Gettin' Crafty Post #15: Unity Rainbows

This craft project was part of my Martin Luther King Day story time. Unfortunately, the library was not very busy on that day, so not a lot of kids got to participate, but it was very well-received by the kids who did have the chance to make one.

I. Supplies 

• Rainbow Cereal (I used the store brand equivalent of Froot Loops)
• Plastic cups
• Paper plates 
• Crayons
• White glue

II. Prep

My library provides crafts on a walk-in self-serve basis. For this one, I took the trouble to separate out cups of cereal, so that each child could ask for a cup at the children's desk, and take it to a table to glue to their paper plate. I get nervous about things like cereal being ground into the carpet, so I though this was a good way to limit the mess. It also kept the adults from taking five cups of cereal for one child. I also provided an example, mainly so everyone would know the idea was to glue the cereal to the plate.

III. Process

It takes preschoolers a long time to glue small pieces, so a lot of the kids started before story time and finished up after. I saw rainbows of all different color schemes, which was great, and lots of creative coloring. I didn't do this, but you could punch holes in the paper plates, put ribbon or yarn through them, and  hang the rainbows up at home. I used the rainbow to represent unity and diversity, but it could also work nicely for a rain-themed story time, or for St. Patrick's Day.