Messy Monday: Paint a Rainbow

Don't forget to enter this awesome giveaway - it ends Monday night!

Here's an easy and fun spring time project for kids and moms.....

If you want to do a little background reading and "research" on color mixing, spring planting, and rainbows, here are a couple suggestions:

Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow

 Ellen Stoll Walsh's Mouse Paint

This is a  fun little rainbow lesson that can easily be adapted from toddler to preschool to elementary aged children.  

Start with a large sheet of white paper (preferably 8x12 inch - watercolor works the best) and a paper cutter (or a ruler and scissors).  

Divide the paper into six, 2 inch strips of paper.  (You can adjust these measurements to work for your paper size.)

Cut an inch off of the length of each strip of paper.

 Using watercolor paint, paint the strips of paper - start with the primary colors (red, yellow, blue).  

 Using the primary colors, mix the secondary colors:

red + yellow = orange 

yellow + blue = green 

red + blue = violet

 Let the strips of paper dry.

Once the paper strips are dry, assemble them in rainbow order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.
Line up the strips in a stack and staple one side.

Line up the strips on the other side and staple.

Variations:

• Use construction paper in the colors of the rainbow instead of paint.

• Use printed paper in rainbow colors to make a rainbow.

• Watercolor the scraps of paper and cut out flower parts (like in the Lois Ehlert book) glue flowers onto background paper.

I'm linking this up to some of my favorite linky parties.