Rainbows

Here are our fun, educational and sensitive activities inspired by the beautiful children’s picture book Rain Before Rainbows written by Smriti Halls and illustrated by David Litchfield. This box is one that children will revisit as they come across difficulties and need reminding that with courage and good friends good times are never far away.

Rain Before Rainbows

I’m a huge believer that children share more when their hands are busy and this activity is perfect for this. This is an activity we have left out and we come back to depending on what my son needs at the time. It has sparked so many amazing conversations to how we feel when we are sad, to feeling safe and secure and how we can help friends if we see them looking sad.

It was also his idea to add the peg doll he created from the October Boy and The Bear box.

Please don’t forget that to encourage our children to open up about their emotions and worries we need to model this for them, so please share how you deal when you are sad or worried.

Sowing and planting

We are huge fans of growing plants and this activity is perfect because in a few days you can start to see the bean changing.

As you grow this in a glass jar it is fascinating for the whole family to watch as the roots and the shoots start to grow.

light

This was a lovely craft activity to do based on the light that is throughout the book.

Since making our light we have lit it every night and it has prompted by son to talk about his day.

Rainbow art

This rainbow themed art was such a hit with my kids. The tissue paper bleeds its colour when wet so word of warning protect surfaces as it does stain. First we wet the card and ensured the entire piece was wet. Then we dried hands before getting the tissue paper out. This is an important step as again wet fingers will get the tissue paper to bleed it’s colour and most likely get stuck to fingers. F decided she wanted to make a straight line rainbow whilst M added the blue sky behind her rainbow. They both enjoyed watching the instant effect of the colours running onto the paper and the way they also mixed. Once dried we peeled off the tissue paper and both my children were so proud of their finished artwork!

emotions

The illustrations in Rain Before Rainbows are wonderful and the facial expressions of both the main character and the fox are wonderful. We used this as a starting point to discuss how people’s faces change depending on how they feel.

Together we looked in the mirror and then drew the expressions in the rice. A fun activity with really important learning behind.

small world

This is a recreation of the final spread in the picture book Rain Before Rainbows. We used the green playdough from the Dinosaur box, the pigeon from the Winter Birds box, the Reindeer from the December Reindeer Express box and the peg doll from the Boy and the Bear box.

Writing Sounds

F has recently become very interested in letters, sounds and reading words so this activity gave her the opportunity to practice writing the sounds she had been learning in phonics. Using the sensory rice from the February box and some sound cards this phonics activity was ready to go. Using a sensory base to practice letter formation makes it a fun activity and takes away any pressure especially for reluctant writers. F did practice sounds but then her imagination took over and she started creating an imaginary garden in the sensory rice instead. She was having such fun and all the whilst narrating what she was doing so I let her enjoy herself!

Valentines Card

This is a simple and effective valentines day craft that is perfect for kids of all ages. We used the leftover tissue paper from our February activity box and some white card to create these valentines day card. I created a heart shape on the card using a knife to score a line for F but M was able to create her own heart shape independently. We then wet the card and added the tissue paper allowing it to bleed it’s colour onto the card. This activity could be used for many different occasions and designs.