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Spring Rainbows – St. Patrick’s Day – The Story of Noah and the Ark. All of these are excellent times for teaching with rainbows and the colors of the rainbow. Today we are going to make a rainbow disc. This is a fun activity to teach the color wheel and how all the colors together equals white.

I am not going to give you a long drawn out history of my grandma’s sister who loved rainbows, but rather, I am just going to teach you this great science and art lesson that kids love.

Teaching with Rainbow Discs

Supplies:

Scissors

Pencil

Ruler

Cup or jar with 3-4” opening

White paper plate

Crayons and markers in the following colors: Primary – Red, Yellow, Blue and Secondary – Green, Orange, Purple

2-3 feet of string or yarn

Directions for Making Color Wheel

Place the opening of the jar on the center of the paper plate (mouth side down) and trace the opening with the pencil. 

After tracing, cut out the circle.

Draw a line through the circle. Then, using the pencil, divide each half into thirds. You want to make it look like a pie with six pieces. 

Using the primary colors, color 3 slices blue, red, yellow. However, make sure to skip a piece in between colors.

Using the secondary colors, color the space between yellow and blue make green; red and yellow make orange; and red and blue make purple.

Make 2 small holes in the center of the circle about 1/2” sport.

Thread the string through the two holes and tie it off.

Hold either end of the string and wind the disc. 

When you pull on the string, the wheel will turn in circles spinning. If you get it going fast enough, it will appear that the colors blend into white.

SCIENCE BEHIND TEACHING WITH A RAINBOW DISC

How do all the colors look white? Your eyes see all the colors spinning together on the rainbow disc. All the colors blended together to make white light, not black like some people think. 

When you see a rainbow in the sky, it is because of the light passing through raindrops and splitting into the colors that make up the spectrum.

TIPS:

Use ROY G. BIV to teach the colors of the rainbow – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

Enjoy teaching about the rainbow with other activities too!

Rainbow Craft – Paint a Rainbow or Make a Rainbow