It’s been raining on and off in our neck of the woods. So, today we made a rainbow collage, fluffy white clouds and lots of raindrops. My son loved that it was more of a scene than just an activity. He sat under it and I couldn’t help but take some pictures.
We’ve been on a language kick thanks to my 7-year-old son who loves learning new ways to say simple phrases. Last night we practiced saying greetings in Swahili.
My toddler already knows his colors in English so we practiced the colors in Spanish. Maybe next time we’ll practice them in Korean, just for fun. He can’t read yet but I still like to label things to expose him to the print.
This activity is a great rainy day activity or to enjoy during your Spring, Weather, or colors unit. They’ll get to practice their colors, Spanish language, fine motor skills, color sorting… And the fun part is this would be a fun Spring or Cloud, St. Patrick’s Day party activity.
Preschool Activity: Sticky Rainbow Collage
supplies:
- strips of construction paper in various colors
- scissors
- contact paper
- cotton
- tape
1. Carefully remove the backing of the contact paper from just a corner and put it on the wall with the sticky side facing you. Once you’ve got enough uncovered, tape the edges. Continue removing it until you’ve reached the other corner. Tape it to the top of the wall.
2. Completely remove the back and tape the bottom end to the wall.
3. I used my sharpie to draw an outline of the rainbow for my son. You can do it on the non-sticky side before taping it but I just drew it on the sticky side once it was taped to the wall.
4. I gave my son the strips of colored construction paper. I only drew 4 rows so he had four strips of colors. Then I had him cut them out into fat squares or thin ones. The smaller the squares the longer it will take so you decide what size you want to use.
Color sorting
Then I let him sort the colors into little bowls. I had him say the color in Spanish as he put them in order in each cup. Obviously, you can use this activity to practice their colors in English but we did it in Spanish.
Then I had him stick the color squares on the contact paper to create his rainbow. He’s very meticulous so he would cut thin strips of construction paper to fill in any gaps left by squares that were too small for the wide rainbow row.
Spanish Practice
As I mention above we started practicing our colors from the moment he began cutting his little squares. After he would stick his square on the wall, I’d say, “Que color quieres usar?” What color do you want to use?
He responded with the correct color in his hand in Spanish. You can also require them to respond in complete sentences, “Voy a usar la color/el color ______.” You can also add in this vocabulary:
- arco iris – rainbow
- clouds – nubes
- raindrops – gotas de agua
I didn’t require my toddler to use these words in a sentence. I just incorporated them in short simple sentences so he could hear them being used. Sort of like this: Tu arco iris me gusta. I like your rainbow. Tus nubes son grandes. Your clouds are big. Tienes muchas gotas de agua. You have lots of raindrops.
And he was pooped at the end of his 40 minute rainbow collage activity.
Want more fun rainbow activities? Follow the links:
- Classic Cereal Rainbow Craft / Frogs Snails & Puppy Dog Tails
- Sparkly Rainbow Slime / Craftulate
- Rainbow Candy Smash Cookies / Rainy Day Mum
- Rainbow File Folder Game / JDaniel4’s Mom
- Rainbow Stacking Cups / SugarAunts
- Stain Glass Rainbow Collages/ Where Imagination Grows