Flannel Friday: Rainbow Kittens

Rainbow Kittens

Six little kittens found a box of paint.

The jumped right in...their mother will faint!

The first little kitten came out red.

"I'll be orange," the second one said.

The third little kitten turned bright yellow.

"I'll be green," said the next little fellow.

The fifth kitten said, "My favorite is blue."

"Purple for me," said the sixth with a mew.

Dancing home the little kittens go

To show their mother a KITTEN RAINBOW!

"Rainbow Kittens" is a favorite of mine. This is the third version I've used since starting at the library. Miss Angela used our cat Ellison die-cut and laminated them. I like how she cut the hook and loop circles to look like a smile.

I don't usually use a rhyme with this story. First, I put out the colors and we say them all. Then, we count the kittens as I put them up. This week, I asked "What baby animal is a kitten?" Finally, the kittens get into some trouble.

First, the kitten is tentative and puts in a paw. Then, "OOPS!" he fell in and turned...

Giggles erupt each time this happens. When all the kittens fall in and change color, they set off to find their mama forming a kitten rainbow.

When mama sees the kittens,

She has to give each a bath. But cats don't take baths like people do,

Lick, lick, lick. There, all clean again!

The books I read for our Rainbow storytime:
A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss

Red, Blue and Yellow, Too! by Scholastic- I read this to the older children. The illustrations are balloon animals!

What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz

Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry for the babies.

Storytime ABCs is hosting this week.

Rainbow Sticky Collage

Playing with light can be as simple as taping a piece of contact paper to the window. I set out the materials from our Rainbow Sensory Bin.

The collage took the form of a story board. Bobo created monsters and rainbow bridges. He asked to keep it up until dark, then until church and finally "forever." I love pulling into the driveway and seeing the happy rainbow collage.

Books: Rainbow

Since Bobo chose his theme this month, I didn't have a set plan in mind for materials. I usually have a bible story or verse in mind when coming up with the themes. For rainbows, I thought of Noah and the Ark. The rainbow is God's promise to never cover the earth in water again.

Noah and the Ark by Kelly Pulley is great for beginning readers. I tend to like picture books better than easy readers because the illustrations are prettier. The next two books have wonderful, large illustrations: Two by Two by John Winch and Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney.

We also read some fun rainbow books. Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett is a magical book where a little girl finds a box with scraps of yarn and knitting needles. Somehow, the box never runs out. Bobo asked for this book over and over again. The illustrations jump off the page.

A Rainbow of My Own is always a favorite. "The rainbow is his friend," Bobo, age 3.

Elmer is a rainbow elephant. We also read Elmer and the Rainbow. These are fun to share one on one because there is so much text. The colorful illustrations still hold his interest, so I can get through the whole story. He asks lots of questions, too.

 

Rainbow Salt

This activity developed from the color mixing tot tray. I thought it would be fun to add a thin layer of salt and spray colors on it. It was a success and Bobo added more salt for more sensory fun. We used a whole container of table salt and Epsom salt. The bottles are filled with water and food coloring.

Bobo's favorite part was spraying. He also used glitter and beads to hide. The result was sparkly colors!

Rainbow Sensory Bin

Hidden goodies lie underneath the colorful feathers and flowers of the Rainbow Sensory Bin. You can see the colorful craft sticks, penguins, bath toys and cups. The heavier items fell to the bottom: googly eyes, gems and mosaic plastic shapes. So far, the feathers have been the favorite.

A few activities that have been inspired by the bin:

1. Feather on a Stick Race: Bobo balanced a feather on a stick. I challenged him to a race to the end of the hall. Think egg on a spoon race.

2. Play dough people.

3. Tickle game with feathers.

4. Extreme Makeover Feather Edition: I don't know how he gets so many feathers to stay in his hair.

5. Dump and Pour: The animal cups were very hungry.

Tot School: Rainbow Trays

Roll and Dot pot of gold from 2 Teaching Mommies:

Build a Rainbow with beads and styrofoam base: (found floating down my street, I looked out the window and said, "I need that!" Bobo thought I was nuts, LOL.)

Color Mixing with Spray Bottles:

Rainbow Play-Doh: (We are slowly making Kool-Aid play dough, but have only made orange at this point)

Counting Rainbow Rings: (Discount School Supply)

Magnet Board Rainbow Sticks: (idea from Teach Preschool)

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Colorful Caterpillar Dice Game: (make a head for each child)

Eating a Rainbow

I planned this activity to make one of those beautiful rainbow sheets I've seen lots of preschools making using frozen watercolors. I made these ice cubes with just water and food coloring. When Bobo saw them, he asked, "Can I eat them?" I'm glad they weren't paint!

They were too big for his mouth, so he asked for a tool. All his plastic hammers have mysteriously disappeared, so I gave him the ice cream scooper to beat the ice into submission. It worked.

The smashing on the sheet resulted in a rainbow, too! Yay:

I see a Rainbow Yoda. What about you?

Rainbow Scrape Painting

I was inspired by Happy Hooligans painted rainbows and Tribal Times magic rainbow, so I combined both ideas. I had to show Bobo how to scrape paint as we've never done it before. We used one of his play dough tools, or as he calls it "my knife." I think this would work wonderfully with a small ruler, like you can find at a local fair (for free).

Bobo did this one on his own:

We did this one together:

Surprisingly, Bobo did not ask to paint his whole body. He did request a footprint, though:

Rainbow in a Jar

Here is what you'll need:

1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup blue dish soap (or any blue liquid soap)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
3 mugs
1-quart jar
Spoon
Red, blue and green food coloring

We used the instructions from How to Make a Liquid Rainbow by Lori Shores. We only used 1/4 cup of each ingredient, but I would recommend using 1/2 cup if you have enough of each ingredient. We are running low on olive oil. I also suggest using a funnel to add the "tilted" ingredients, because we spilled some of them down the side of the jar. Check out the book for an excellent explanation on density and follow-up questions.

You can do the first step in a mug, which would allow the recipe to use 3 mugs as suggested. Since corn syrup is so sticky, I'd just mix it in the jar, though. Pour 1/2 cup corn syrup into the jar. Stir in 1 drop each of blue and red food color. Next, slowly pour 1/2 cup blue dish soap into the jar. Pour 1/2 cup water into a mug and stir in 2 drops of green food color. Tilt the jar and slowly pour the green water along the inside of the jar. Then, slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil into the jar. In another mug, stir 2 drops red food coloring into 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol. Tilt the jar and slowly add it.

I had a hard time capturing the rainbow on film, but it does show up in person. If you use the 1/2 cup instead of 1/4, it will also be more pronounced. This would be a great activity for a light table. We shone a flashlight through the rainbow to see the colors better.

Tot School: Rainbows and Balloons

When I asked Bobo what he wanted to do for school next, he said, "Rainbows and balloons." I found more ideas than I thought possible. Children are fascinated with rainbows.

For the first activity, I filled the balloons with different small objects I had around the house. He had to shake the balloons and guess what was inside.

Then, I put out the cups with objects that were inside each balloon. From the left to right: play french fry, jingle bells, plastic necklace, foam ball and chocolate chips.

Bobo put the balloons on top of the cups he thought matched. Then, we cut them open to see if he was right. "Can we do it, again?" I think he liked it.