Fun And Fascinating Rainbow Activities and Facts For Kids

The rainbow is an ever-amusing topic for kids. The beautiful band of colors and how it emerges after a shower from heaven is always a mystery for kids. In this post, we bring to you some interesting facts about the rainbow for kids. A rainbow is an arc with different colors that form in the sky after rain. Children get enthralled whenever they come across a rainbow. They are also curious and eager to learn how rainbows are formed and where the colors come from. So here, we have curated some interesting facts about the rainbow. Read on to learn more.

Fun Rainbow Facts For Kids:

1. What Is A Rainbow?

The rainbow is a multi-colored arc appearing in the sky just opposite the sun. It’s the result of the refractive and reflective distribution of sunlight in water droplets. A rainbow usually occurs when it’s raining on one part of the sky and is sunny on the other. There are seven colors in a rainbow, namely- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo. This is an interesting rainbow fact for children that they ever wanted to know about.

2. How Did The Rainbow Get Its Name?

The rainbow got its name from its shape. Its arc resembles a bow that’s used for shooting arrows. The fact is that the rainbow is a full circle of light. But since we view the rainbow on the ground, we see an arc or a semi-circle of the rainbow.

3. Who Explained The Formation Of Rainbows?

The legendary scientist, Isaac Newton described the formation of rainbows in a detailed way. Sunlight is made of the all the colors that you see in the rainbow. When all these colors mix, it’s called white light, which we see every day. And when the sunlight enters through the white light, we get a rainbow.

When the sunlight is reflected twice inside a raindrop, we get a double or secondary rainbow. The double rainbow is a fainter arc seen outside the primary arc.

4. Where Can You Find The Rainbow?

A rainbow is never situated at any particular location. Instead, it is visible to a person at an angle the freshwater droplet reflects the light. The lower the sun is the sky; the higher will be the arc of the rainbow. And no two people can see the same rainbow. In fact, even our own two eyes see slightly different rainbows.

5. Why Cannot You Touch The Rainbow?

A rainbow is not an object. You cannot touch or even approach a rainbow. And neither can you get to the end of the rainbow. Because when you move, the rainbow also moves with you. This is one of the amazing facts about rainbows for kids they should know.

6. Beliefs Associated With Rainbows:

Different civilizations had different beliefs and ideas associated with rainbows. Greeks believed that rainbow acts as a bridge between heaven and earth, while ancient Serbians were of the view that rainbow was Storm God’s bow. The Storm God used the bow for shooting arrows of lightning through the sky.

Rainbow Activities For Kids:

1. Rainbow Celery Experiment:

You Will Need:

• Water
• Food coloring in seven different colors.
• Experiment jars
• 7 stalks of celery with leaves.

How To:

1. Fill the experiment jar with water and add a few drops of different shades of food coloring in each jar.

2. Put a stalk of celery in each jar and place the jars on the windowsill.

3. You’ll see faint tints of colors appearing in the celery just after a few hours. The next morning, the celery leaves will get pale colors. And after three days, you will get vividly bright colored celery leaves. This is a great rainbow activities for children that will allow them to see an indoor rainbow.

2. Rainbow Slime:

You Will Need:

• Liquid starch
• School glue
• Liquid watercolor paints or food coloring.

How To:

1. Tell your kid to combine equal parts of starch and school glue and mix using hands.

2. Now divide the slime into seven batches and add different shades of food coloring or liquid watercolor to it. Tell your kid to mix the colors well.

3. When the colors slimes are ready, allow your child to blend the slimes together. Children are free to pull, stretch and fold the slime as much as they want.

3. Rainbow Jar:

You Will Need:

• A tall, mason jar
• Honey
• Light corn syrup
• Green dish soap
• Rubbing alcohol
• Olive oil
• A dropper
• Water
• Food coloring

How To:

1. First, tell your kid to pour the honey in the middle of the jar. Make sure that the honey doesn’t touch the sides.

2. Mix purple food coloring to the corn syrup and pour it in the middle of the jar. Again, it should not touch the sides of the jar. Follow it with the green dish soap.

3. Mix some blue food coloring to the water and add to the middle of the jar.

4. Now add olive oil, again in the middle.

5. Top it with rubbing alcohol mixed with red food coloring. You have to drop the rubbing alcohol to the sides of the jar using a dropper. Never pour rubbing alcohol straight in as it will pick up the blue food coloring.

4. Make A Rainbow:

You Will Need:

• Water hose

How To:

1. Tell your child to stand with his back to the sun.

2. Now give him a water hose and tell him to spray it in the front, keeping the sun behind him. Your kid will soon see a rainbow forming. This is the best rainbow activity for kids.

5. Rainbow Marbled Salt Dough Ornaments:

You Will Need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour.
• 1-cup salt
• 1 cup warm water.
• Liquid watercolor or tempera paint in four different shades.
• Heart cookie cutter.

How To:

1. Tell your kid to combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and make a dough by slowly adding water to it.

2. Divide the dough into 4 equal mounds and add squirts of watercolors to each portion. Knead each pile until the colors mix well. You can even try tempera paint to the dough. It will give a vibrant color.

3. Now give your child the four mounds and tell him to mix it to his heart’s content.

4. When he has mixed the dough, roll it flat with the rolling pin and cut out the ornaments using cookie cutters.

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