Rainbows can be such a fun spring theme for a preschool classroom! The bright colors can provide a much-needed pick-me-up after the long winter months. In this post, I’m going to share some of my favorite activities that would be the perfect addition to rainbow lesson plans for preschool.
7 Things to Add to Your Rainbow Lesson Plans
Preschool themes can be such a helpful way to keep young students engaged in skill practice throughout the year. However, these themes are even MORE helpful when spring fever starts to impact student motivation and behavior. Engaging, hands-on activities centered around a theme can be a welcome addition to your lesson plans!
If you want to try a rainbow theme in your classroom this spring, here are some activities that your preschoolers will love:
1. Introduce Weather Vocabulary
It’s always a good idea to help students understand the science of rainbows. Preschoolers are always excited to learn that rainbows are more than just pretty colors; they are an actual part of our weather! That’s why I like to include the opportunity for students to learn some weather vocabulary before diving into the rest of the rainbow lesson plans.
Through weather read-alouds and classroom discussions, you can put together an anchor chart that students can reference throughout the rainbow unit. This is a great place to incorporate some of the new weather vocabulary that students will be using throughout the lessons! Activating prior knowledge like this will help you and your students make the most of the unit!
2. Rainbow Read Alouds
Once students have had a chance to learn more about weather and the science behind rainbows, they will love to listen to more rainbow-inspired spring books and poems! There are so many fun fiction books to choose from, along with engaging poems that you can use during circle time.
Read alouds are such a great way to get students to use some of the new vocabulary they’ve been learning. Rainbow-themed books can also inspire important discussions and comprehension activities. For example, after reading “How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow” together as a class, students can practice skills like inferring, making connections, and more!
3. Rainbow Play Dough Mats
You can also add some rainbow fun to your learning stations! These play dough mats include a rainbow and other weather shapes for students to create. As they roll and shape the play dough, students will be strengthening their hand muscles and improving their hand-eye coordination. They won’t even realize they’re hard at work! This is one reason why play dough learning mats are such a helpful addition to preschool lesson plans throughout the year.
4. Rainbow Crafts
Crafts are always a must-have in preschool lesson plans! Students can get even more practice with fine motor skills as they also get more experience using school tools safely and effectively. Crafts can also encourage preschoolers to slow down and do their best work since they know their artwork will be put on display in the classroom or on a bulletin board.
In the example pictured above, students will create a rainbow with a cloud. They can review rainbow color order and color names as they attach each strip of colored paper to the cloud. This craft can also be a great visual for students to use as they follow along with rainbow poems and songs! They can point to each color as it’s mentioned.
5. Make a Rainbow
What better way to show students that rainbows are made up of light than by making one in the classroom?
Students can better understand that a rainbow is formed when sunlight passes through water droplets in the air. You can do this together by placing a small mirror in a clear glass of water. Students will be able to see the rainbow form once sunlight or a flashlight shines on the mirror in the glass.
Your little scientists can document what happened by illustrating the experiment. They will love drawing a recreation of the rainbow that they helped to make on the wall of the classroom!
6. Color Identification
Students can also practice other concepts during a rainbow unit. For example, it’s the perfect time to practice color identification! Students can identify the colors of the rainbow using flash cards and other activities throughout the unit. By adding some color identification practice to your rainbow lesson plans, you can make the most of this opportunity to help students master color vocabulary!
7. Rainbow Writing Numbers
Rainbows can also inspire fun practice with number formation! We all know how important it is to help students practice writing numbers as much as possible, but this repetition can become stale for young preschoolers!
This is when rainbow writing can come to the rescue! Students can write a number once with each of the colors of the rainbow. First, they’ll write it with red, then orange, and so on. This is an easy way for students to get six repetitions without batting an eye. They are so excited to see the rainbow form in each number, they will happily write each number multiple times!
Printable Lesson Plans for a Rainbow Unit
All of the activities that I’ve shared in this post (and MANY more!) are included in one fun weather unit for preschool. This unit is filled with hands-on and engaging activities that will be the perfect addition to your rainbow lesson plans. Students will be able to practice important literacy, math, and science concepts with engaging rainbow activities that are perfect for spring.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this resource, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These Rainbow Activities for Preschool
Be sure to save these activities if you’re short on time and would like to come back to them later. Just add the pin below to your favorite preschool board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activity ideas when you’re working on your rainbow lesson plans for preschool.
