This popsicle sticks rainbow craft is super easy and simple, with materials you probably already have at home! It’s a great opportunity to teach your preschoolers color recognition.
Popsicle sticks are like the craft materials that keep on giving. From simple color matching games to popsicle stick catapults, our bag of colorful popsicle sticks seems to be self-replenishing. We still have a bunch remaining in our arsenal for more crafts!
I got the idea for this easy rainbow craft during a Back to School event. You only need a few materials, all of which you probably already have at home. That’s what I consider the best type of kid craft there is!
How to Make Popsicle Sticks Rainbow Craft
Materials:
Instructions:
- Line up the popsicle sticks in the order of the rainbow. Yes, you might have noticed we are missing one (sorry indigo), but that’s all the colors that come in that pack. I explained it to my kids, and they were okay with it!
- Use the tape to secure all the popsicle sticks together. I suggest putting the tape in at least two places to ensure the rainbow doesn’t fall apart.
- Squeeze out some glue at one end of the rainbow. Due to a slime fest, we have a lot of random colored glue leftover, hence the clear green glue you see here. No worries, you can just use a regular white Elmer’s glue for this craft.
- Place two cotton pads next to each other on the glued portion of the popsicle sticks.
- Squeeze out some more glue on top of the cotton pads.
- Press another cotton pad onto the glue.
Ta-da! So easy, right? My 3-year-old loved doing this popsicle stick rainbow craft that she did it three more times. Since we still have lots of colorful popsicle sticks leftover, why not!
How is a Rainbow Formed?
Children are fascinated by the rainbow. After all, how does this band of colors magically form in the sky?
You may have noticed that rainbows occur after a rain shower. Therefore, what things are necessary to create a rainbow? Sun and water!
When light shines through water, a rainbow appears. Therefore, after a rain shower, the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light in the water droplets that are still present in the atmosphere causes a spectrum of light to form in the sky, aka the rainbow.
You cannot touch the rainbow as it has no physical form — sorry Skittles. But you can use other sources of water to create the rainbow, such as water from sprinklers and mists.
Did you and your child enjoy this popsicle stick rainbow craft? If you are looking for more things to do with popsicle sticks, check out the popsicle stick catapult here. If you are looking for more rainbow crafts, check out this beautiful stained glass rainbow suncatcher!
And what’s at the end of the rainbow? A pot of gold! This adorable paper leprechaun craft is a great craft to make for St. Patrick’s Day along with this popsicle stick rainbow!