March 2007  "Painted Rainbow" is the Craft of the Month!

March is blowing in and the Leprechauns making their appearance.  All things Irish, includes RAINBOWS!  What better craft than making a painted Rainbow that will also teach a little math and measures!

Painted Rainbow Oven Rack Stick

 
Materials Needed:

Paint Stir Stick (Home Depot or Lowe's are usually nice about giving you what you need for a class)
Ruler
Markers or Paint and Paint Brush
Magnetic strip
Tacky Glue
Small St. Patrick's or Spring stickers

Directions:

1.  Give each child a Paint Stir Stick.
2.  Place the Stick(advertising side down)  next to a ruler. With a pencil or marker, mark a dot at each inch mark onto the Stick.
3.  Now take the ruler and horizontally line it up on the dot and draw a straight line across the Stick from the dot to the other side of the Stick.  This will mark the Stick off into 1 inch squares.
4.  Continue to mark off the Stick until you have 9 inches marked off.
5.  Paint or marker in each square a different color of a rainbow (for older children  you can have them do a monochromatic rainbow). If using paint, let it dry.
6.  Number the squares. (This works on graphic skills and number recognition). Names or sayings can be lettered onto the handle section of the Stick.
7. Have the child decorate with small stickers, if desired (This task allows for repetitive pinch grasp and position in space skills).
8.  Glue a magnet to the back of your Rainbow Stick.
9.  Your Rainbow Stick can jazz up any refrigerator or stove.  The indent on the stick is great for pulling open a hot oven rack or pushing it back in.   Because it  is measured off in  inches it can  be grabbed quickly to measure, like when a recipe states to "cut the vegetable into 3 inch pieces".

A craft  that is pretty AND functional!!

To use this as a sequence activity or for those children who learn better visually, this craft is sequenced in our Sequence section.