Rainbow Theme Day

Rainbows

This is a good theme day to review the colours with any preschoolers but is also good for older kids as you can get more into the science of colours with prisms etc..

Print out the Family Theme Day Planner and decide which activities you’d like to do and in what order.

SONG:

Obtain from your favourite music provider “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “Rainbow Connection” to start this theme day with movement and dancing.

SCRAPBOOK ACTIVITIES:

COLORING PAGES:

You can find many free colouring pages online by using your favourite search engine and typing in “rainbows coloring page” or print out my Rainbow Colouring Page.

JOURNALING QUESTION PROMPT:

Write out one or more of the following questions in the family notebook or on a piece of paper to glue in your family scrapbook: What are the colours of a rainbow? When do we see rainbows? What makes a rainbow?

Choose the level of your child:

Toddler – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer or simply ask your child to draw a picture of a rainbow.

Preschooler/kindergartener – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.

Early grade school – have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.

Grade school – have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)

Older child – have your child write a longer response (paragraph).

As a challenge – instead of a question ask your older child to write a story about a rainbow.

PUZZLES:

Print out my Rainbow Word Search: Easy Rainbow Word Search or Difficult Rainbow Word Search

Check here for the answer keys: Easy Rainbow Answer Key or Difficult Rainbow Answer Key

BOOKS:

Raid your child’s bookshelves to find any books with rainbows in them.

Go to the library with your child to find some books about rainbows.

Go to the library on your own to find books on rainbows from both fiction and nonfiction to have already on hand for your theme day. Many libraries allow you to go online and search for titles based on subject. Reserve them if you can to save time.

Try some of these nonfiction/learning titles if you can find them:

· Theodoric’s Rainbow, by Stephen Kramer and illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy, W.H Freeman and Company, 1995 – A fictional account of a true person, Theodoric of Freiberg, a Dominican Friar from Germany in the 14^th Century who discovered how sunlight and water drops make rainbows.

· A Rainbow All Around Me, by Sandra L. Pinkney and Photographs by Myles C. Pinkney, Cartwheel Books, 2002 – Eleven colours are highlighted with bright photographs of children and the rainbow theme is shown with other photos of children painting a rainbow.

· Science Matters: Rainbows, by David Whitfield, Weigl Publishers Inc., 2007 – An excellent science book for children showing how light bends, how the eye sees a rainbow, rainbow variations, technology, double rainbows and lunar rainbows…

· Why are Zebras Black and White? Questions Children ask about Color, Text by Terry Martin, scholastic Canada Ltd.,1996—This book uses many different photographs and easy to read text to answer many questions like why does the sky turn orange at sunset?, Why is the sea blue? , Why does water look blue sometimes?, Why do leaves change colors in the fall?, etc..

Try some of these fiction titles for a different look at rainbows if you can find them:

· A Rainbow of My Own, by Don Freeman, Puffin Books 1966—A sweet book about a boy who wishes he could catch a rainbow for his very own. He imagines what it would be like and then discovers a rainbow in his room.

· The Black and White Rainbow, written by John Trent and illustrated by Judy Love, Waterbrook Press, 1999 - A land of animals wakes up one morning to discover a mean mole has taken away all the colors and everything is black and white. A brave mouse discovers the way to bring back colors. This longer story alludes to Noah’s Ark with the rainbow and also alludes to Christ’s teachings as the way to bring back colors ends up being saying, serving, sharing and forgiving.

CRAFTS:

PAINTING A RAINBOW:

Using various colours on white paper your child can paint a rainbow (set out newspaper or a plastic sheet before hand and don’t forget to wear old shirts or art smocks).

RAINBOW PIPE CLEANER PICTURE:

Materials: Coloured pipe cleaners, blue paper, cotton balls, white glue, newspaper to set on the table, facecloth for sticky fingers, wax paper.

Step 1: Have your child pick out all the coloured pipe-cleaners needed to make a rainbow and bend them into an appropriate shape.

Step 2: Have your child apply glue to the pipe cleaners and arrange them on the blue paper in the shape of a rainbow.

Step 3: Apply glue to the blue paper wherever your child wants to place clouds.

Step 4: Tear the cotton balls to make them large and fluffy and glue to the blue sheet.

