Author: halverd

Materials
Tempera paint in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple 
White construction paper (9×12 or 12×18)

Directions
Fold the construction paper in half (either direction). With your assistance, invite your child to place drops of paint in all the colors onto the construction paper.  It’s best if you have small squeeze bottles for the paint, but you can even use spoons to drop small globs of paint.  Once all the paint colors have been placed on the paper, invite your child to fold the paper in half and rub over the paper.  Open the  paper again and see the new colorful, symmetrical paint design that has been created.  

Materials
Colored tape or construction paper in rainbow colors
Magnetic Letters

Directions
Create a rainbow using colored tape or construction paper on a magnetic surface like a refrigerator or magnetic white board. Place the magnetic letters in a basket or container and invite your child to match and place the color of the letter to the same color of the rainbow. For a toddler, this is a color matching activity and you can say the names of the letters as your child places them on the rainbow. Toddlers can quickly learn the first letter in their name.

For preschool age children, encourage them to say all the names of the letters.  Include upper and lower case letters. Invite your preschooler to place the letters in alphabetical order – even though letters may be missing in the sequence. Encourage them to make words with the magnetic letters. 

Ingredients
White bread
Sweetened condensed milk
New, clean paint brushes
Food coloring
6 small blows

Directions
Pour a small amount of sweetened condensed milk in each bowl and add food coloring to make the colors of the rainbow. Using new paint brushes, invite your child to paint a rainbow or colorful design onto a piece of bread.  Toast in toaster oven.  Enjoy as a special snack!

Materials
Salad spinner
Paper plates
Tempera paint in rainbow colors

Directions
Place a paper plate in the salad spinner. Help your child place one drop of each color paint onto the paper plate. Place the lid on the salad spinner and invite your child to turn the knob. Observe your child’s delight when the lid is removed! Allow to dry and display.

Materials
3 cups of water
Food coloring (red, blue, yellow)
1 can of shaving cream
1 larger jar filled with clear water
Pipettes

Directions
Invite your child to place several drops of food coloring in the smaller cups of water. Take the larger jar filled with clear water and spray shaving cream on top of the water to represent a cloud. Using a pipette, invite your child to squeeze and drop colored water onto the shaving cream cloud.  Observe what happens as the water seeps through the shaving cream and falls into the clear water.  

Materials
Pony beads in rainbow colors
Pipe cleaners in rainbow colors
Foam block used for floral arranging
Container for beads

Directions
Invite your child to stick one pipe cleaner of each color into the foam block. Next invite your child to place a bead one at a time onto the matching color pipe cleaner. Count how many of each color once all the beads have been placed on the pipe cleaners. How many red beads? Orange? etc.

Ingredients
One red strawberry, sliced
Mandarin orange slices
Small pieces of yellow pineapple
Four green grapes
Six blueberries
Three purple grapes

Directions
Layer fruit in a clear plastic cup as follows: sliced strawberries, mandarin orange slices, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, purple grapes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Materials
Cooked spaghetti noodles
Food coloring paste (Wilton food color paste can be purchased at Walmart, Target, Michael’s)
Bowls or containers

Directions
Prepare the pasta noodles as directed on the box and then strain & rinse under cold water for several minutes. Coat the noodles with a touch of oil to prevent sticking. Divide the noodles into bowls (one bowl per desired color) and add several drops of food coloring or food coloring paste to each bowl. Mix well and allow to dry for ten to fifteen minutes. The drying helps prevent your children’s hands from getting stained from the wet food coloring. Place the noodles in a sensory bin or container, and invite your child to explore.

Materials
Craft felt in: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
Quartet Cork Tiles
Shape buttons
Scissors

Directions
Cut felt into 2″x12″ strips. Place buttons in a small bowl. Invite your child to help lay the felt strips across the cork board in order of a rainbow.  Next encourage your child to match the same color buttons to the felt and lay them on top of the mataching felt strips. Count the buttons for each color.

Lesson Extension

1. Encourage your preschooler to make patterns with the buttons in addition to matching the colors. 
2. Sort the buttons by shape or by shape and color

 

Materials:
Toaster tongs
Bowl of Pompoms in a rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
Bowls in various colors of the rainbow or a muffin tin with colored circles at the bottom of each cup 

Activity:
Using a small pair of tongs (e.g. toaster tongs), pick up one pompom at a time from the container and transfer it to the same colored bowl or a section in the muffin tin.  Review the colors with your child.  

Great fine motor practice!