…

Do you know ROY?

All the printables to make him are included…

Here’s another of the many files found in the weather packet… GO GET IT!!!

Keep supporting Teaching Heart by shopping at our store and Teaching Heart will keep the free ones coming!!!

 

Rainbow in My Cup Craft

White cup, pipe cleaners, floral foam, piece of gold (dollar store), cotton balls

Rainbow on My Head!

Printable for this can be found here!

Great fine motor practice… beading a rainbow bracelet! Also great for following a pattern!

Perfect fit for a little Rainbow Fish Fun!!!

image

We made our Rainbow Fish for old CD’s. The template is in our Rainbow Fish Pack. Get it here!

East Cloud Rainbow Craft!

Click here to check out some more cute craft ideas from I Can Teach My Child!

So much fun with Rainbow Water Beads!

I love these water beads? Get a few colors and small containers and you have a fun sensory activity.
Students find hard objects mixed in with the
colored water beads!

Fun Rainbow Centers! - Click here to get these!


Great Ideas Found on Our LArge Pack # 3

Click Here to learn more.

Rainbow Race Student Game

- You supply a dice with six colors (you can buy a wooden cube at a craft store and color each side).
Your students roll the dice and place an x in the correct column. T
hey play till a color wins. They then answer questions about their race.
An activity sheet for this game is provided on
our large pack

The Colors of the Rainbow

This includes sentences strips for your pocket chart. The strips are in color and include pictures to make the text easy to read. You can use this as a center. Place the strips in a pocket chart along with our center sheet that matches this. The center sheet in in black and white. The student write the color word in the blank and then colors the pictures to match the text. When they are finished they cut apart the strips, staple in the corner and take home a little book.

This is free to print from Teaching Heart
1.)
Rainbow sentence strips - these are sentences in color with graphics. They may be used in a pocket chart or other.
2.) Activity sheet - after the student reads the center - they use the center to help them make their own book.

Raindrop Contraction Center

this includes all the manipulatives - teacher prints, laminates, and cuts. You can store these in baggies that students take back to their desk or in a pocket chart.  You may choose to give a set to each student or use as a group activity.  The student must match the raindrop to the umbrella.(1-3) If you do not have the CDROM, you can create a center like this. Find a die cut of an umbrella and raindrop. Place a match problem on the raindrop and the answer on the umbrella. Have the sudents match.

Umbrella Count by 5's Centers

Place umbrellas with counts by fives in a baggie. The student places the umbrellas in the correct order to complete the center.

These are just a few over 200 printables found on our January Through June Primary Teacher Timesavers Pack.
Check it out and
Click Here to learn more!!!!

Printables for Teachers!!!


Noah's Ark is always fun to discuss with a rainbow unit!

This free set includes what you see in the image.

Your download of these files include:

Three Noah’s Ark Counting Puzzles
Little Retell Book to Color and Use!
1 Beginning Sounds Activity
1 Trace – Cut – Count – Paste Activity

I hope you find them useful!

Click here to download the Noah’s Ark Pack!

 

We made these cute Rainbow Ark pictures with half of an nine inch plate, fruit loops, brown construction paper, stickers, and cotton balls.

I thought it turned out cute! I have done the large fruit loop rainbow in the past. I wanted to do a small version with less fruit loops and this worked out pefectly. Three fruit loops in each color. I only used half a box of fruit loops for 24 kids. We could eat /play with the rest at snack.

I also attached this poem to the ark picture…

Noah built an ark, oh so big and wide

All the animals hurried to be safe inside.

It kept them dry from the flooding rain,

For forty days and nights.

Until Noah was told to come out again

And see the rainbow bright!

Lastly we pretended to be on Noah’s Ark with my parachute.

 


Rainbow Color Songs

These songs will help you students spell the colors of the rainbow.

Red (Three Blind Mice)

R-e-d, r-e-d, red is the word, red is the word,
Apples and strawberries both are red,
Tomatoes and cherries both are red,
Do you know how to spell that word red?
R-e-d, r-e-d.

Orange (The Wheels on the Bus)

The pumpkins in my garden are orange, orange, orange
Ora-nge
The pumpkins in my garden are orange, orange orange
Ora-nge.

