Rainbow Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Let’s be real—toddlers and preschoolers are all about color, movement, and hands-on fun. What better way to keep them engaged than with rainbow activities that combine learning, play, and creativity? These rainbow activities aren’t just pretty; they help develop fine motor skills, color recognition, sensory exploration, and early STEM concepts.

If you’re looking for easy, low-prep rainbow activities that will wow your little ones (and keep them busy for more than two minutes), you’re in the right spot. These activities are vibrant, interactive, and perfect for rainy days, St. Patrick’s Day, or anytime you need a little color in your life.

Why You’ll Love These Rainbow Activities

• Easy set-up: Minimal prep, maximum fun.
• Super colorful: Because toddlers love bright, happy colors!
• Learning through play: Perfect for teaching colors, patterns, and early math.
• Fine motor skills practice: Scooping, sorting, tearing, and stacking.
• Open-ended fun: These activities let kids explore at their own pace—no right or wrong way!

Let’s Talk About the Learning!

These rainbow activities are not only fun but also packed with learning opportunities. Kids can:

• Practice color recognition
• Strengthen fine motor skills
• Build vocabulary by talking about colors, shapes, and textures
• Explore science concepts like color mixing and sensory play

Rainbow Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Find the full supplies list here and for the full tutorial on all activities click on the title link.

Rainbow Milk Experiment

Watch a burst of color as you mix science and art in this fun milk experiment.

Materials: 

• Whole milk
• Washable markers
• dish soap
• cotton pads
• shallow dish

How-To: 

Pour milk into a dish. Color cotton pads with markers. Add a drop of dish soap and touch the milk’s surface—watch the colors dance!

Rainbow Sensory Bin

Explore colors and textures with this easy rainbow sensory bin.

Materials: 

• Colored rice
• Cardboard
• Hot glue gun
• scoopers
• bowls
• small rainbow toys

How-To: 

Layer the colored rice by color in the or create a cardboard rainbow. Add toys and scoopers. Let kids sort, scoop, and explore.

Rainbow Matching Activity

A simple color-matching game that builds early learning skills.

Materials: 

• Rainbow colors of construction paper (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet)
• Scissors
• Dot stickers in rainbow colors
• White cardstock
• Black marker
• Glue
• Cotton balls
• Light blue cardstock
• White construction paper

How-To: Lay out colored paper. Invite kids to sort and match dot stickers by color on the correct paper.

Color Reveal Rainbow Activity

A magical painting activity with a surprising rainbow reveal.

Materials: 

• Paper towel
• Dot markers (various colors)
• Black Sharpie
• Bowl
• Water
• Paint brush spray bottle with water
• Tray

How-To: Draw rainbows with black sharpie on paper towel. Color with dot markers and reveal the hidden colors with water.

Rainbow Walking

Get moving with this fun and colorful balance activity.

Materials: 

• Large roll of paper
• Washable paints (rainbow colours)
• Wipes

How-To: Tape strips of coloed paper on the floor in rainbow order. Add paint. Encourage kids to walk the rainbow path for balance fun.

Rainbow Shape Patterns

Practice pattern recognition with colorful shapes.

Materials: 

• Rainbow Blocks
• Kraft paper
• Marker

How-To: Traced rainbow black on paper in different patterns. Invite child to match shapes.

Rainbow Letter Blocks

Combine color and literacy in this letter-matching activity.

Materials: 

• Foam Letter Puzzle Mat
• Rainbow blocks

How-To: Fill foam letter puzzles mat with rainbow blocks.

Build A Book Rainbow

Build a rainbow using books while practicing sorting and stacking.

Materials: 

• Books in various rainbow colors

How-To: Sort books in rainbow order from red to purple to form a rainbow.

Easter Egg Printed Rainbow

A bright and festive craft perfect for springtime fun.

Materials: 

• Plastic Easter eggs
• glue
• rainbow-colored paper strips

How-To: Use colored Easter eggs to print a rainbow.

Textured Rainbow Sun Catcher

Create colorful window art that catches the sunlight beautifully.

