For months, I have been visiting Kindergarten girl’s classroom with a storybook-inspired science lesson and activity. I began back in October by recreating Robert McNamara’s “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin” and had such an amazing time I knew I would continue. I had no idea what my topics for November, December, January and February would be, but I did know that I would do a rainbow lesson in the spring using Lois Ehlert’s “Planting a Rainbow” for storybook inspiration. Not only is this a great book to teach the colors of the rainbow, it is also a wonderful earth science book rich with possibilities.

Kindergarten girl’s classmates and I filled two days with stories, activities, snacks and songs (courtesy of toddler boy, story below) all inspired by the rainbow and its array of colors. Here’s what we did…

DAY 1

The Book

As a long-time lover of rainbows and an avid gardener, I became a fan of Lois Ehlert’s “Planting a Rainbow” early in my motherhood days. Geared for pre-K and Kindergarten students, this book relays the story of a young girl and her mother who plant and care for seeds, bulbs, rhizomes and seedlings in all the colors of the rainbow each year. During day one of my lesson, I read the book and focused on learning the colors of the rainbow with students. If you know Ehlert’s book, you know that it features six colors of the rainbow when there are actually seven. She includes “purple” when indigo and violet are the two colors that follow blue on the spectrum. Because I’d talked with the teacher and watched Kindergarten girl’s work, I knew “purple” was the way to go for this class.

I did run into trouble with that decision. In the class. In front of all the students.

Toddler boy accompanies me during my visits to Kindergarten girl’s class. He usually plays very quietly in the corner or sits and listens to the story with the other students. However, on this day he decided he wanted to sing the “Colors of the Rainbow” song from PBS’s Sid the Science Kid. Loudly. While I tried to teach the six basic colors. Of course, that song features indigo and violet, instead of purple.

After some spontaneous instruction in indigo and violet (and some sweat), I had all the students chanting the colors of the rainbow, in order. I then teased them by saying the colors out of order and they let me know, very quickly, that I was making a mistake. I said, “Do you mean to tell me the colors appear in the same order every time?” To which they chorused, “YES!” Another important point about rainbows.

Finally, I asked them to think about how rainbows are made. There were some very interesting suggestions! After lots of excited chatter, I asked them to think about the fact that they are called “rain”bows and when they are seen. Finally, one of the students said water + sun.

Three main lessons from Day 1:

• 1) learn the colors of the rainbow
• 2) the colors of the rainbow appear in the same order every time
• 3) rainbows are made by sunlight passing through water

I gift the class the book used in each month’s lesson. When browsing my local bookstore, I found “Planting A Rainbow” as part of a three-book set by Lois Ehlert. The set also included “Growing Vegetable Soup,” “Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables A-Z,” and a poster for the classroom. Upon reading “Growing Vegetable Soup,” Kindergarten girl’s teacher suggested we use it as the basis for April’s lesson. Lois Ehlert rocks.

The Activity

To reinforce the colors of the rainbow in proper order, students made a rainbow mosaic. I formatted a rainbow worksheet for students featuring only lines to differentiate the colors of the rainbow. To those lines, I added each color name in “handwriting worksheet” font. As emerging readers and writers, they could not only memorize the colors, but read the labels and practice writing and spelling each color. {Download the rainbow worksheet here.}

For the mosaic pieces, I raided my local hardware store for paint samples and several grocery stores for their weekly ad. I cut the paint samples into small pieces and cut out pictures of fruits, vegetables and flowers in all colors of the rainbow from the grocery ads. Students then used all those pieces to construct their mosaic. This activity not only reinforces the colors of the rainbow, but also that plants grow in a rainbow of colors.

This activity required the following supplies: Rainbow mosaic handout, paint chips cut into small pieces, pictures of fruits/vegetables/flowers cut from local grocery ads. Prior to going into the classroom, I made a small Ziploc bag for each student containing paint chips and cut out pictures. This made distribution much easier and saved a great deal of precious class time. I also confirmed with the teacher that each student would have a glue stick at their desk.

The Snack

In keeping with the rainbow theme, I made rainbow fruit skewers and explained that it is important to eat the rainbow every day. In order to learn and play, our bodies need a variety of vitamins and minerals. Yellow fruits and vegetables have some. Orange fruits and vegetables have some. But to get all you need every day, you need to eat every color every day.

While they ate, I let them know they had eaten the entire rainbow with this snack. I then asked what colors they had eaten earlier in the day. They had trouble responding with the colors, but did tell me “banana,” “strawberry,” etc. However, one young lady told me she had chocolate milk. I pointed to the rainbow and asked her to find that color for me. Of course, she couldn’t find it and this led to another valuable discussion about how you can eat many things that are good and good for you, but you still have to eat the rainbow.

