Noah’s Rainbow Colors Unit Study for Homeschool Preschool

Use this preschool unit study to teach your little ones all about Noah’s rainbow colors with these fun activities inspired by the books, Noah’s Ark by Jerry Pinkney and A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman.

Your little ones will learn about the colors of the rainbow, the order of colors in rainbows, how rainbows are made and more with this Noah’s Rainbow Colors unit study for Preschool.

The rainbow has become an object with new cultural meanings in recent years. This preschool Noah’s Rainbow Colors unit study seeks to teach young children colors and color words, the order of colors in a full rainbow, and what the first rainbow symbolized when Noah and his family left the ark after the great flood.

One of the ways to tell the cultural rainbow from the scientific rainbow is that popular culture only gives the rainbow six colors; whereas a true rainbow has seven colors, as you can see in the picture below.

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Lessons & Activities for Noah’s Rainbow Colors Unit Study:

Lesson 1

Read one of the Noah’s Ark books.

You can also about Noah in the Bible. Read Genesis 6:9 to 9:17 for the whole story of Noah.

Watch this video from The Beginner’s Bible.

Use toy wooden or plastic animals and a shoe box to pretend play the story of Noah and the Ark. Or buy a Noah’s Ark toy: Wooden; Little People; Playmobil 1.2.3.

Color one of the Noah’s Ark coloring pages.

Print and cut out the cards for the Noah’s Ark Animal Matching Game. There are 2 levels; one matches animal to animal, the other matches animal to shadow.

Lesson 2

Read the A Rainbow of My Own book aloud to your kids and then complete the suggested activities.  You could stretch the activities out over several days and read the book each day. Research suggests that kids really benefit from hearing the same story over and over. It helps them learn and retain new words better.

In the picture book, A Rainbow of My Own, a young boy imagines what it would be like if he had his own rainbow.

The child and the rainbow in the book play leapfrog. Play leapfrog with your child.

Practice counting by playing hide and seek like the child in the book.

Gather a rainbow of paint chips from a local store to create a peacock fan, like the boy in the book. Use the Rainbow Peacock Fan printable and let your child color the person to look like themselves, and then staple or glue on the paint samples to the back.

Color the Rainbow Worksheet, which comes in multiple levels. Choose the level that best matches your child’s abilities.

Optional activity: If your kids are working on learning the letters of their name, let them complete this rainbow drip painting that uses their name. Or, if your younger kiddos are working on learning their colors, have them use this color sorting activity for toddlers.

Lesson 3

Read the books, Rainbow and What Makes a Rainbow?, to learn about the science behind rainbows.

Using washable paints, mix the primary colors to make secondary colors (you’ll also need to mix a very dark indigo blue with blue and a bit of purple. Save the paint to use with your next activity.

Watch How to Make a Rainbow? by SciShow Kids (note: this video excludes the color indigo)

Parents & Teachers should watch this video ahead of time to learn different ways to make a rainbow.

On a sunny day, place a clear glass container full of water in a sunny window. (Or you can make a rainbow with one of the other methods listed in the video; or with a prism.) Place a large sheet of paper on the floor. Move them both around until you have a rainbow on your paper. Trace the rainbow with a pencil and paint with your mixed paints.

Sing and dance with Jack Hartmann’s video, Colors of the Rainbow.

Color salt to make a rainbow salt sensory bin. It’s really very easy to do and is super pretty!

Complete the Color & Copy Color Flashcards to help your child learn color sight words.

Lesson 4

Read the book, Planting a Rainbow.

Make a rainbow collage out of flower pictures from a seed catalog. Use the Rainbow Collage Printable.

If it’s spring, you could go to a nursery and find flowers of every color of the rainbow.

Go to a grocery store produce department and find fruits and vegetables that are the colors of the rainbow.

Make a clouds and rainbow craft like this one from A Night Owl.

Or have your kids work on their fine motor skills with this rainbow weaving craft that uses pipe cleaners from The Typical Mom.

Lesson 5

In the book, A Rainbow of My Own, the boy looks for rainbows that are hiding.

Ask your child where a rainbow could hide. (possible answers include: in the sky after a rain; in the sprinkler; on a wall from a CD, glass of water, or prism; or in a bit of oily water in a parking lot)

Have your child complete the Where are Rainbows Flip Book to show four places rainbows can be found.

Finally, grow Rainbow Crystals with these instructions from my friend Sarah, at My Joy-Filled Life.

Extension Books and Resources for your Noah’s Rainbow Colors Unit Study

Find out more about peacocks with your child. To learn more about peacocks and peahens, visit the San Diego Zoo site and watch this video from Nerd Dad Music. Or look for a non-fiction book about peafowl from your local library.

Make rainbow cookies. Use your favorite roll-out sugar cookie recipe. Divide your dough into 6 equal parts. Color each one with a different color of food coloring. (My kids can’t have artificial food coloring, so we use Watkins Food Colors, which are all natural). Children can roll each ball into a rope and then form the ropes into a rainbow. Bake and enjoy.

Create a Noah’s Ark craft and sing the song, Who Built the Ark? along with 5 more Noah’s Ark activities.

Pretend to be a butterfly with these silk rainbow wings or dance with these rainbow hand ribbons.

Read The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown

Read When You See a Rainbow by Becki Dudley

Watch VeggieTales Noah’s Ark

Your older kids can watch the video How is a Rainbow Made? with Mystery Doug