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Materials
Tempera paint in rainbow colors
Long white bulletin board paper
Rolling pin
Tape

Directions
Tape a long piece of white paper to the table or workspace. Place a drop of every color paint in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) on one end of the paper. Using a rolling pin, you take one end of the rolling pin and your child takes the other end and rolls the pin through the paint and down to the other end of the paper.

Materials
Clean, damp sponge
Tempera paints (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
Large white construction paper

Directions
Place small amounts of tempera paint in the color order of the rainbow along the length of the damp sponge.  Invert the sponge on the white paper that’s taped to the table.  Invite your child to move the sponge across the paper.  He’ll delight in what he has created – a beautiful rainbow!  Repeat the process as long as your child is interested.

Here’s our best play dough recipe:
Super Smooth Play Dough
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
4 tsp. cream of tarter
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. baby oil
Food coloring (optional)

Combine the dry ingredients in a sauce pan. Add the water and oil (and color, if desired) and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and forms a firm ball. Remove from heat and knead when cool enough. Store in an air-tight container.

To make “Rainbow Play Dough”
Divide non-colored play dough into 7 small containers.  Add a different food coloring or paste (for brilliant colors).  Mix coloring into dough.  Invite you child to explore with the various colors – roll, pound, squish, and make “snakes”.  

Working with play dough strengthens the finger muscles, which makes controlling a pencil or pen much easier.

Materials
Red tempera paint
Yellow tempera paint
Blue tempera paint
Gallon size Ziploc bag
Duct tape

Directions
Place a glob of red tempera paint, a glob of blue paint, and a glob of yellow tempera paint inside the Ziploc bag.  Zip the bag closed and reinforce with clear duct tape.  Invite your child to use his fingers to mix the three colors together.  Observe the new colors that are made as yellow mixes with blue, red mixes with yellow, and blue mixes with red.

Ingredients
Strawberry chunks
Orange sections
Pineapple
Green grapes
Blueberries or blackberries
Red or purple grapes
Mini marshmallows
Wooden skewers

Directions
Place the fruit in various bowls. Invite preschoolers to slide the fruit onto a wooden skewer in the order of a rainbow. Begin and end with a mini marshmallow so that the fruit doesn’t slide off. Enjoy the fruit kebob as a special delicious snack.

Toddlers will enjoy a rainbow in a cup snack – small bits of the same fruit layered in a plastic cup in rainbow order.

Ingredients
White cake mix
Food coloring or paste
Eggs
Oil

Directions
Make cake as directed. Divide the batter into six small bowls.  Add food coloring or paste to each bowl in the colors of a rainbow. In a greased and floured bundt pan, pour the vaious colors of batter in layers. Bake as instructed. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan. Enjoy!

Materials
Muffin tin
Tempera paints (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
White or light blue construction paper (9×12)
Large marshmallows
Pencil

Directions
Draw a rainbow shape with six sections onto the construction paper.  Pour one color of each of the tempera paints into each section of the muffin tin.  Place a large marshmallow in each of the muffin sections.  invite your child to dip a marshmallow into the tempera paint, starting with red, and make dots that follow the arch of the rainbow moving left to right across the page.  Work through all the colors.  Allow time to dry before hanging.

Materials
Freeze colored water in plastic cups
Baking soda
Pipettes
Vinegar
Tray

Directions
Take frozen water cups out of the freezer. Place cups onto a tray. Invite your child to scoop approximately 1/4 cup of baking soda on top of the frozen water. Place the pipette into vinegar, squeeze the top, release so the vinegar gets sucked up into the pipette. Then squeeze the pipette over the vinegar and observe what happens.

Materials
Clear contact paper
Permanent marker
Craft tissue paper cut into 1-inch squares (rainbow colors)

Directions
On the non-sticky side of the contact paper, draw arcs to resemble a rainbow. Carefully pull the backing off and tape the contact paper to the table surface, sticky side up. Place one piece of tissue in each section to represent the color to be used for each arc. Invite your child to add colors to the contact paper. This is a good project to keep out and invite your child to continue adding to the rainbow a little bit at a time over a few days. Once all the arcs are covered with tissue, hang the rainbow contact paper up on a window for the light to shine through.

Materials
Craft foam in various colors
Scissors
Painters tape
Markers
Large Googly eyes (optional)
Large piece of poster board to stick the calerpillar on

Directions
Use the inside of the roll of painters tape to trace one circle on each color of craft foam. Cut out the circles. Use the scraps to make additional shapes – small triangles, circles, squares, rectangles. Tape the circles onto the poster board to make a caterpillar shape. Add eyes- either hand drawn or googly eyes and antennas to the head. Invite your child to match the colors of the shapes to the color sections on the caterpillar. Review the names of the shapes and colors as the shapes are sorted.

Lesson Extensions for Preschoolers

• Write upper case letters on the caterpillar circles and lower case letters on the various shapes. Match lower case to upper case letters.
• Draw dots on the circles of the caterpillars; write numerals on the shapes. Match the numeral to the number of dots. 
• Write numerals 5-10 on the circles of the caterpillars. Encourage your child to use addition skills to add two numbers together on the shapes that equal a numeral on the caterpillar