Rainbow fruit skewers featured strawberries, fresh mandarin slices,
mango, pineapple, kiwi, green grapes,
blueberries and purple grapes.

DAY 2

The Book

On my second day with the students, I reviewed what we learned the previous day. They were able to communicate the three main points from the prior day’s lesson with no difficulty! Yay! Because there is so much to learn from “Planting a Rainbow,” our second day of the lesson focused on plants, where they come from and what they need to grow. Students learned that plants can come from seeds, bulbs, rhizomes and seedlings. We also discussed what plants need to grow: soil, water and sunlight.

I then asked students if they all like the same things. Of course, they answered with a resounding “NO!” With that, we talked about how different plants like different amounts of soil, water and sunlight as well.

Three main lessons from Day 2:

• 1) plants come from seeds, bulbs, rhizomes and seedlings
• 2) plants need soil, water and sunlight to grow
• 3) different plants require different amounts of soil, water and sunlight to grow

I then explained our activity for the day and demonstrated it for them. What did we do?

The Activity

Well, of course, we planted the rainbow! Using all flower seeds, students planted a rainbow in cardboard egg cartons. I chose cardboard egg cartons because those can be planted directly into the soil at home. Using the colors of the rainbow learned the previous day, they color coded the planting cells in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. They placed a small amount of soil in the bottom of each well and the teachers and I went around and dropped in the appropriate seeds. Students then topped their seeds with additional soil and, for some, watered a plant for the first time.

This may sound funny, but since I have some “experience” with dirt, I knew that I needed a starter soil that would absorb the water applied. There are many starter soils, especially those designed for containers, that repel water like duck feathers and in a small container like the egg cartons we used, that would have caused a terrible mess. Just by touching the bags of soil at my hardware store, I could judge the moisture level and I found an organic gardening soil that worked really well. I mention this to save others some headache.

Students were so excited by their new rainbow garden and could not wait to get them home into the sunlight. Kindergarten girl’s rainbow of seeds is sitting on our back patio enjoying three days of gentle rain. We’re starting to see several seedlings emerge.

Supplies for this activity were plentiful and included: Three buckets full of starter soil, a spoon for each child for scooping dirt, cardboard egg cartons, seeds in each color of the rainbow, watering cans, and plastic tablecloths to protect the classroom surfaces. Preparations included cutting each egg carton in half and confirming with the teacher that students will have access to markers in all six colors of the rainbow.

The Snack

I’m THAT mom that believes fruits and vegetables are vital and should not be avoided, even in a Kindergarten classroom. To give equal time, I took a rainbow VEGETABLE skewer as the snack for the second day. The reaction was just as I suspected. Crickets.

I pointed to all the skewers and identified all the items and asked them to point out the mistakes in the snack. They easily guessed there was no blue vegetable, but only Kindergarten girl guessed that tomatoes are actually a fruit. I cheated. More crickets.

Rainbow vegetable skewers featured grape tomatoes
(I know, they are actually a fruit),
carrots, yellow peppers, broccoli and purple potatoes.

I then told them that if they tried every item, I had rainbow cupcakes for them! (I’m not THAT mean!) Cue the shouts of “Hooray!”

Note about the cupcakes: Because creating these cupcakes required layering six colors of batter for two dozen cupcakes, I chose to use silicone cupcake molds. They were beautifully sturdy, baked well and traveled easily. However, students had never encountered them before and could not get their cupcakes out of the mold. I had to go around to each desk and extricate rainbow cupcakes. I know the environment is important, but I will always use paper liners in the future (and invest in more muffin pans to hold them for projects like this).

This two-day lesson required a great deal of preparation and lots of (mostly free) supplies, but the energy of students engaged in learning something exciting makes it all worth it!

I was back in the classroom just days ago and one of the young boys practically shouted at me, “Miss Shannon! My sunflower is getting sooooo big!”

I tailored this lesson to work for our setting, but there are lots of other ways to extend the lesson. YouTube features many songs and videos that would serve as a great audio and visual aids for learning. Plantable paper hearts in a rainbow of colors are available on Etsy and would compliment this lesson well. Made with recycled paper and hand cut, these are an eco-friendly planting alternative. For snack variety, serve chocolate covered sunflower seeds in a rainbow of colors. Links to these items and previous Teacher’s Pet posts and supplies can be found on Pinterest.

Happy planting!