Yellow (Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Y-e-l-l-o-w
I can spell yellow now
Y-e-l-l-o-w
Yellow like the sun.

Green (Mary Had a Little Lamb)

G-r-e-e-n spells green,
Like a frog, like a tree,
G-r-e-e-n spells green
Just like broccoli!

Blue (Frere Jacques)

B-l-u-e, b-l-u-e
That spells blue, that spells blue
Like the color of the sky,
Like the color of the sea
B-l-u-e, b-l-u-e.

Purple (This Old Man)

Pur-ple spells the color purple, see-
Like the grapes on a vine,
Or some plums on a tree.

Rainbow Poems and Songs

Under the Rainbow
(tune:  Up on the Housetop)

First comes the rain cloud passing by

Dropping raindrops in my eye!

Then comes the sunshine up so high

Now a rainbow in the sky!

Yea-Yea-Yea-who wouldn't go? 

(author unknown)

Oh, Rainbow

(to the tune of "Oh, Christmas Tree")

Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours.
Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours.
Purple, red and orange, too,
Yellow, green and blue so true.
Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours

Rainbow Song

Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue.
I can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
You can sing one too!

Listen with your eyes,
Listen with your eyes,
And sing everything you see.
You can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
Sing a long with me.

Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue.
You can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
Now you've sung one too!

If you want to see a rainbow
(sung to If your happy and you know it)
If you want to see a rainbow, check the sky.
Just as its raining, look up high.
With the sun behind your back,
you will see the colors stacked.
Oh, I love to see a rainbow in the sky!

 

 


Literature Activites

Rainbow of My Own

A Rainbow Of My Own by Don Freeman Prereading

Pre-Reading: Ask the students if they have ever seen a rainbow?
What did it look like?
When did you see it?
How many colors did you see?

My Rainbow Read the book A Rainbow of My Own to your class.  After reading it and discussing rainbows allow the children to create rainbow marble paintings.   1.)  Place a piece of blue paper in a tray. 2.)  Apply small spoonfuls of paint, one for each color of the rainbow, in various places on the paper. 3.)  Place a marble on the tray. 4.)  Have the children tilt the tray.   Now they have their own rainbow!

Milk Rainbows

We made milk rainbows, like this one!

Yes, we finally caught a rainbow. You can view more details about milk rainbows
here.

What Makes a Rainbow?: Pop-Up

After reading What Makes a Rainbow, have children make these fun rainbow mobiles to help reinforce the colors.
Supplies: Cloud shape drawn on white paper , white cotton balls, strips of 6 colored construction paper, glue, scissors, paper punch, string
Have students cut out the cloud shape and punch holes on top, tie string to it, to hang it by. Glue colored strips of paper to the back side of cloud. 

Rainbow Fish

There is lots more to see!!! Get it here!

Rad Rainbow Resources

Click here to visit our Rainbow Board on Pinterest!

Teach Your Class About Rainbows and show them this VHS!!!

The Magic School Bus - Makes a Rainbow (1994)

Click the video to learn more or buy at Amazon!


Below are some of my favorite rain & rainbow books! Pick a book to share with
your class. Click the book to learn more.

My Favorite Rainbow Sites

A Rainbow of Color
Gota love all of the ideas at KinderKorner. Victoria does a great
job on her units!

DLK's Great Rainbow Page
Wonderful Recipes and Crafts!

Rainbow Facts

Handprint Rainbow

Teaching Heart Wow Weather Theme

Teaching Heart Blog Ideas

Follow Teaching Heart's Weather Pin Board...

 

FREE Rainbow Printables

Rainbow Coloring Pages

Color Concentration Game

First School
Enjoy rainbow theme educational activities for preschool and kindergarten. 

Page 10, 11, 12 -
This is a PDF file. On the pages you will find
a rainbow tally sheet and a mini book.

Rainbow Math - This game is very simple. The kids roll 2 die and color in the sum on the rainbow. The game is over when the rainbow is colored in.

Rainbow Math Mat

Skittles Graph

4 Skittles Math Sheets

Sing Spring Packet

Rainbow of Flowers Bulletin Board

www.teachingheart.net

http://www.teachingheart.net/primaryteachertimesaver.html
Give back... Keep Teaching Heart Online & Sharing 100's of free printables - Make a Purchase Today!