Materials: 

• Contact Paper
• Coloured rice (see instruction below)
• IKEA colour bowls
• Paper plate
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Cotton balls
• Single hole punch
• Ribbon

How-To: 

1. Cut rainbow shape from paper plate.
2. Attach contact paper.
3. Sprinkle colored rice like a rainbow.
4. Add cotton balls.

Cardboard Rainbow Sunshine

Brighten any room with this cheerful rainbow sunshine craft.

Materials: 

• Cardboard (large enough to cut a semi-circle shape)
• Yellow paint and paintbrush
• Construction paper in rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
• Scissors
• Glue or tape
• Marker (black or any preferred color for drawing the face)
• Pink construction paper (for cheeks)

How-To: 

1. Paint sunshine.
2. Cut and glue on a rainbow.

Kitchen Utensil Rainbow

Use kitchen tools for a creative painting experience.

Materials: 

• Melissa & Doug Paper Rolls
• Sharpie Markers, Assorted Colors or markers in all the colours of the rainbow
• Washable Kids Paint
• IKEA Colourful Bowls
• Six various kitchen utensils (such as spatulas, potato mashers, forks, strainers, basting brushes)

How-To: 

1. Dip utensils in paint and stamp patterns on the paper in rainbow order.

Dancing Rainbow Corn Experiment

Watch colorful corn dance in this simple science experiment.

Materials: 

• Dyed Kernels of corn (about 1 cup use less if your jar is smaller) (find instructions to dye corn here)
• Water
• Mason jar (1 quart size should do)
• 2 tablespoon baking soda
• 1-2 cups vinegar

How-To: 

1. Add baking soda and food coloring to water.
2. Drop in popping corn and add vinegar—watch them dance!

How to Make A Rainbow in a Bag

Create a rainbow you can squish and play with—mess-free!

Materials: 

• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1-2 tablespoons of water
• Several drops of food colouring (I didn’t have all the colours in my food colouring supply at the time of this activity so I used paint which worked. I still added the flour to the paint for added sensory appeal but it is not necessary if you are going to use paint.)
• Small Bowls x 6
• Spoons x 6
• White cardstock
• Large gallon sized ziplock bag
• Packing Tape
• Painter’s Tape
• Q-tip

How-To: 

1. Combine water, food coloring or paint and flour.
2. Add each color to ziplock bag.
3. Seal and squish to mix the colors.

Pop Up Paper Rainbow Craft

Make a 3D rainbow that pops off the page!

Materials: 

• Red, Orange, yellow, green, blue and purple construction paper 
• White cardstock
• Cotton Ball
• Scissors
• Glue
• Double sided tape

How-To: 

1. Cut colored paper into strips.
2. Glue in an arc onto cardstock, raising the middle for a pop-up effect.

Pipe Cleaner Rainbow

A fun fine motor activity with colorful pipe cleaners.

Materials: 

• Red, orange, yellow green, blue and purple pipe cleaner 
• Cardboard 
• Duct tape
• Pony beads in the same rainbow colours
• Glue
• Cotton balls

How-To: 

1. Bend pipe cleaners into an arch and glue them onto cardboard to create a rainbow.

Tissue Paper Rainbow Suncatcher

Brighten up your window with a tissue paper rainbow.

Materials: 

• Black construction paper
• Contact paper
• Tissue paper either in squares or cut in squares in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
• Double sided tape

How-To: 

1. Cut out rainbow framer from black construction paper.
2. Add contact paper.
3. Arrange tissue paper squares on sticky contact paper in rainbow order.

Rainbow Rice

Create vibrant rice perfect for sensory bins and crafts.

Materials: 

• 41 Qt, Clear Sensory Bin (Large) or a IKEA FLISAT Children’s Sensory Table
• Coloured rice (see instruction below)
• IKEA colour bowls
• Colourful silicone cupcake liners
• Spoons
• Whisks
• Colourful cups 
• Muffin Tin
• Ice cube tray

How-To: 

1. Combine rice, food coloring, and vinegar in bags.
2. Shake, spread to dry, and enjoy in a sensory bin.

Puffy Paint Rainbow

A colorful, fluffy rainbow that dries soft to the touch.

