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Colour A Little Happiness: Creating Rainbows - Activity Instructions

Who doesn’t love a rainbow? They always feel like a little bit of magic. In this activity you will explore how rainbows are made and will make your own actual rainbow. You will find out how rainbows bring hope and happiness to people, and you will spread a little magic of your own by creating a rainbow artwork to share with people in your community.

Part A: Background to Rainbows

Step 1.

Take a look at this image and talk to someone in your family about what you see:

You can use the following questions to help your discussion:

What do you see in this picture?
What does this picture make you think about?
What does this picture make you wonder? What questions do you have about this picture?

Step 2.

Now take a closer look at the rainbow in this picture and talk about the following question:

What do you already know about rainbows?

Take some time talking about your answers. Below you can also read some things that we think are interesting about rainbows:

A rainbow is an arc or curved line in the sky that is made up of many different colours. (Note: An arc is part of a curve.)
Rainbows occur when sunlight and rain combine in a particular way. Sunlight is made up of different colours that we can't normally see. However, when sunlight passes through a raindrop at a certain angle, the different colours in the sunlight are separated so that we can see them in the form of a rainbow.
For each colour of the rainbow to be produced, the sunlight needs to pass through the raindrop at a different angle. This is because light slows down when it passes through the raindrop, and the angle that the light takes as it passes through the raindrop will determine the colour that is produced by that raindrop. When light at different angles passes through many raindrops it can create a rainbow in stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Step 3.

Did you know that we can actually make rainbows? There are a range of different activities you can do to make a rainbow without waiting for the perfect combination of rain and sunshine.

Activity 1. Make a rainbow with a CD

To do this you will need:

• Some white wall or poster-sized white paper stuck to the wall
• Recycled CD
• Sunlight or a torch

Instructions:

1. Flip your CD over so that the base side is facing up.
2. Place your CD into the sunlight or use a torch to shine onto the base of the CD.
3. Direct your rainbow onto the wall or poster paper.

Spend some time exploring the light patterns of the rainbow.

Activity 2. Make a rainbow with a glass of water

To do this you will need:

• A glass of water (about three quarters full)
• White paper
• A sunny day

Instructions:

1. Take the glass of water and paper to a part of the room with sunlight (near a window is good).
2. Hold the glass of water (being careful not to spill it) above the paper and watch as sunlight passes through the glass of water, refracts (bends) and forms a rainbow of colours on your sheet of paper.
3. Try holding the glass of water at different heights and angles to see if it has a different effect.

Take it further: Try adding food colouring to the water - do you still get a rainbow? How does it look?

Step 4.

Ask an adult to help you read the following information about rainbows:

An interesting thing about rainbows is that there are lots of stories about them. Many different cultures from around the world have shared stories that include rainbows. For the most part the rainbow in these stories is a sign of hope.

For example, in Germany during the Middle Ages (the years 500 to 1500), many people believed that for 40 years before the world would end there would be no rainbows. So people were very relieved to see a rainbow because this meant there would be at least another 40 years until the end of the world!

And then of course there is the Irish story about a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that is protected by a leprechaun.

Amongst some Aboriginal people of the Australian desert we can find stories of the Rainbow Serpent. The Rainbow Serpent is the great life giver, and protector of water, which is his spiritual home.

In more recent years we have seen the rainbow colours used in flags to symbolise world peace and gay pride.

In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, rainbows have been used to spread hope, positivity and happiness. This article (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-51988671) talks about how children around the world have been creating rainbows to attach to their front gates, doors and windows to spread hope.

Part B: Create a Little Magic

Step 1.

You’re now going to create your own rainbow picture to share a message of happiness and hope with people in your neighbourhood.

The first thing you need to think about is the colours that are part of a rainbow. These colours are:

When creating a rainbow it is important to get these colours in the right order. You will see that some of these colours - red, yellow and blue - are called primary colours. This means that you can use these colours to make other colours; the other colours in the rainbow are made by mixing these colours.

Have a go for yourself! Try mixing the following primary colours. You can use paints, crayons or pencils. You could even layer different colours of cellophane against the light to see what colours you get.

Write or draw the colour you get when you mix them:

Primary colours	What colour do you get when they are mixed?
Red + yellow
Yellow + blue
Blue + red

You will see that the colours of the rainbow are made from the primary colours in the rainbow being mixed in a particular order.

Step 2.

It’s time to start planning your own rainbow. The first thing to think about is what materials you’re going to use to create your rainbow. You could:

Draw and colour a rainbow with paints, pencils, marker pens or crayons
Draw an outline of a rainbow and fill it with coloured pieces of paper, cellophane, fabric, leaves from the yard, or other craft materials
Use this colouring-in sheet - Rainbow template
Create or print and cut out several Rainbow templates and make a banner of rainbows
Create your own rainbow out of lots of pieces of paper or large pieces of paper
Draw a rainbow on the footpath using chalk

Step 3.

Create your rainbow! Remember to try and keep your colours in the right order, and to make your rainbow as happy and colourful as possible.

Part C: Share a Little Magic

Step 1.

Once you have created your rainbow, it’s time to think about where you will hang it so that lots of people can see it. You could hang your rainbow:

In a window that can be seen from the street
On your front door
On your gate or fence

Step 2.

You could even take a photo of yourself standing in front of your rainbow to send to people who can’t be there to see the little bit of happiness you created.

Colour A Little Happiness - Creating Rainbows (home learning)

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