Step 5: lay a piece of wax paper over the picture and place heavy books on top to press the picture into shape.

Step 6: After a few hours remove the wax paper carefully so it won’t glue permanently to the picture and leave the paper to dry overnight (the pipe cleaners should be flat enough to dry close to the paper by now).

Step 7: Display the picture.

FOOD:

SNACK:

Rainbow Fruit Platter:

Ingredients: Red berries (strawberries or raspberries), orange segments, slice banana, sliced kiwi (without peel) or green grapes, blueberries, purple or red grapes, blackberries, vanilla yogurt

Step 1: On a large serving platter or plate arrange each colour of fruit in an arch one after the other to resemble a rainbow.

Step 2: At each end of your fruit rainbow scoop out some vanilla yogurt for creamy clouds.

Step 3: Have the family gather around the platter with spoons to enjoy the treat together.

HINT: Wash and chop additional fruit while preparing for this snack to use for dessert (Rainbow Sundaes) and keep it in a re-sealable container with a little lemon juice.

Rainbow fish crackers :

These multi-coloured crackers fit perfectly with the theme of rainbows.

LUNCH:

Colour Packed Sandwich:

Let your child choose as many different coloured toppings as he/she can think of (a good way to encourage the addition of vegetables at lunch).

DINNER:

Colourful Salad :

As a healthy colourful side have your child(ren) help make a big salad for dinner. Let them choose lots of vegetables and even fruits for a delicious mix (red: tomatoes, strawberries, red pepper, Orange: cheese, mandarin segments, carrots, Yellow: cheese, yellow pepper, Green: lettuce, green pepper, Blue: blueberries, Purple: purple lettuce/cabbage).

DESSERT:

Rainbow Sundaes :

Use extra prepared fruit from the Rainbow Fruit Platter as toppings for vanilla ice-cream, then add optional toppings to make it extra special like chocolate or caramel sauce, rainbow sprinkles, coloured M&M’s, nuts...

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

ROY G. BIV:

Print out my Colours of a Rainbow worksheet to teach your children that ROY G BIV is an acronym for the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Together write out the names of the colours and find markers or crayons to match each (HINT: Indigo is blue and purple mixed together but it has more blue in it than purple).

BUBBLES:

The easiest rainbow activity is to blow bubbles and then after catching one study the bubble to find the rainbows.

CRYSTALS:

If you have a crystal light catcher arrange it in the sunlight so it makes a rainbow.

OIL:

We noticed quite by accident one day that the light shining through our olive oil made a rainbow on the floor.

PRISMS:

Check out your local Educational store or toy store for a prism or science kit with a prism in it.

Use a prism, a clear glass of water, a flashlight, and a card with a small slit cut half way up to create a rainbow on white paper laid flat on a table. This works best in the dark (we choose our darkest bathroom).

EXPERIMENT:

Make a rainbow with a flashlight and glass of water by trying this experiment found online (Note: if using a small flashlight do the experiment on a table instead): http://www.yorku.ca/eye/Kurt%20Nassau%20rainbow%20demo.htm

WEBSITES:

Have your family gather around the computer and check out some of the following websites:

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/bows.htm - a good site with coloured photographs of different types of rainbows.

http://www.greatestplaces.org/book_pages/iguazu/rainbows.html - a scientific page that looks at how rainbows are made with diagrams.

http://www.eo.ucar.edu/rainbows/ - for older kids who want in depth science behind rainbows.

FOR FUN:

JOKES:

Q: What is a cat’s favourite colour?

A: Purrrr-ple

KNOCK KNOCK! Who’s there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad we’re learning about rainbows today?

Q: What is a weatherman’s favourite colour?

A: Blue (blew)

GAMES:

The Candyland board game uses colour cards and spaces instead of a dice or spinner for movement.

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES:

OUTDOOR ACTIVITY:

If it’s a rainy day wait until the rain stops and go for a walk to see if you can find a rainbow.

AUDIO VISUAL:

Search through your child’s DVD/Video collection (or visit your local library or video store before hand) and look for any shows with rainbows in them like The Wizard of Oz.

If you can find this title at your library this is a good cartoon learning video;

The Magic School Bus: Makes a rainbow—The Secret of Colors, Scholastic, Kid Vision, Warner Vision Entertainment, 2001