Materials:

• 1/2 cup white school glue
• 1/2 cup shaving cream (add a little more shaving creaming to increase the puffiness of the paint)
• Bowl
• Paint brush
• Paper plate
• Scissors
• Construction paper
• Glue

How-To: 

1. Mix shaving cream and glue.
2. Paint on a paper plate.
3. Add construction paper rainbow.

Glue Resist Rainbow Painting

Create stunning rainbow art with a magical glue-resist effect.

Materials: 

• White glue
• watercolor paper
• watercolors
• paintbrush

How-To: 

1. Draw rainbows with glue.
2. Let dry and paint in between with watercolors to reveal the design.

Rainbow Building Block Gem Sorting

Sort colorful gems with building blocks for sensory and learning fun.

Materials: 

• Building blocks
• plastic gems in rainbow colors

How-To: 

1. Place matching gems on corresponding colored blocks for a color and fine motor activity.

Bubble Wrap Rainbow Stomp Painting

Get active and messy with this colorful stomp painting.

Materials: 

• Bubble wrap
• Washable paint
• Large sheet of white paper
• Tape
• Scissors

How-To: 

1. Spread paint in large sheet of paper.
2. Tape bubble wrap to child’s feet.
3. Step on it with paper on top to transfer the design.

DIY Cardboard Rainbow Heart Puzzle

A fun puzzle craft perfect for Valentine’s Day and rainbow learning.

Materials: 

• Cardboard
• Markers or paint sticks
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Box cutter or craft knife
• Sharpie

How-To: 

1. Paint a rainbow with a heart center on cardboard.
2. Cut into puzzle pieces and play!

Rainbow Colour Matching

Practice color recognition and fine motor skills with this simple activity.

Materials: 

• Clothespins (try to use ones that aren’t too stiff so that your little one can squeeze them. If they have issues have them use both hands as you hold the rainbow)
• Cardboard
• Paint Sticks
• Glue
• Cotton balls

How-To: 

1. Draw rainbow on cardboard.
2. Color Clothes pins and glue cotton balls to clothespins.
3. Have kids match clothespin to the rainbow by color.

Unicorn Rainbow Haircuts

Snip and trim rainbow “hair” for unicorns while building scissor skills.

Materials: 

• Colourful rainbow yarn or construction paper
• Cardstock
• Pencil 
• Black marker
• Paint sticks
• Preschooler scissors

How-To: 

1. Draw unicorn.
2. Attach yarn to unicorn heads.
3. Let kids practice cutting to style the “hair.”

Walking Rainbow Heart Experiment

Combine color mixing and science in this walking rainbow activity.

Materials: 

• 6 clear glasses
• Red, Yellow and Blue food colouring
• Paper Towel
• Water

How-To: 

1. Arrange cups in a heart shape, fill alternating cups with colored water, and watch the rainbow “walk.”

Rainbow Pouring Station Sensory Bin

Practice pouring skills with colorful water and sensory play.

Materials:

• Sensory bin
• Water
• Various clear plastic containers of different sizes
• Washable non-toxic paint or food colouring

How-To: 

1. Fill containers with rainbow-colored water.
2. Let kids pour, mix, and explore.

Paper Plate Cloud Rainbow

A sweet and simple craft with a fluffy cloud and rainbow tail.

Materials: 

• Paper Plate
• Cotton balls
• Construction paper
• Googley eyes
• String or Yarn
• Tape
• Glue

How-To: 

1. Cut a paper plate in half.
2. Glue cotton balls for clouds and attach paper strips for the rainbow.

Dot Marker Rainbow

A simple and satisfying rainbow-making activity using dot markers.

Materials: 

• White paper 
• Markers
• Dot markers

How-To: 

1. Provide dot markers.
2. Kids create a rainbow by drawing around the colored dots.