Paint a rainbow with a sponge.
I wish I could claim the idea of rainbow sponge painting, but I saw it last year over at Strong Start.
While this is a kid-friendly idea, a lot of the prep needs to be done by an adult, or older child. And prep needs to be redone during the activity as well.
I kind of felt like an artist getting this ready. My pallete [a pizza pan] of paint in rainbow colors!
Simply swipe each color, in the order of the rainbow, onto a sponge.
I said the colors as I was doing this to teach Henry the order of the colors in a rainbow. [I had to reapply the colors onto the sponge multiple times.] By the end of the activity, Henry was reciting the rainbow colors in order with me.
And then I let Henry have the rainbow painted sponge and paint in any way he’d like.
He filled his paper with rainbows.
It was very colorfully painted, but the one sucky thing about using so many colors is that it turns to muddy brown when they’re mixed together. [That's why we normally stick to two corresponding colors when we paint.]
By the way. See that bracelet on Henry’s wrist? He got it from his preschool teacher for reading eight books in January. [I find it funny because I forgot to write out our slips for each book we read until the last week of January.] Eight books isn’t many, but Henry is so proud of that bracelet.
Check out the rainbow made with Fruity-O’s Henry made last year.
Henry is 3.5 years old.
About Jamie Reimer
Well done on the bracelet and reading Henry!! I sure wish Henry could come to my preschool – I bet the kids in my class would think he is awesome!
Awesome! Years ago, I paid $20 plus shipping for something like this that was on t.v. Amanda will love this ~ it looks good and messy
Gorgeous! Love the photos too. Simple but effective. Thanks
Love the sponge rainbow!!!!!
I have been thinking about rainbows too recently. After I did an activity painting with light, I thought about how much fun it would be to do that with many lights, the colors of the rainbow. Let's see, it would take 6 flashlights, covered with ROYGBV gels. I'll bet 3 children could do it together – one standing, one kneeling, and one sitting and each with one flashlight in each hand.
I smell a St Patrick's Day project! : )
Thanks for crediting my blog – I love that you used a pizza pan for the paints – it looks like an artists palette.
We are going to try to paint rainbows with a pendulum this year.
That looks amazing. My daughter absolutely loves rainbows and she would love this.
This one is in my to-do list! we love rainbows and my daughter will love it! Good Job by Henry on the reading!
Ooh what fun! I bet that felt like MAGIC! Beautiful. Rainbows are just so lovely.
Thank you for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
I love this Jamie – so colourful and swooshy. And well done on the bracelet Henry – great reading
What a pretty rainbow! I love the effect.
LOVE it!!! Totally sharing this
~MiaB
LOVE it!!! Totally sharing this
~MiaB
I have just seen this idea EVERYWHERE I look. I think it's a sign that my buddies and I MUST do this!
this is so fun… i wonder if i have any sponges? am adding this link to my post for today to give me readers some more rainbow resources.
8 books is 8 more than some kids will have read in January – Go Henry. Loving the Rainbow Painting, i think i will be trying that tomorrow
thanks Jamie! We're having a rainbow unicorn ninja party on Sunday and I think this would be an A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!! party activity. I think we'll paint on a big tarp in the yard
Fun
hmm, or maybe a dropcloth or white sheet? that way we could use it for more fun later ….
This is just one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. You can bet I am going to try it. Just pinned this great idea! Vicky from Mess For Less
Thanks for linking up with the Kids Co-op Jamie.
This is fab, I’m going to invest in some more rainbow colours over the weekend and then try this with The Boy. Thanks for this, I’ve pinned it, hope that’s ok? (url included in pin)
Perfectly great that you pinned it! I love to have my posts pinned as long as they’re linked back to the right post (not the homepage). Thanks! Would love to see/hear how it goes with The Boy!
Hi Jamie,
I think Henry’s rainbows turned out beautiful! We did let the children add their own paint to our sponges as part of the process but of course, our rainbows were just a little muddy in the end too:) But they loved it!
That’s a creative idea! Wish I’d come across this sooner – it would’ve made for great St. Patty’s day end-of-the-rainbow decorations!
What a colourful fun activity! I’d love it if you’d link this post to the Rainbow Connection…
Congratulations to your little man Henry for his reading achievement!
Thanks! Just linked up
Thank you! Come back and link any future rainbow posts – there’ll be a new link-up every Tuesday
Such a great idea! My daughter LOVES rainbows, so I’m sure she will get a real kick out of this project. Thanks!!
Maybe we can try having two or three papers for kid and telling them on advance. They can choose on making them all “brownish”or saving one with a rainbow look. I also feel they don´t really care much about the results…:)